znod

Here is the best hard data I have for a 545i/550i comparo. Note that some of the data I post may be slightly, but in no way significantly, inconsistent from time to time. The differences, if any, result from hopefully imporved methods of performance reporting.

The values for the 550i on the left above the line are taken from a test produced by Auto Zeitung. The related article in on the BMW Germany website. The 550i seems fast. Recall that BMW USA shows 5.4/5.5 for zero to 60 for the car. But, the one tested does zero to 62.14 in 5.5. The values on the right above the line are from my 5 best unadjusted passes. These values were produced in Phoenix AZ in February and March of 2006 at 1,600'. I have no idea about the weather and altitude conditions that produced the 550i results. In this regard, I have no idea what test procedures were used by the 550i testers.

Both Steptronics:
.................................................. ........Best 5--Unadjusted
0 to:...........0 to:...............550i..................Znod's Avg
40k.........24.85m...............1.6.............. ..........1.37
60k.........37.28m...............2.8.............. ..........2.62
80k.........49.71m................4.1............. ..........3.93
100k.......62.14m...............5.5............... .........5.55
120k.......74.57m...............7.5............... .........7.51
140k.......86.99m...............9.6............... .........9.63
160k.......99.42m.............12.4................ .......12.31
180.......111.85m.............15.5................ .......15.21

Passing:
80-100k..49.71-62.14m......1.4........................1.62
80-120k..49.71-74.85m......3.4........................3.58
80-140....49.71-86.99m......5.5........................5.70
80-160k..49.71-99.42m......8.3........................8.38
80-180k..49.71-111.85m...11.4.......................11.25 (one pass)

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The values for the 550i on the left above the line are taken from a test produced by Auto Zeitung. The related article in on the BMW Germany website. The 550i seems fast. Recall that BMW USA shows 5.4/5.5 for zero to 60 for the car. But, the one tested does zero to 62.14 in 5.5. The values on the right below are from my 5 best adjusted passes. These values were produced in Phoenix AZ in February and March of 2006 at 1,600'. These values have been adjusted for weather and altitude from 1,600' to 500'. As mentioned above, I have no idea about the weather and altitude conditions that produced the 550i results. And, as mentioned, I have no idea what test procedures were used by the 550i testers.

Both Steptronics:
.................................................. .........Best 5--Adjusted
0 to:...........0 to:...............550i..................Znod's Avg
40k.........24.85m...............1.6.............. .........1.32
60k.........37.28m...............2.8.............. .........2.55
80k.........49.71m................4.1............. .........3.81
100k.......62.14m...............5.5............... ........5.37
120k.......74.57m...............7.5............... ........7.27
140k.......86.99m...............9.6............... ........9.32
160k.......99.42m.............12.4................ .....11.96

Passing:
80-100k..49.71-62.14m......1.4.......................1.56
80-120k..49.71-74.85m......3.4.......................3.46
80-140....49.71-86.99m......5.5.......................5.51
80-160k..49.71-99.42m......8.3.......................8.15

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Questions to be answered (hopefully) by those that speak German or live in Germany.

1. What test procedures does the German magazine follow?
2. What were the weather conditions when the German test was done?
3. What was the altitude where where the German test was done?

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Edit: I have attached a chart (not attached here), done on my Dell Laptop, per needforspeed's suggestion. The curves don't show up as well as when I use my iBook, but they are legible. The curves show what the data imply, including the passing-speed data. For the adjusted Znod average, the 545i accelerates faster to pretty much all speeds with the 550i catching up until about 140 kph (86.99). At this point, the 545i begins to pull away from the 550i. The unadjusted Znod average tells a similar story, but with the cars being more closely matched. I had to estimate the 0 -180 value for the adjusted average.

needforspeed

Well I liked him in 'pitch black'.

Anyway.... I'm not sure I completely understand all of your data for simple folks like me - what is the most accurate 0-60 or 0-100 for the 535d and 545i (in your opinion) and what transmission are we talking about?

