Apparently the 525 and 530 will start MY2006 in March, the 545 will remain MY2005 until its normal time period. At that point in September it'll switch to MY2006 normally with the new engine.

 

If this is true, would there be a price increase in addition to the "normal" model year price increase? Would the 545 be discontinued?

I just ordered one for April ED, and I don't think I would postpone even if this is correct; but it is tempting to wait.

 

I would not wait for the 550 and give up April European Delivery of a 545. The 545 is utterly awesome with its present horsepower. European Delivery is a lot of fun. Enjoy!

 

There will always be something better, faster (and more expensive!) down the line. I didn't want to wait--picked up my '05 545i last week and love it.

 

There will always be something better, faster (and more expensive!) down the line. I didn't want to wait--picked up my '05 545i last week and love it.
[/quote]

Thanks pharding and stream. Well said. Congrats on your new pickup.

 

i concur.
the 545i is a damn fine automobile, don't need wait for the next revamp if you are able now.
for there will alway be a better...your next ultimate driving machine after this perhaps?

 

Eh, I don't know about that. I can think of a handful of other AWD cars that are probably faster (Audi A8 6.0, Audi RS6, Bentley Continental GT, and the EVO/WRX boy-racer variants).

 

550i let's wait and see how reliable the new V8 is!

I'll wait at least until 2009 or 2010 for that!

 

Talked to my sales rep today. Not unexpected, but he had no knowledge of a 550 with the 4.8 litre engine to come any time soon , but was aware of the new six's with valvetronic. He mentioned that displacement would be up too, which I had not heard. I thought they were keeping displacement the same but adding valvetronic and other tuning tweaks. He acknowledged the new 750. He gave me a brochure that he had just recieved from BMW, which I haven't had a chance to review. Will be interesting if the new HP will be listed for the new six's that are supposedly becoming available.

If I was ready to order today I would not wait either. However, since I don't plan to sell until I hit about 80,000 miles, my timing should be right for ordering either a 545 or 550 in the fall and give BMW more time to debug the E60. I hope Rollee is correct that the 550 is destined for the states in the fall. BMW has a 4.8 litre engine in the X5 4.8i so maybe that is the engine they are going to use, so hopefully reliability won't be an issue. However, I don't think the exhisting 4.8 has valvetronic. Good point though to question reliability. I hate getting the 1st year production of any model.
Mark

 

It would be helpful to know Rollee's sources re: the 550i 2006 rumor. I still have seen no official information or announcements of any 4.8l V8 for the 2006 e60 and it would be very unusual for North America (Canada in particular) to get a new BMW engine for the e60 before the Europe does (and concurrently with the launch of that new engine for the 7 series).