2012 BMW 550i Sedan: Sport package including dynamic damper control

Base Price: $62,895

As-Tested Price: $73,095

Drivetrain: 4.4-liter turbocharged V8; RWD, eight-speed automatic

Output: 400 hp @ 5,500-6,400 rpm, 450 lb-ft @ 1,750-4,500 rpm

Curb Weight: 4,365 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 18/16.2 mpg

Options: M sport package including dynamic damper control, 19-inch alloy double-spoke wheels, multi-contour seats, M steering wheel, aerodynamic kit, shadowline exterior trim, anthracite headliner ($3,800); driver assistance package including automatic high beams, lane departure warning, active blind spot detection, side and top view cameras, head-up display ($3,500); convenience package including power tailgate, comfort access keyless entry, soft-close automatic doors ($1,700); premium sound package including satellite radio and one-year subscription, premium hi-fi system ($950); BMW apps ($250)

New BMW 5-series at shopautoweek.com

I would describe the 2012 BMW 550i sedan, despite its size and 4,365-pound curb weight, as fleet of foot. The throttle tip in is sufficiently sensitive and before long you've run through five gears and are nearing triple-digit speeds without any drama. The 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 pushes all the way to redline before a butter-soft shift from the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 550i is quieter than you'd expect. The heavy doors and sound-deadening material keep out the wind and road noise, and unfortunately the engine as well. It is truly about effortless speed in the 550i, especially when the suspension is set to comfort.

The four drive settings change the engine map, transmission and suspension settings. Full sport turns the traction control off and really buttons things down for "spirited" driving, while comfort moves the 550i into Mercedes territory for smoothness and isolation. I kept the car in sport plus most of the night, but I had to stay vigilant, any random pothole could be a tire killer. We learned that expensive lesson with our long-term BMW 550i xDrive tester. It ate six or seven Goodyear runflat tires in one year.

I did enjoy the thick M Sport steering wheel that comes with the M Sport package. It costs $3,800 but includes the adjustable suspension, 19-inch wheels, anthracite headliner and multi-contour seats. As far as other options go, I would ditch the $3,500 Driver Assistance package, though I did appreciate the heads-up display. The Convenience package can go but the premium sound system should stay.

The audio functions work through the iDrive setup, which seems to improve every year. My only complaint is with the iPod functionality that seems extra convoluted. Tapping your way through the menus won't play a song, you have to find a track list and scroll down to initiate. I think some other systems work better in this regard, Hyundai being one of them.

Those in winter climate may want to look at the all-wheel-drive version of the BMW 550i, especially since it only costs $2,300 more than the rear-wheel-drive model. It won't produce the kind of tail-wagging, rubber-burning fun that enthusiasts love, but on the slick stuff it's like an Arctic Cat for the street.

The person looking to buy this car would probably be cross shopping the Mercedes-Benz E550 4Matic, which costs $60,400, or the supercharged Audi A6, which stickers for $50,400. The only problem is that the Audi doesn't offer a V8 or rear-wheel drive, and the Mercedes gives you the V8, but you have to take all-wheel drive with it. As it stands, if you want a mid-sized luxury sports sedan with a V8 and rear drive, it's going to be a BMW.

By JAKE LINGEMAN

2012 Acura MDX

NEWS GREG MIGLIORE: The 2012 Acura MDX is a classy SUV with respectable power and a bit of space inside. Using it for a commuter lap, I unfortunately didn't make full use of its potential, but I'll leave that to members of the staff with offspring of the two- and four-legged variety.

I was impressed with the six-cylinder engine. It didn't strike me until I merged a few lanes over and jabbed the throttle, producing a pleasing sound and decent acceleration as I trailed in the wake of a Chevy Camaro convertible. I played with the paddles a bit, too. They were fun, amusing for a good-sized crossover, but not exactly Formula One-inspired. They're just something to spice up the drive into work and summon the revs a bit more purposefully on the expressway.

