[JK479]

Originally Posted by smhoer

I don't think anyone has pointed out that similarly optioned (i.e. loaded) the price difference is only around $4500. The lease payment is still about $150 more due to BMWFS' manipulation of the MF and residual.

For me one drive in the 550 made my decision.

Now that i have had a chance to separate myself from the "hoopla" of deciding between the two, i can tell you the 550 is probbaly what i would pick if it came down to picking out a 535i or a 550i now.

150.00 is a lot of money to some, but others its not. People misunderstood me thinking 150.00 was chump change. its not, its part of the lifestyle you pay or lease a nice car.

But i think 150.00 buys you the better car. I still feel the 535i broke my heart. It should have been quicker than it felt on the road. its too heavy for just 300 HP. a 4000lb car needs 350 to be sportly like the last 535i was.

So if I plunked down money, the 550i would be the choice. regardless of gas mileage. Because if I had leased the 535i, i would have been drivign it so hard to prove to myself it was not under powered. And another note to the readers, I think the 8 speed and 300 HP is an upgrade over the 300 hp 6 speed manual. 1st and 2nd on the auto make this car faster than the stick.

So I guess i have to be very specific. I am still disappointed with the 300 HP 6 speed manual. Maybe gearing... something was not right. And it cost BMW a sale in OCT and NOV.

[JK479]

Originally Posted by Acquarian

I test drove both the 535 and 550, while I found the 535 more than adequate the 550 was just so much more fun to drive. Ultimately what made the decision for me was when I optioned out both cars. The 550 has more standard equipment and because of that required the addition of fewer options.

Once I had the configurations set the 550 was only $2500 more than the 535. To me that made the decision to go with the 550 a no-brainer.

You forget the cost of depreciation, at the end the 550 will depreciate more than the 535,

Of course you may not care about this point, and at the end what really counts is how much you enjoy one car over the other and costs are irrelevant[/QUOTE]


And when you lease, you do not care about depreciation... only that the Residual Value is high enough for a good deal.

[delvek]

After reading these 3 pages I feel like I missed out on a part of the buying experience because at no time did I consider the fuel efficiency.

As a side note, I really wish Global Warming would come back and be the "in" thing because the last 2 winters has been cold as a witches titty with record breaking snow and this winter looks the same. I am not a fan of the new Global Cooling, it is in the way of my enjoying my 550!

[Touring]

Buy the 550. Then You can tell your grandschildren that grand dad actually owned a V8. Which disappeared like the dinosaurs.

[Jim_in_Calgary]

I've been considering this problem for the last 2 weeks since I ordered my 535xi MSport. When I went back to the configurator, It looks like the difference between:

- a 535xi MSport + executive package; and
- a 550xi MSport (which has largely everything the executive package gives in the 535xi)

is about $4,200 CAD. I can still order the 550xi MSport if I want and I'm agonizing over this decision.

I do not care about feeding the car extra fuel for an extra 100HP, so I want to consider depreciation only, which has been raised here many times.

Despite my indifference to fuel economy, it still affects depreciation because we are talking about how much others will pay for the car - espcially and no doubt if/when fuel prices shoot up again.

Ignorigin that for the moment, I'm not so convinced (maybe it's wishfull thinking) about the spread in depreciation on the F10 between the 550 and the 535.

My thought in this regard is that conventional thinking around F10 5er depreciation is based largely on e60 depreciation patterns. The e60 550i didn't hold its value compared to the e60 535i for a few reasons in my mind:

1. Horsepower - The 550i (360HP) and the 535i (300HP but most agree it's really about 335HP) had nearly equivalent performance, with theoretically something like a 25HP difference depending on who you believe. So why would you pay so much extra for the 550i? This is not the case with the F10 5er where the spread is likely a true 100HP. This justifies the increased price where HP is the variable. Winner - 535i - nearly equivalent performance with a significantly lower entry price.

2. Fuel Economy- According to fueleconomy.gov the e60 535i (combined 20 MPG) got 2 MPG better than the e60 550i (combined 18MPG). However, for the F10, the spread is bigger at 5MPG (535i Combined 24MPG - 550i Combined 20MPG). Interestingly, the F10 550i 20MPG combined equals the e60 535i.

