Good luck with the M35! Should be more dependable. When I got my 545 the dealer told me I could have waited for the 550, but I felt I didn't really need that extra horsepower for whatever price increase they added. I admit it would be nice to get the latest model but it's not like everyone drives a 5. Just my $.02.

 

I bought my 05 545i in August 05, and 2 months later BMW ships the 550i. At first, I regret. But, I got a huge discount on the 545i, so I'm happy with the car as long as you don't mention the 550i. In any case, people will know that 545i are either 04 or 05. Think of it as one of kind (bad or good). Yes, BMW was wrong not to mention the release of the 550i until the last minute, but such is life.

Drive it or sell it. Two years from now (if you got the 550i), you'll be cursing on this board that BMW changed the 550i to 555 with a 5.4 liter engine. And the rat race goes on.

Screw BMW naming convention. Enjoy your car and service (hopefully good dealer).

And if you're some what crazy about 550i, buy Allstate insurance with the "replacemennt if totaled" option ($75/6 mnth). Total your 545i (excludes flood, theft), and Allstate will replace it with a 550i. No questions ask. Just make sure you don't get hurt or die in the process.

 

I agree with the points about dealer service. At 2,500 miles, I just had to have my crank shaft sensor replaced after having some transmissions problems. The dealer gave me a good loaner, diagnosed a difficult to find problem (it was occuring sporadically) and fixed the car well. As long as I'm not in the shop more than a couple of times a year, and the dealer does a good job and gives me a good loaner, I'm OK.

I just sold an ML320 back to the dealer earlier this year under threat of lemon law. It had over 30 problems in 3.5 years. Now that is something to complain about. After that experience, I swore that if I ever bought a non-japanese car that I would lease, which is what i did.

I'm optimistic that buying the end of the 2nd year's production using the old engine (545) will be more reliable. We'll see.

Regarding teh 550, I could care less. The 4.4L engine in the 545i is overkill in terms of power. A 550 is just more overkill. And, because its a new engine, its likely to have more relaibility problems.