(One problem I have with my car is that I don't think the steptronic chooses the best shiftpoints for the 530d - so I'd be really interest in manual / smg times if you have them)

Oh .... and please understand I'm not looking to argue that the 535d is faster in a drag ... for pure straight line performance the way the torque is spread in a petrol engine is going to make it quicker than a comparable diesel (if there is such a thing).

znod

Ignoring grogan545's and Znod's cars, the data below are the best I am able to provide. All the cars are Steptronics. the data in bold are particularly telling.


.................................................. ..Data From Your Post
545i.......MT........RT..........MT............535 d.............545i
.........Aug-04...Jun-05...Oct-05
0-X....13.70...13.70......13.80..................... .......................X = 102.1, 104, and 102.8, respectively
0-100.13.60.................13.60.........15.1...... .......14.9
0-90....10.90..................11.00
0-80......8.90.....8.40........9.00
0-70......7.10...................7.20
0-60......5.40.....5.20........5.50
0-50.....4.00...................4.10...........4.5.. .............4.6
0-40......2.80......2.90.......3.00
0-30......1.60...................1.90
0-20......1.10

0-24.85 (0-40 km/h)
0-37.28 (0-60 km/h)
0-49.71 (0-80 km/h)
0-62.14 (0-100 km/h)
0-74.57 (0-120 km/h)
0-86.99 (0-140 km/h)
0-99.42 (0-160 km/h)

Merv has added another data point for the 535d--0-60 in 5.8.

BetterMakeWay

YES and tell me that's not close. Or maybe i'm not reading it right. 0.1 seconds is close? that's not even half of a car length, that's a nose length, and till 100 the 545i would be half a car in front. And that's not close? Needforspeed said very well when he said it depends on what you understand by almost as fast. 0,00000000000001 seconds is close to you maybe. But for me? For me in real life i can manage with 0.1 seconds, and if i don't i'll just have to go chip it and then smack stock 545is all day long since hardly here you can find bmw petrol models to be chipped, except older models, or M cars. And if you don't consider that close then it means that in a race with a remaped diesel against a stock petrol the diesel would be light years away?!

znod

Close? What does the preponderance of the evidence say?--even ignoring Znods's, grogan545's, and now Cobradav's results.

.................................................. ..Data From Your Post
545i.......MT........RT..........MT............535 d.............545i
.........Aug-04...Jun-05...Oct-05
0-X....13.70...13.70......13.80..................... .......................X = 102.1, 104, and 102.8, respectively
0-100.13.60.................13.60.........15.1...... .......14.9

0-100.13.60.................13.60.........15.1...... .......14.9

0-60......5.40.....5.20........5.50................. ..............................5.8 per Merv

0-50.....4.00...................4.10...........4.5.. .............4.6

BetterMakeWay

I give up man. I simply give up. Your whole post is made only of numbers. If you don't find that close....then i simply give up.
BTW you have a way of showing some data that's kinda hard to understand or difficult....alot of points and subsitutions and commas.

maylander739

well if we are talking about standard cars then the 530d has a faster top speed than the 535d, 545i, 550i, 540i and even the M5!!!!


since tested the 530d can go at 156mph (as its not chipped)

where the others are chipped and can only reach a measly 155mph!

535D Sport

You keep throwing these figures around, have you actually done the same amount of boring pointless exhausting testing on the 535d as you have done on your car ? If you have not how can you quote these figures, surely you should go and do some testing and report back!!! The preponderance of the evidence looks to me as highly flawed in the favour of the 545i don't you think.

znod

Please get a grip on reality. The figures you are referring to all are from magazines.

And, here are more magazine numbers for the 5325d not given in my last several posts. These posts were biased in favor of the 535d since I left these data out.

Here is a straight-line performance test of a 535d--posted on the BWM Germany website.

...............................Steptronics
....................................535d
0-40 km/h.....................2.0
0-60 km/h.....................3.5
8-80 km/h.....................5.0
0-100 km/h...................7.1
0-120 km/h...................9.5
0-140 km/h.................12.4
0-160 km/h.................16.4

needforspeed

znod - I don't know if I am reading this right, but it seems to me that the 0-100 times are within 0.2 secs of each other???

That's seriously close............. isn't it ?