Somebody already race a stock 545 vs stock 550... post on youtube.

 

I test drove three different 545's and two 550's. Very hard to tell the difference. I only went with a 550 because it was a year younger, had very low mileage, and all the options (HUD, Logic 7, comfort seats, Nav, dynamic handling and active steering). The 550 can feel sluggish of the go, but if you mat it, it jumps off the line real good. Some members have posted that the 550 is quicker off the line than the M5! M5 of course takes over shortly after....

But ( no pun in 10 did), my butt dyno has not been calibrated recently

 

That's a little more information than we needed!

 

Actually in this case, it is very logical indeed to use that logic.
Because the gear and differential ratios are same on both cars and
same lousy RFT equipped and the suspension being literally the same.
Unless with M tech, even the aerodynamics are still the same.
Even the wheels are same.

So only 2 things that I find that two are different are the weight of the car and of course the output of an engine.
About 150lbs heavier but 35 hp and 30 tq more.

So yeah, all the hp and tq gained kinda sacrifised by the weight gain.

 

I'll try and give you an unbiased "seat of the pants" comparison. My brother in law has a 550i and I have a 545i. He went on vacation for 10 days and asked if I could get a scratch on his bumper fixed by a buddy of mine. So I drove his car for quite a while and drove it through alot of different conditions....(ok I drove it HARD) because I really wanted to see the difference. Here are a few of my impressions after looking the cars over side by side.

545i
-gruntier
-steering was way tighter
-front end was stiffer than 550
-accerlation was not as smooth as the 550i.

550i
-much more "refined" power
-smoother delivery and smoother shift patterns than 545i
-very subtle styiling differences
-550i sounded better than my stock 545i....sounded deeper and throatier.
-idrive screen wider
-19" 166's look awesome!


All in all, I would not say the 550i is faster than the 545i by the seat of the pants BUT, I did feel that the 545i was more of a SPORTY feeling car than the 550i. The 550i truly felt like more of a luxury car compared to the 545 and if I had to make a bet, it would be tough. Would I pay twice the money for the 550 over a 545? No way! If you are looking at both the 545 is 95% the car that the 550i is. That 5% doesnt amount to power rather it is the interior, exterior and 19" wheels that I liked. The 545 is an in your face monster and the 550 is a very smooth quiet beast but I'm sure both animals can do equal damage. I wouldn't be able to pick one over the other for power but it would come down to styling and features.

PS. I live in Canada and I paid $37K for a CPO 545 with 38,000Km and my brother in law spent $90K for a new 550i.

 

I agree with you on the smoothness with which the 550 delivers its power. It is very turbine-like -- a feeling of very powerful and steady thrust. The Steptronic that I have never seem to miss a beat and never seems to hunt for which gear to use. It just goes and goes.

 

Yes, here is:
545i = grey
550i = black

 

Several of you have pointed to the refined feel of the 550i vs the 545i and that is exactly it. I don't exactly know what BMW did to the suspension and the engine setup. It is just different . Anyone who says there is not a lot of difference is flat out wrong. They drive like two different vehicles that look almost exactly the same. Of course, as the model years rolled on there were also interior improvements, the most important of which had to be making comfort seats standard on the sport version, but the mechanical differences, subtle as they may be, together add up to a far superior ride.

 

wait, grey is 545?
550i is dead last?

 

That doesn't seem like a very good deal..

*this coming from the guy who paid ~$7k for 220hp*