pharding

Overall

The best way to describe the differences with my previous 04 545 is "refinement". My 04 545 was a great car that I really liked. My 08 550 sport is slightly more refined. This is especially noticeable within the cabin and with the various controls. As expected the 550 Sport clearly has a more sporty feel and is quite fun to drive. As an architect and previous owner of an 04 545 my comments that follow are colored by my profession and I try to be objective.

Interior

In general the interior has a slighty more luxurious feel and improved tactile quality with the new leather covered console and wonderful tactile quality to the I-Drive knob. The exception to the tactile improvement is the driver side interior door handle which is clearly a design error. The driver side door handle does not have an opening for your hand like just about every other car built since 1910. There is a recess with very hard plastic 1" beneath the top of the handle. My 4 fingers on my left hand are numb when I drive the car from hitting the hard plastic every time that I get into and out of the car. The black plastic filler panel beneath the shifter is hideous and I cannot understand why this cheap crummy thing is in an expensive German automobile. The British version of the LCI e60 has a wood filler plate that is what one would expect from BMW. The comfort seats are quite comfortable, however the side bolsters are lower than the sport seats which kept one from sliding when cornering hard. The I-drive is more refined and the I-Pod integration is superb. I commend BMW for that. As discussed previously in my posts the new Logic 7 is fine, but the previous Logic 7 in the pre-LCI e60's was great. I was disappointed that the 6 CD changer was no longer part of Logic 7. The audio fidelity of Cd's is unmatched by the I-Pod or SAT radio. HD radio is rather amazing with CD like audio quality and is clearly worth it if your area has HD FM radio stations. The new self programmable control buttons are wonderful, although if you are that far into buttons two rows of 8 buttons each would be more appropriate. Their function appears on the screen as you pass your fingers over the buttons in an amazing manner. The control menus accessed within the I-Drive are more logical and refined. I am not sure why but the leather in my interior seems to have come from an older cow as it is slightly too hard to the touch. The 04 545 had better leather. Overall I find the cabin quite spacious, comfortable, and generally well-designed. The controls are are wonderful and well thought out. HUD is awesome.

Performance, Ride, and Handling

The 550 Sport clearly has a great sports car feeling to it. The acceleration will push back in your and you will blow by cars when passing. The 550 engine is quite powerful and very refined. The car handles like it is on rails. It is amazing how well the 08 550 Sport handles. The trade off with the 550 sport in comparison with 545 sport is that the ride is harsher when hitting bumps in the road which are all too common on Chicago expressways. I have a bad back so I am more sensitive to this than the typical driver. The 545 sport package was criticized by some as having a suspension that was slightly softer than the e39 5 er had. For me the normal sport, not the LCI 550 Sport, is better given the crummy quality of US highways. It is quite sporty without being overly harsh. Very well balanced. The 550 Sport with its slightly tighter, firmer suspension is amazing and well suited to the Germany's high quality pavement on the Autobahn which I experienced in early August since I did Euro Delivery. On my previous two 5 ers with sport suspension that ride became softer as the suspension was broken in. Hopefully that will be the case here. Active steering is also more refined. I realize that some have been critical of early versions of active steering, but having driven e60s with and without it I do not believe that it is even close. In my opinion active steering is better at all speeds and is absolutely wonderful. The sport automatic transmission is an amazing piece of engineering and is highly recommended for its lightning quick shifts. When in sport mode with the shifter pushed into manual mode the transmission is awesome for the control that it gives the driver with ultra quick shifts using the paddle shifters. This contributes to a wonderful fun factor when driving this great automobile in a sporty fashion. Not that I drive in a sporty manner all the time, it is wonderful to have that option. For normal driving the car works great as one would expect.

Fuel Economy

The 550 Sport at 1200 miles is slightly worse than my 04 545 with the sport package. I get 23 mpg on the highway going 75 mph when I used to 24 mpg. City driving with some expressway driving I get 16 mpg when i used to get 16.8 mpg with the 545.

Exterior Styling

As an architect, I have always admired the e60 as being the best looking luxury/sports car. It hits a great balance. I find my my son's 330 to be too conservative in comparison. The only problem with the basic design is that it's wonderful flame surfacing has been widely imitated. However that goes with having an innovative, beautiful leading edge design. The lights on the refresh are even more beautiful than before. I very much like the light lines in the refresh taillights and I am glad that they took out the orange reflectors that were built into the front headlight assembly of the original e60. Regarding the 550 sport's M-trim kit I have mixed feelings. It gives the 550 sport a distinctive appearance, however it can best be describe as Baroque Modern. It is slightly over the top and slightly disjointed with core body design.

Value

The 08 550 Sport is a fine value for a powerful, large cabin, sports sedan with a strong emphasis on sport. For ultimate value and fuel economy the BMW 535 sport is unmatched but is slightly less powerful and performance oriented. If you own an original 545 with the sport package, should you upgrade? No, not in my opinion. The changes are incremental and the cabin design was better in the original e60. Plus Logic 7 was better. I-Pod integration was not that good however in the original e60. Another great way to save money is to join the BMW CCA. After being a member for 12 months, when you purchase or lease a 5 er, you get a $1,000 rebate. Couple that with European Delivery and the savings are fantastic.

BMW as a Company and European Delivery

What about BMW automobiles in general? They are great, fun to drive, extremely dependable automobiles produced by an extremely fine stand up company that can be counted on to do the right thing if a request is reasonable. I have been driving 5 ers since 2001 and I have been really pleased with them. My son drives a BMW 330. In all of these cars the only issue that I had was creaking door seals which BMW replaced and noisy run-flats which BMW replaced. I did European Delivery four times now. That is a great experience and the best way to understand the car and the culture of BMW the car company. When you drive a 5 er on the Autobahn at 135 mph you cannot believe how well the car performs. The car is rock solid and performs effortlessly. It is an absolutely amazing experience. Germany and the rest Europe is a great place to visit. The US now pales in relation to Germany and Switzerland. In summary, BMW is a great focused car company that produces great sports oriented automobiles.

MiamiPhill

Spot on....wonderful review!!!

s4iscool

great post, great car. lets see your pics!

1994_RX-7_Tour

Great review! Would like hearing about your color combo and interior wood - any mismatch of color as others have complained?

pharding

I am on my way out of town. I will post pics this weekend.

tuco

Thanks for the great review and taking the time to post it.

pharding

Carbon Black with the bling bling 172 wheels which I may dull down. Black leather, dark poplar, anthracite headliner. The car is beautiful. The wood match is disappointing. As an architect I understand that wood is a natural product and will vary. However the variation should not be extreme. Even my wife commented on it. Clearly BMW has quality control issues with the wood supplier.