E1142860

Thanks, so far no major engine/transmission work. Knock on wood.

Michiganmike

To be clear, my point was that a car traveling 90 mph would cover 132 feet per second. Assuming the quarter mile times differ by 1 second between the 530i and the 535i, which is what the data I found suggested, and the velocity in that final second averages 90 mph, the one second difference in quarter mile times represents roughly 8 car lengths for a car about 16 feet long. Even if the difference in quarter mile times were 1/2 second, this represents about 4 car lengths at 90 mph. YMMV.

I do not question that the 530i has an edge in reliability and economy over the 535i.

Michiganmike

Your mods to the 530xi made a significant upgrade in performance over stock and clearly closed the gap with a stock 535i. Perhaps you will motivate the 535i owner to add a Dinan package or other software upgrade. Dinan reports for the 535i the combination of the stage 2 software and the Free Flow Exhaust produces maximum output of 384 horsepower at 5700 rpm and 421 lb-ft torque at 4300 rpm.

tuffluck

phew. my 530i was 29k and i have the factory warranty until 2/2011, and then the CPO warranty starts. the 550i's were typically >40k. a few were in the 36-38k range but were very close or already passed the factory warranty point. there were a few under 35k that were in different parts of the country. 1 way ticket + driving back put several of them over 50k (miles) or simply made the cost increase by quite a bit. the extra 10k was just not worth it IMO.

tuffluck

thought i would add this in case anyone does a search and would like to know.

i googled for a while and couldn't come up with any 2006-2007 530i quarter mile times. found the 2007 535i and 550i specs though. then found a calculator that basically matched those estimates as well, so i used the specs from carfolio on the 530i/535i/550i to generate estimated 1/4 miles times.

550i:
actual: 13.7
calculator (3968/360 wt/hp) : 13.57

535i:
actual: 14.0
calculator (3704/300): 14.1

530i:
calculator (3568/268): 14.45

so coming from my original post, 24hp difference from the 535i and the 530i represents approximately .35 faster quarter mile, while the 74hp difference from the 550i to the 530i equates to a .75-.90 difference in the quarter mile (depending on if you are comparing actual or calculated).

the 0-60 ratings for the 535i put it 1.1 seconds faster than the 530i. clearly you can see that isn't true when their quarter mile disparity is a fraction of that number over a longer distance.

i can't validate the calculator's estimates anymore than just pointing out they are very similar to actual numbers for the 550i and the 535i. if someone had actuals of a 2006-2007 1/4 mile for the 530i, that would obviously be more appropriate and accurate. the 225hp 2004 version of the 530i has an actual quarter mile of 15.2, so the 2006-2007 14.45 mark seems pretty reasonable in that comparison as well.

links found in post #48 and #50 here:

https://5series.net/forums/topic/103...i/page__st__45

turboawd

your "calculator" ignores torque. i dont understand why you keep spewing nonsense. you're constantly trying to prove and justify your purchase of a 530, versus the other engines. yes, the 530 is a decent engine, but quit saying it almost performs the same as the other engines.

CVTBenhogan

The only thing I'd really add is the 07 530 is a peach of a car. I test drove the 530 with the new 268hp engine (in 2006) and it felt pretty good. Overall, quick from a momentum standpoint and noticeably more agile. That said, it didn't have the brute force of the 550 and I really wanted a 5.0 flat 0-60 car. I forget the 0-60 time of the 530, I'm thinking high fives or low sixes. If I was buying a used E60 now, I'd consider it. I just like the whack of the 550.

There is no noticeable difference in 545 versus the 550. Based my purchase decision on the 545 anyway. In fact, there was a forum member who continually ran and tracked 0-60 times for a variety of V8 cars on the forum. Znod was the guy's name. Anyway, I think the 545 seemed to be faster and slighly edged the 550. Step was always faster than manual as well.