The cabin of the MDX is impressive in appearance and execution. This sampler came in stately black inside, and the steering wheel and door panels were smart. The atmosphere was quiet and serene, with just a bit of wind and exterior noise getting in. The negative? I'm not a fan of the center stack, which has way too many buttons and is confusing. It's hard to get used to in a short period and not easy to operate at a glance. MIT-inspired controls are not my preference at expressway speeds.

ROAD TEST JONATHAN WONG: Even with a new MDX expected to appear sometime next year, the current model is still my favorite three-row SUV. With our 2008 MDX long-termer, we piled more than 30,000 miles onto it, it never missed a day of service because of mechanical issue and the cabin held up remarkably well.

I continue to believe that this V6 and six-speed automatic transmission combination is one of (if not the) smoothest drivetrain combination in the SUV class. When you light-foot it around town, it's quiet, with the transmission performing seamless shifts. And like Greg mentioned, it has a surprisingly nice exhaust note during wide-open throttle to unleash decent power for merging onto the expressway and passing slower traffic.

The magnetic suspension is cushy in comfort mode for a soft ride around town and more roll around corners, but tightens in sport mode. Of course, a high-riding 4,600-pound vehicle isn't going to take a corner like a sports car, but all things considered, it can round an expressway entrance ramp quite well. Steering has some weight tuned and responds well to inputs. Brakes feature good bite and slow things down without drama.

I suppose the best compliment you can give a large vehicle is that it drives smaller than it is. Maneuvering around parking lots is done with ease, and the backup camera is handy. I also think Acura's blind-spot warning displays are the best in the business, with the warning inside the cabin instead of outside on the mirror itself or on the side of the mirror housing like Audi's is.

Complaints about the MDX's button-laden center stack are expected, but I prefer buttons over having the majority of functions being controlled by an iDrive-like knob. It's kind of like your home entertainment remote control that has a billion buttons on it, but you eventually get used to it and pick up on how to control the cable box, DVR, DVD player, speaker system and TV. It's the same thing with the MDX's center stack you'll get acclimated to it and will be a pro at working through it before long.

The rest of the interior is nice, with quality materials, good-looking wood trim, soft leathers and one of the most comfortable front bucket seats you'll find in a luxury SUV.

As for complaints, I do have one. The navigation map in Acura vehicles is really outdated. While Audi has Google Maps images, Acura is still slogging along with the same beige background image that's in the Wong family's 2004 MDX. Kind of disappointing, but I'm sure updates are in the works--at least I hope they are.

2012 Acura MDX Advance with Entertainment Package
Base Price: $55,450
As-Tested Price: $55,450
Drivetrain: 3.7-liter V6; AWD, six-speed automatic
Output: 300 hp @ 6,300 rpm, 270 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm
Curb Weight: 4,627 lb
Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 18/19.6 mpg
Options: None
For more information: Check out the 2012 Acura MDX Advance with Entertainment Package at shopautoweek.com

BMW M135i Sports Hatch Sport Auto

Price: £31,595
0-62mph: 4.9sec
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
Economy: 37.7mpg combined
CO2: 175g/km
Kerbweight: 1500kg
Engine: 6-cyls, in-line, 2979cc, petrol turbo
Installation: Longitudinal
Power: 316bhp at 5800rpm
Torque: 332lb ft at 1300-4500rpm (with overboost)
Gearbox: 8-spd automatic

A mix of dry and damp, tight bends and a narrow road should be challenge enough for a hot hatch with 316bhp to spill from its rear wheels. And if that sounds like a temptingly reckless number then you'd be right it's only 19bhp down on the output of the lately departed 1M Coupe, and the M135i's 320lb ft of torque is identical.

If it comes with the optional eight-speed paddle shifter of our test car, the 135i will zoom-flick, zoom-flick, zoom-flick through the gears to 62mph in just 4.9sec. Go for the six-speed manual and the time actually rises to 5.1sec because its wider spread of ratios are less speedily swapped.

