I now have 1500 miles on my 545ia with sport pkg.
The only regret I have is the slower speed limits in the USA. On the east coast the max. speed limit I know of is only 65 or at most 70 MPH. The 545 is hardly cruising at that level. My wife refers to the car as a rocketship, but at these max speeds you never get to use the after-burners. I envy our German members that really can utilize the cars effortless power on the Autobahn. I remember my three visits to Europe with smaller rental BMWs and getting pushed out of the left lane because I was only doing 165 kilometers/hr. I would love to have my 545i (which is now broken in) on those roads. You'd get a lot more respect from the 500/600 series Mercedes that give you the flick of the lights, so move out of my way bit.
In the States, my greatest joy is when a tailgater bears down on your rear end, to just step down on the gas and leave them far off in the dust. Gives them the message like nothing else. Especially on a curve with roll-stabization kicking in. Not many of them can stay anywhere near you.
My original order was for a 530i, but after later test driving the 545i, there was no choice, Just had to go for the extra bucks for the 545. The car looks, drives, and handles like nothing else. Go 545i all the way, but you must get the sports pkg, whether you get stick or step. The extra $6500 over the price of the 530i is well worth it plus more.

 

When I was doing the math before placing an order I came up with 2200 bucks per extra cylinder for the V8. The other thing that pushed me toward the 545i was the extra weight. I did not care for the light kind of disconnected feeling of the 530i in a cross wind on the Autobahn going 120 mph. I didn't get the sport package because the active steering correcting for a crosswind was just too weird and the rough rather noisy ride of the runflats. Guess I'm getting old.

The 545i is amazing
- heavy - soaking up all but the biggest bumps
- quick - more than enough power for any situation
- pointable - goes exactly where you want it
- level in a turn - It's a BMW - IMHO the improvement in ride quality outweighs the cornering ability lost by skipping the Sport Package.

I wanted a luxury car not a race car. I think I got both! Nice!

 

Not sure what JDN is asking here. If I never testdrove a 530, then do you still want a vote? Please advise. Thanks.

Sam

 

I guess it wouldn't be as fair as those who have driven both. Another category would have cured that situation, but basically I turned it into a regrets or no regrets poll even though the subject might have indicated otherwise. Which way did he go, George?