Quote:
Originally Posted by juanpgomez2
I can see why the uptake on the manual f10s has been so low. If I had had a chance to drive one before I ordered my 550i I would have never ordered it as a manual. It is just not the right transmission for this car. It doesn't really make it more involving or fun to drive, it just makes a luxury car not fully luxury... If I can get out of it and into a DCT M5 I will do it in a heart beat. I think this will be my last manual daily driver...
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I test drove a manual 550i as well as an automatic 550i a couple of months ago and had the same impression. The auto transmission definitely felt like a better fit for this car. The car also felt more powerful with the auto for some reason - I wasn't feeling the engine power as much with the manual, and found it hard to accelerate fast in a smooth manner. Maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it, though, and learning how to shift it more optimally for this car.
I don't have any experience with the M5 yet, but I would definitely pick the automatic for the 550i. By the way, the manual 550i that I test drove had been sitting at the dealership for 7 months, and it's still sitting there unsold. Another dealer here has a manual 535i which they've been trying to sell for a year and a half... They told me that demand for manual 5-series cars is zero. They said that even demand for manual 3-series cars is very small these days.