Either way, this new three-door 1-series is eagerly, muscularly and excitingly quick with the potential, you may think, to become a flailing handful if you dare to meddle with the ESP button. But the first bold dive into a rain-sheened bend uncovers grip reserves far deeper than expected deep enough that when that DSC button is prodded for partial disengagement, it takes some lead-foot ambition to get the rear axle's wider 245/35 R18s to get a skate on, the slide part-managed by a brake-deploying virtual limited slip diff.

So it's pretty neat, controllable and reassuring, the more so because this rear-driver is quite a finely balanced tool, as proved by a too-fast arrival into a tight, low speed turn that fails to bring on any plough-on understeer. That said, you can expect to see plenty of the orange light that confirms an active ESP system, which is no surprise given all this energy and rear-wheel drive.

Perversely, it's best to experience all this in the Comfort setting of the £515 Adaptive M Sport suspension, an essential option. It softens off the electronic dampers and lightens the steering effort to produce a satisfyingly communicative, more absorbent chassis and best of all, usefully more feelsome steering. Of course, tripping the Comfort mode slows the shift times and the gearbox's willingness to hold a gear, but that's easily undone by sliding the gearlever to leftwards to Sport, which gets you a more eager gearbox.

The result is a an excitingly rapid drive that sits just the right side of hectic, the excitement of the six's keen blare built on by the 'box's light thumps in sport, the ra-ta-tat of the exhaust's over-run, the lightly clasping support of the seats and an excellent driving position. While some may desire the more uncompromising character of the 1M Coupe, the fact is that this M135i's ride is less maskingly firm, its steering more delicate and its character easier to live with. And it's also a whole lot cheaper, being almost £10k less.

Of course, you do without the some of the 1M's alloy suspension hardware and massive brake rotors although the 135i's enlarged blue-calipered discs are entirely effective but remember that the M135i rides on the latest 1-series platform besides benefiting from bespoke suspension geometry and its own springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and bushes.

More immediately noticeable M135i identifiers include a new front bumper unit with larger air intakes, a rear bumper with twin exhausts and 18in alloys, and tyres, that are wider at the rear. Inside you get leather sports seats (the UK won't be getting the appealing Alcantara/hexagon cloth mix of the test car, which seems a pity), a black headlining, an M footrest, blue accent stitching to the seats, patterned aluminium trim inserts and modified instrument faces. Not a huge amount of differentiation then, but enough to mark this 1 out as something sportier. The cabin is robustly constructed too, although it's not as finely, designed, finished or textured as the cabin of the latest Audi A3.

Much of the M135is's considerable entertainment repertoire is provided by the straight six. This Twinpower motor features a twin scroll variable geometry turbocharger, variable timing of both inlet and exhaust cams, variable valve lift and direct injection, these features managing to almost eliminate turbo lag. Indeed, you must actively search it out to find any, by shifting manually and having the revs build from 1000rpm to the 7500rom limit in second, say. Then you'll uncover a slower-moving tacho needle to 1300rpm. From this point the six has already reached its 320lb ft torque peak, this figure impressively maintained through to 4500rpm, although the revs don't rush at you until this peak has passed, the tacho needle performing a lightning flit to the limiter.

Throttle response is not as instant as you'll find in a normally aspirated M3, but it's sharp enough for most circumstances. Couple the six's breadth of urge to that eight-speeder, and you have a car that powers near seamlessly from a dawdle to its easily struck and restricted - 155mph maximum.

M division has tuned the 135i's exhaust to provide a smoothly busy soundtrack that makes paddling your way through eight ratios an absorbing business, even if the noise can turn slightly wearing. Happily it quietens off at a motorway cruise. And we suspect the same may be true of the ride, which showed signs of choppiness on Germany's mostly smooth roads.

by Richard Bremner