With the 550i you would drive a 5000 V8, not a 3000 with a little turbo .
The 550i is more powerful and more reliable . More torque . More sound . More everything .

Wow your cars are cheap.

Just did the local configurator for 550 and came out at AUS$180k (plus on road costs rego, more taxes etc.), which is a tad over US$160K!!!!!

The difference is envy tax.

Imagine being a non BMW owner. You are driving along, first you see a nice big BMW with a "550" badge on it. Following behind you see what looks like an identical car but it says "535". Which one is better .... the 550 .... ;)

If the 535i didn't have twin turbos I would have definitely gone for the 550i.

For me, I just couldn't justify another 8 large for two more cylinders and 60hp. I don't really care for body kits. In my opinion, the 535i's looks can hold its own in stock condition. With the prices I can buy at, a fully loaded 550i puts me really close to the M5 price range. I set a price point in my mind and stayed with it. Besides, I've scratched my V8 itch years ago (see 2nd car in sig).

Be honest - how many people out there are skeptical about forced induction on the TT I6, but would jump at the chance to get the TT V8 when the new F10's start rolling out?

The people that have 550s say that the 550 is worth it and is more reliable than the 535. How does anyone know it is more reliable. Perhaps the TT engine will be just as reliable. I drove both cars and the 550 didn't seem that much quicker. If it didn't seem quicker, then does it really matter that it is a "tick" quicker on paper? After driving a 535 and 550 and not feeling much difference for a car that costs $12,000 more in Canada, I'm considering the M5.

grover

PS The dealer around here can't sell their 550s -people are opting for the 535i (xi). Until BMW widens the performance gap between the two models, people are buying the 535 - notwithstanding how much better the 550 owners on the forums are saying their cars are.

There has been tons of chat on here on the 535 vs 550 debate; with no real, proven conclusion - probably because there isn't a conclusion to come to - it depends a lot on individual preferences IMO.

Living in western Canada, for me, if BMW made the 550 with the xDrive, it might have been seriously considered by me. Since it doesn't exist, and the xDrive is important to me with a daily driven in all weather conditions, the 535xi was the most logical way to go.

If I lived in S.Cal, Florida or Maui, I probably would have got the 550. Hell, if I had the bucks, and lived there, I might have got the M5 - but that's all conjecture.

I am very happy with my 535xi and it does a great job in poor road conditions. It was the right choice for ME, regardless of which car is "better"...... :)

Wow...I thought this thread was going to be why buy 550 (360hp) when the 55? (400+hp) may only be 7 months away!!! The 335 vs. 550 arguement is getting boring...same ol same ol! :D Maybe both cars do the same thing, just 2 different ways and BMW is giving the consumer more choices???

What is not available on the 535i that is available on the 550i beside the m-tech body kit? I hope I didn't over look an option on the bmwusa.com site.

In any case, the 550i will be more expensive by several thousands over the 535i as pointed out by some of you. I'm also a fan of v8, but I'm being convinced that the TT I6 isn't going to be plague by reliability issues like those turbos of the 80's and 90's in the Supras and 300zx. Back then, fixing the turbo costed around $3-4K. I haven't heard of Subaru's turbo issues, but then again, I'm not intouch with the Subaru brand. Surely, BMW isn't going to repeat others mistakes unless that's the natural of turbos/SC.

So, I think my v8 preference, particularly NA, are being outnumbered unless out-of-box performance options available on the 550i is not available on the 535i. And to look ahead, if I'm to stick with BMW, their v8 will also be turboed. :o

fuel pump issues are a big problem for the 3.0TT engine, well documented with 335 owners.

Its a great engine, but after having a number of FI cars, I will always choose NA over FI now. The piece of mind is greater than my willingness to mod cars now.

btw, im sure fixing a blown turbo on the 335/535 is going to cost a lot more than $3,4k

That's next on the agenda. As most of you know, I bought my 545i back in August 05 before I found this informative forum, and I searched to see if BMW was going to release the 4.8i engine. BMW made it a real secret (or the dealer salesperson was being deceptive) that they didn't know if BMW would put the 4.8i in the 06 release of the 5 series. If I knew, I would have waited a couple month to get into a 550i instead of a 545i. :| I couldn't get any dealers to confirm the 06 release. :(

Anyways, I posted this question to get a feel and hopefully give a potential new bimmer user a better idea of BMW's current and near future offerings. Particularly, is the 550i really worth the premium when you can get into the same model, same everything (assuming USA) except for a different engine that can be modded to performance equal or better than the v8 in a 535i? Let's be try to be as objective as possible.