If I decide to trade in my car just because of the SAT, I will lose quite a lot of money just to have the feature....
Thinking maybe somewhere between 7-10k lost since my car would be considered as USED now... -_-;

 

Arrgghhh... hearing that just made me want to kill myself... and my sales agent...

 

That can't be true. In that casr there would be specific acceleration times and etc. for the SAT. I think it's just a '0' which became '1', paddles and a different gear knob.

I drove a 535d SAT when I was at the M3 presentation the other weekend, and I couldn't feel the BIG difference everyone here has stated. I think you are underestemating the new AT and comparing the pre-LCI AT with the new SAT and gives the creds to the SAT...

 

Sorry, in reading your original post, I didn't realize you've already taken delivery. I thought the car was ordered and it was too late to change your order...

 

And despite the fact that I'll likely order my new car w/ the SA, I agree with ipp. This past weekend I spent quite a bit of time at the dealer doing test drives, debating between a 535 and a 550. The 550 was non-SA auto while the 535 had the SA. There was no dramatic change in how the transmission reacted. And I pushed both cars a bit with some spirited acceleration (away from traffic mind you!). While I did like the SA paddles, I am not expert enough to detect a meaningful difference. But the paddles and thicker shifter were nice...

 

'IPP', I live with the SAT every day & trust me, the difference is very noticable. I also originally said no to SAT, but unlike aznunknownx's salesman, mine insisted I drive both cars (SAT & non-SAT).....I'm glad he did.

 

for those of you who say they feel the same.....so the regular auto will blip the throttle on downshifts too?
(that'd be nice)

 

Almost all the 550s I've test driven at several different BMW dealers this summer didn't have the SAT option. I've went to about 5 or 6 dealers and each time I went, I checked their 550i stock (checking the car's outside and insides) before negotiating price and none of them had it installed. This had me thinking that the SAT didn't even exist until I checked the BMW website (notice that they only mention Paddle Shifters without mentioning performance difference or the Lever looked different...

I wonder why BMW didn't just set the SAT as standard with the Sports Package...

PISSED ME OFF!

 

Ok, and I have to admit that I would order the SAT if I could at the time I ordered the car, even only for the look of the knob and paddles. But I wanted the car 4 months earlier, and I'm still happy about that decision. Either way I'm still suspect, why wouldn't the car be faster if it changes gear that much faster? And why don't I feel the difference...

 

Since my 550i is only 2 days old and I didn't have much experience test driving SAT 550s versus the new standard auto, I can only add a partial opinion. I can't yet tell a difference in shifting between DS mode and sport mode on the SAT but both combined do make for even more aggressive shifting. I think sport mode while in drive also allows a paddle shift without leaving full auto mode. It soon reverts back to the normally selected gears. Thats great for quick passing, etc. In a normal steptronic, you move it to DS for sport. If you down shift, you then have to manually move the lever to "D" and back to DS to return to DS auto shifting.

Besides the paddles, I do know the SAT is the only way to get sport mode with its more aggressive throttle and tighter steering. I was used to that on an E39 M5 and a 650i and had to get it on the 550i.

In the Carolinas, finding an SAT 550i is a mixed bag. One dealer has had a few in stock but they where all rediculously equiped models ($80k+ sticker!!!). Another dealer has had 1 in stock in 3 months. Finally I found almost exactly what I wanted at Crown BMW in Greensboro. Ordering a 550i didn't seem to be an option because the dealers wouldn't negotiate a good trade in advance on the 650i.