+1 Btw, congrats on the new acquisition!

 

If I had the money I would opt for the 550 (MT of course!)

 

I have to agree. If you bought the 530i and love it, great. But please do not use gas mileage as the only reasoning. I am sure the majority of 550i owners feel that an extra $20-30 per month for gas justify for the power and acceleration of the 550i. If you didn't 't care about the "ultimate driving machine" experience, then most of us would not be on this board or for that matter even drive BMWs. If $$ is not a problem, get the 550 for sure. Just my .02

 

My overall avg mpg for the 550i is 20mpg. I can average 21 in the daily commute (5 miles country roads, 8 miles interstate with some stop & go, and 1 mile city traffic lights). I get 26 on the highway and 16 or less when driving hard. And yes I do drive it hard at times. That's plenty of MPG for me and I couldn't be happier with the 550i choice.

 

I hope BMW put x-driver in 550. If there is 550xi, I will have hard time to not consider it. However I still happy with 535xi since I move from e39 540i. This twin turbo engine has even more horse power then previous generation V8.

 

I average around 16-17 mpg in my 530i. I do a lot of canyon running and push the car pretty hard though, and I do mostly city driving.

Anyway, I suggest that if you are able to get a 535i, I would definitely do that. That car is perfect for power/gas mileage. But, if it's up to a 530i or a 550i - i'd take a 550i in a second, regardless of the gas. One day you're going to be in your 530i and a 550i is going to pull up next to you and your going to smack your head really hard.

 

Huge difference between the two, but I would say get the 530 because if the extra power was your primary goal then you would not have posed the question. Its not just the engine, the staggard wheels with the sport package really looks much better than the non-staggard, but thats up to individual taste.
If you describe what you are looking for in a car, we may be able to guide you better. Right now everyone is telling you the choices they made.
I didn't choose either the 530 or 550.

 

In the city I live in, I can hardly use my 550 to its full potential even on a light traffic day. Whenever I enter US101 Highway, I push it very hard and it can only go up to 90 or 95 before I hit the car in front of me. However, if I took a long trip, can still can hardly drive from 100 to 152mph more than a mile due to traffic and law enforcement (could lost my driver's license). In other words, I can use, maybe, its full potential 5% of the time, but I still choose 550i over 530i anytime any day.

In Manila, Philippines, I don't expect you'd ever drive more than 100mph often.
There are two consideration you might approach:
1. If you want to have a class (especially in Philippines), go for 550i. However, it'd cost much more compared to 530i. Don't ever rebadge 530i to 550i because you're the only person who knows your car is 530i and you're cheating yourself.
2. Otherwise, get 530i with manual transmission and Sprintbooster. That combination already gets you more than enough in Philippines.

If you were in US, I'd recommend 550i all the way.

 

I had a e39 528 for about 8 years. I was planning to get a 530. I figured I would be more than happy with a 530 given the 528 had around 190 HP and the 530 would have around 230. It would be a nice increase in HP right?

Well - I test drove a 530. I the hopped in a 550. Within one block from the dealership - yes one block - I was sold on the 550. I knew I didn't need all that extra power but I figured you only live once! I also recall driving my 528 wishing I only had a "bit more power".....

I drove from Washington DC to Philly and back yesterday. A number of times I had to merge onto I-95 and there was no doubt in my mind the the 550i had enough power to get me where I wanted to be. In the 528 (and probably 530) I would have been pushing the car very hard to merge into the fast moving traffic. A passenger in my car (who drives a 330) commented when we punched into a merge lane that the the pickup on the 550 was great.

 

The 550i isn't just about the raw numbers of acceleration, its about the ease at which it does that. Even in manual mode, the sport auto starts in 2nd. With a light stab at the throttle, you take off from a traffic light, shift to 3rd at 3500-4000 rpms, and hit 50 in 3rd in mere seconds. With ease you just put 200ft of distance ahead of that little 4cyl that used to be along side of you. If they challenge you at the next light, that's when you drop it in first, nail the throttle and wind it out to 6500 RPMs each gear in a strong rush of power, showing what you really have.