znod

Excellent. You guys and gals should have a blast. I'm eager to hear how things go.

doug_999

Unless you compare the cars side by side, numbers from other sources, taken at different altitudes and temps, are not comparable.

So go find a 550 and time it along with your car - or reference C&D because they actually adjust for temp and altitude (and have the 550 about .03 seconds faster if I remember correctly.

Bimmer32

I suspect that Znod is right about his 545i being faster than the 550i tested. Afterall, he has lighter wheels, no spare tire, and probably weighs in a lot less than the other test driver. I'll have to side with Znod on this one. I think you won't see power different unless you start from a triple digit roll.

marc545i

I've never tested (timed) my car with a stopwatch, but I've always suspected that its 0-60 time is closer to 5.3 than 5.7 (BMW spec).
2004 545i Step. And the acceleration from a rolling 20mph - 70mph is unbelievable.

SergeyM

I timed my 545 auto using G-tech last month and in the firs 2 tries got 5.11-5.12 sec to 60 mph in 85 F weather. No break-torquing. This is very difficult to believe. Honestly I do not trust G-tech results at all. If I remember correctly the best 0-60 mph for a manual 545 was 5.4 sec. Manual 550 when tested by some magazine got to 60mph in 5.0 sec flat. So we can say that 550 is about 0.4 sec faster to 60mph and auto 550 should be capable of 4.8-4.9sec to 60 mph. It also very likely that both cars are traction not power limited.

realtyman

My $0.02....
First of all, I was one of the 1st SMG's on the east coast (just behind Rudy & JDN).
I am a true SMG fanatic and advocate.

That said, I will never claim (not that I can recall that I ever did) that the SMG is quicker than a Step or a traditional row-it-yourself manual.
Actually, I beleive that the SMG will most likely be consistently "slower" in a straigt line drag race.
Yes, the SMG will shift consistently quicker than a traditional manula, however the inability to modulate the clutch at launch will almost certainly leave the SMG behind.
OK... Accelleration Assist is there, I agree, but unless you are on a smooth surface with relatively relatively new tires you'll just sit & spin.

Now on a road course...

fq1

Z: I have not done any measured testing, however, I have SMOKED 545 steps with my 550 that has 3,500 miles on it. Today, I did a few stoplight sprints with my buddies' 2005 545 step and each time it was never even a contest as I kept pulling away and by 80mph I was more than a few car lengths ahead. The other thing I did was that I would let him catch up at 40-50 mph and then nail mine and would immediately start pulling away as if it was not even a contest. I had always felt that the 550 step was significantly quicker than my '05 545 but had never tested it diligently.

Like someone posted that they might have put a test version of the 545 motor in your car, the way it was pulling away from the 545 it would appear that they might have put a test version of the M5 motor in mine ! Or maybe, it has to do with the way I broke mine in by reaching top speed with less than 50 miles on the odo and several times with less than 100 miles.

znod

I have provided all that we know about what the mags do above and also what I do. Please reread all my posts. As indicated, my passes are adjusted for weather and to 500'. I also mentioned that there are noncomparabilities. As I also mentioned, my agruments are based on all we know at this time. CD has not yet tested a 550i. I wish I could bump into a 550i at the right place and the right time. I've actually never seen on on the street. As mentioned, MT adjusts for weather. And, I rounded most of my data up (especially 0 to 60 and 1/4 ET) since MT does not give 100ths. And, remember, I gave my averages--not my bests.

znod

You are right about the weight advantage to my car. Good point.

znod

BMW 545i--Manual CD 5/04..........5.5...14.1...102.8 (adjusted for weather; 5 MPH roll)
BMW 545i--Steptronic RT 6/05......5.2...13.7...104.0 (aggressive, but not abusive)
BMW 545i--Steptronic MT 8/04......5.4...13.7...102.1 (adjusted for weather; 1' rollout)
BMW 545i--Steptronic MT 11/05.....5.5...13.8...102.8 (adjusted for weather; 1' rollout)

Well calibrated meters will be highly accurate. You got some nice results. Way to go.