I've driven the 335 and the turbo motor comes on right away. Its very nice and has flatter torque curve. I prefer the V8 though, as its comes on slighly harder and later. I prefer the NA engines and I'm thinking of getting the last one in the 2012 M3.

D33ZNUT5

X2, you sound like a guy that thinks he knows everything but in reality you don't. This thread fails.

RMcoolX

My bro-n-law has a 530i. Maybe if he wants to play, I can come back here with a report.

I'll be sure and to remove the SSTT.

Diamond

Dude nobody loves and sticks up for the n52 530i as myself an owner of an 07 sports 530i but a few things.

1.Who started this 268 hp? The USA version has 255hp. The Euro has 258DIN which is equiv to 255 us HP.
2.The 2008 EURO N52 direct inject, non-valvetronic, (varient of the n52-non turbo) had 272 DIN or 268HP. But only EURO got this so nobody in the U.S has one and these didnt come out until 2008.

Now second, the 535 absolutely feels like a rocket ship compared to the 530-there is not even a question. The 535 is WAY underrated. That n54 motor has consistently dynoed at 330 engine hp, not the 300 listed hp. So for starters there is just no comparison. Not sure how you drove in the test drive but if you kicked it into WOT in first and second or ESPECIALLY at 70mph on the freeway-the thing pulls like a train v. the 530 barely moves in comparison on the freeway.

Now I appreciate my 530 for a couple things.
1.Its a more pure NA I6 engine, and the most technologically advanced, highest rated hp (aside from M-I6 engines) ever built. It is lightweight and I DO enjoy the higher revs of the engine being where the power is made-has a more M-like feel to keeping revs high and I personally love the sound of the engine when at 6500 plus revs and it keeps pulling more and more up to 7k.

In comparison the n54 pulls hard until 6400 and then noticably pulls less and less so really there is no usable space from 6500-7000 revs even though it exists-its never nor should never be driven there as not in its powerband.

2.I enjoy it being probably the last of the lightweight sport sedans-at 3600 its not too shabby, especially compared to the 335 which is actually a tad heavier. So its relatively light weight which means I like how nimble it is and all.

3.My engine has not exactly been reliable-had the entire head/valvetrain swapped at 35k for lifter tick and dealer induced valve spring breaking. Since then had a vanos actuator go. But in general its been better than the n54 and probably long term it is a more reliable (less moving parts) engine.

But all in all there really is no noticable difference in the driving of the 530, 535 or 550 with sports suspension unless you were on a track-if purely handling perspective driving spiritedly around, you would not notice a difference. Now I am not talkin XI models, only RWD sport comparison.

It makes a lot of people sore, especially the 2006 330i owners sore, that bmw came out with this monster that totally trumped the engine it suprassed, unlike anything bmw did in the past. So people try to justify their cars and the same with the 530i. I used to do it but the more times I drove other cars I realized the 530 is and always be a relatively slow car to todays standards so now adays I enjoy it for a nice sound and smooth cruising car, not one I punch it for a thrill.

As with almost any modern car, of course it is sufficiently powerful for any modern day driving, merging and passing so no loss there. But fun factor of sheer acceleration is just not there.

Just look at the numerous youtube videos of 330i's v. 335i's-its the same comparison and you see the drastic difference each time.

But nonetheless you have a great bmw, and until recently one of the best in the history. Just think back to how many people raved and still rave about the e46 and e39 530i/330i-the 225hp m54 was raved in so many car mags for so many years. Everything is relative that is all. If turbo era did not come along you would enjoy your car a lot more but FI era came and there ya go. But if you put yourself in the mindset of comparing to previous era bmw's and how many people were loyal and enjoyed them, you can think you still have the most "traditional" 5 series of them all compared to the 528 which is detuned, 535 which is turbo and the 550 which is a v8 ---most classic traditional bmw to me is a lighter weight, well handling I6 NA car with its engine at full output and making power at peak RPM's.. The n52 is the last of that tradition-enjoy it for what it is-not for something it never will be