I read somewhere that the 06 may still be badged a 545 rather than a 550. Any up to date info?

it will be a 545 with the 750 engine

I don't see why it would not be called a 550.

Ther current 545 is not a 545 either, it's actually a 544... :whistle:

Ther current 545 is not a 545 either, it's actually a 544... :whistle:
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As the previous E39-540 was a 544

If this is true, BMW must have something up thier sleeve for a future 550 or they don't want to piss off us 545 owners.

I talked to my sales guy this afternoon and, for now, they are refering to it as the 550 around the dealership. He thinks they will badge it a 550, but he said the details won't be known until August ("they want us to keep selling the current model"), and admits that things could be different than that.

One other thing he thinks will be put into the Fall '06 550 is the Start/Stop button like on the 7 series. And with that we will get the Comfort Access option (keep the key in your pocket and the car unlocks as you approach - just push the Start button to fire it up).

Sounds cool, but at what price?

Stay tuned.

The "550" may not appear until 2011 when the E60 is replaced.
If you have followed BMW naming in the past, the model number doesn't always indicate
the exact displacement. There are lots of 540s around with 4.4 liter engines for example.

Since the 745 has changed to a 750, I would figure the 545 would change to a 550. Its the same engine, so why not. The 740 and 540 shared the same name on othe older models, the recent 745 and 545 shared the same name/engine on othe recent models, and I figure in the fall, we will see the 550 join the already available 750.

Yea but they may have renamed the 745 to 750 to give the image that it was a redesigned vehicle since that was somewhat what they were trying to do by toning down the exterior (I like them the old way :) but thats just a theory :P

It will definitely be a 550i, per a conversation I had with someone at BMW NA a few days ago. The 545i badge was not really as short-lived as one may think, since I believe it first appeared in late 2003 when the E60 was released in Europe.

Remember the E38 533i? It was only produced for MY1983 and 1984 for the North American market, and then supersceded by the 535i in 1985. I believe there was not V8 E60 535i (but there was a V8 735i E65/E66), but there may be a new E60 535i -a turbo version of the 530i in the future.