550rider

Hi!
I'm picking up my 550 in two days and I wonder what are the 0-60 and 1/4 mile times for this car? I've searched everywhere but could not find anything related to the topic. Any info woud help, thanx in advance.

EBMCS03

5.2? Some off the wall magazines will prob get like 4.9 i bet.

znod

Welcome to the group. I think BMW says 5.4 (5.5) manual/smg versus Step. BMW's figures for the 545i appear to be right on for the 545i--with the exception of one off-base, IMO, big-3 US auto mag test. The others of the big-3 mags, and at least some US strip results, are consistent with the BMW figures.

swajames

I think BMW says 5.4 (5.5) manual/smg versus Step. BMW's figures for the 545i appear to be right on for the 545i--with the exception of one off-base, IMO, mag test. The other mags, and some strip results, are consistent with the BMW figures.
[/quote]

that's not quite right Don, the magazine tests have all been consistently lower than the official specs for the 545, as you say one was lower than the others but only by .1 or so, other mags tested the 545 from 5.3 through 5.5 to 5.6 or so. Official spec as I recall for the step was 5.8 and the 5.2 time (plus modt of the others) were in a step equipped car.

znod

that's not quite right Don, the magazine tests have all been consistently lower than the official specs for the 545, as you say one was lower than the others but only by .1 or so, other mags tested the 545 from 5.3 through 5.5 to 5.6 or so. Official spec as I recall for the step was 5.8 and the 5.2 time (plus modt of the others) were in a step equipped car.
[/quote]Yes, you are most right. I spaced the correct numbers out. I am glad they are better than I remembered. I was remembering the .7 and .8 from the 1/4 mile results. I think all the big-3 tests were Steptronics, but I would have to go back and look. It seems to me that the 5.2 is likely off because the 1/4 time is so similar to the rest. Here are the correct results.

BMW 545i R&T 6/05 5.2 13.7 104.0
BMW 545i MT 8/04 5.4 13.7 102.1
BMW 545i MT11/05 5.5 13.8 102.8

So, yes, the the 550i might be, say, 5.1/5.2. It will be interesting to see.

swajames

that's not quite right Don, the magazine tests have all been consistently lower than the official specs for the 545, as you say one was lower than the others but only by .1 or so, other mags tested the 545 from 5.3 through 5.5 to 5.6 or so. Official spec as I recall for the step was 5.8 and the 5.2 time (plus modt of the others) were in a step equipped car.
[/quote]Yes, you are most right. I spaced the correct numbers out. I am glad they are better than I remembered. I was remembering the .7 and .8 from the 1/4 mile results. I think all the big-3 tests were Steptronics, but I would have to go back and look. It seems to me that the 5.2 is likely off because the 1/4 time is so similar to the rest. Here are the correct results.

BMW 545i R&T 6/05 5.2 13.7 104.0
BMW 545i MT 8/04 5.4 13.7 102.1
BMW 545i MT11/05 5.5 13.8 102.8

So, yes, the the 550i might be, say, 5.1/5.2. It will be interesting to see.
[/quote]

I think that's right, the 5.2 is the one that's off (and if I recall correctly the m45 in the same test had the best time I had seen for that car as well). I saw my first 550 yesterday at Steven's Creek BMW - they had a fully loaded 550 - I swore I would keep the 545 for a couple more years before changing but having seen them in the metal i'm wavering... Also saw my first US spec M5 as well, they have a couple up for sale off the lot - what an absolute beauty.

znod

that's not quite right Don, the magazine tests have all been consistently lower than the official specs for the 545, as you say one was lower than the others but only by .1 or so, other mags tested the 545 from 5.3 through 5.5 to 5.6 or so. Official spec as I recall for the step was 5.8 and the 5.2 time (plus modt of the others) were in a step equipped car.
[/quote]Yes, you are most right. I spaced the correct numbers out. I am glad they are better than I remembered. I was remembering the .7 and .8 from the 1/4 mile results. I think all the big-3 tests were Steptronics, but I would have to go back and look. It seems to me that the 5.2 is likely off because the 1/4 time is so similar to the rest. Here are the correct results.

BMW 545i R&T 6/05 5.2 13.7 104.0
BMW 545i MT 8/04 5.4 13.7 102.1
BMW 545i MT11/05 5.5 13.8 102.8

So, yes, the the 550i might be, say, 5.1/5.2. It will be interesting to see.
[/quote]

I think that's right, the 5.2 is the one that's off (and if I recall correctly the m45 in the same test had the best time I had seen for that car as well). I saw my first 550 yesterday at Steven's Creek BMW - they had a fully loaded 550 - I swore I would keep the 545 for a couple more years before changing but having seen them in the metal i'm wavering... Also saw my first US spec M5 as well, they have a couple up for sale off the lot - what an absolute beauty.
[/quote]
I'll hang on with the 545i for a couple more years. Think how much HP the 550i will have, hopefully, in a few years. But, realistically, it may not change. 400 would be nice though. Yes, the M45 had its best 0-60 also--I think 5.3.

Evenflow545

I betcha that some car magazine will report a sub-5 second 0-60 time from a 550, especially in light of BMW's history of understating horsepower and factory 0-60 times. Not enough acceleration difference for me to lose 15 grand running out to get one; but it'd be nice to have.

znod

You may be right. And, I agree--not getting a new car for a few more years.

markt540i

I was reading my current issue of R&T, the one with the 5.2 0-60 time. A section in the mag. describes how they test for acceleration. R&T does a 1 foot rollout before they start the clock, which according to them the average car takes .03 seconds in the first 1 foot. They also say that they do not adjust times for barometric preasure, temperature or other factors. One of the other mags does adjust for these conditions, I just can't remember which one.