Richr8

I drove both when I bought my 535. For me and $8.5K less, it was a no brainere and I never looked back. The 535 is an amazing car and a thrill every time I drive. Now, if HPFP issue starts cropping up, I would havae a different opinion I'm sure, but so far so good.

tuffluck

no you're on the right track--i got my info from carfolio. the peak tq is actually in a band, and i think that band lasts until 4k in both cars. so from 2750 to 4000 they are generating the exact same amount of torque. 6600 could be right for my car, but that just means the tq would be 202 @ peak hp @ 6600 rpms (doing the math), meaning after 6,000 rpms, my car needs less torque to generate more power.

the higher your car spins (rpm), the less torque required to generate a higher amount of horsepower. peak is a rating, but not a measurement of how efficient an engine necessarily produces power. by explaining through math tq/hp are relevant (that equation always, always is true for a mechanical engine), it just shows that 80 ft-lb of torque difference is not the deciding differential power factor if the 530i can generate it's peak hp more efficiently via higher rpms and lower torque.

InFBMW

Go with the 550, otherwise you'll just regret later.

ProMed

have a link? do they have dyno graphs?

tuffluck

http://www.carfolio.com/specificatio...ar/?car=158224

it gets confusing browsing their site since they list all models of bmws, including all of the euro versions we don't have in the US.

cmoore_

Quarter mile trap speed will always tell you which car is making more power and given equal conditions on the street, the car that has a high trap speed will always be faster. This is especially true on the interstate, which is where a lot of racing/playing around (whatever you want to call it) happens.


Look it up, edmunds has the 535i trapping 100, while an earlier motor trend article has an 05 545i trapping 103. The 550i traps nearly 107. This pretty much puts the 545i in the middle. Every 2 mph is a car length in the realy world. So there you have it, in the real world from a rolling start or at highway speeds the 545i will pull a stock 535i.

ProMed

It doesn't make any sense to compare 1/4 mile speeds from two different magazines, who probably used two different tracks and testing procedures. I've posted both times from Car & Driver. The 545i is .3 seconds slower in the 1/4 and has a 1 mph faster trap speed.

The 545i is .2 seconds faster 5-60mph, beats the 535i 0-130 by 1 tenth of a second, and has a 1mph faster trap speed. The 535i is .3 faster 0-60, .2 faster 0-100, and .3 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile. In my book that makes them almost identical stock.

Throw a cheap little tuner on the 535i and then it is more than a second faster 0-60 and will top all performance categories.

cmoore_

I agree, different magazines will yield different results. But most Ive seen have the 535i trapping 100-101 and the 545i 102-104. So the fact remains that the 545i is faster and will pull a 535i on the street given equal drivers. ET means nothing when rolling, which is when most street encounters happen. And yes, a tuned 535i ends all arguments, but I was referring to stock vehicles, beacuse not everyone wants to mod.

ProMed

And the fact remains a 535i will pull a 545i from a dead start. If you have a 545i, you better only do rolling starts to overcome your weight penalty, if you have a 535i then only do dead starts or buy a tuner.

mookish

Or just get a 550i and win every time!