I have to give the edge to the F10 535 here because of the nearly 20% spread in fuel economy from the F10 550i but I also have to give the F10 550i credit for very nearly matching the fuel economy of the E60 535i.

3. Utility - In Canada, at least around here, 9 out of 10 E60 535s were XIs due to the realities of the winters and the utility of an AWD vehicle. The E60 550i suffered from that in terms of resale being a RWD car. I think when talking about a F10 550xi vs. 535xi, there is no value differential here. In Canada I think this made up a good chunk of the depreciation between the 550i and the 535xi. I think this is because used car buyers tend to be more value/utility conscious than new car buyers. Used car buyers are less likely to be in the market for a summer only car.

These are all variables that I think play into it, and it leads me to the conclusion that the F10 depreciation between F10 550xi and 535xi might be skinnier than the spread in depreciation between E60 535xi (because of my location) and E60 550i.

Has anybody had similar thoughts here?

[Jim_in_Calgary]

Originally Posted by Touring

Buy the 550. Then You can tell your grandschildren that grand dad actually owned a V8. Which disappeared like the dinosaurs.

I remember thinking that in 1987 when my parents traded their 1977 Chev Caprice classic 350 4BBL on a 1988 chrysler 4 cylinder. I thought "this is probably the last v8 I will ever drive, because the cost of fuel has rendered v8s extinct like the dinosaur".

Meanwhile, 2000 - present has truly been the golden age of the V8 and horsepower. Even the average current v6 Camry (with ~260HP) would blow almost every '60s muscle car away in terms of acceleration, not to mention fuel economy.

I wonder if the days of the V8 are truly drawing to a close, or will the fear of high fuel costs be borne out by reality. I hope not in both cases.

[bobblehead]

Hey Jim,

I would like to add some comment on the depreciation factor between the 535xi & 550xi. As you know, the biggest depreciation of any cars will be in the first 3 years of ownership, therefore, if you are going to keep the car for about 3years +, then the resale value between the two may not be so significant.

For example, after 3 years, a 535xi may retain about 52% of the orig. value wheras a 550xi may retain about 48% of the orig. value (lowered because of the V8 factor ... gas guzzler !)

But you have to consider the FUN factor involved

[ICALL]

I just skimmed through this thread so forgive me if this has been discussed.

0-60 on 535 is 5.7 seconds
0-60 on 550 is 4.9-5.1 seconds

2011 550 has a Dinan chip mod bringing it to almost 500hp and 0-60 of 4.3-4.5 seconds.

2011 535 is not as "tuneable" as the old 535.

550i comes mostly loaded standard.

The 6 speed manual transmission is INCREDIBLY smooth in the 550. I'm having more fun in this than I did in my 2007 335i.

I was ready to order a 335is and was gloated into getting a 550i. I beat myself up over the ego thing as I felt this was the only reason I opted for the 550. I'm glad I did.

If you can afford it, do it!

[Calgary Agent]

The Dinan flash does improve the 550i fun factor

[Jim_in_Calgary]

Originally Posted by bobblehead

Hey Jim,

I would like to add some comment on the depreciation factor between the 535xi & 550xi. As you know, the biggest depreciation of any cars will be in the first 3 years of ownership, therefore, if you are going to keep the car for about 3years +, then the resale value between the two may not be so significant.

For example, after 3 years, a 535xi may retain about 52% of the orig. value wheras a 550xi may retain about 48% of the orig. value (lowered because of the V8 factor ... gas guzzler !)

But you have to consider the FUN factor involved

Yes,

I think I intend to keep the car for about 6-9 years....though I've said that before!

The nice thing about buying a brand new generation (though there are minuses) is that in the first few years of a new model the depreciation is a little less than usual because the model is still "hot" and the obsolescence of the body style is still far off.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by Jim_in_Calgary

Yes,

I think I intend to keep the car for about 6-9 years....though I've said that before!

The nice thing about buying a brand new generation (though there are minuses) is that in the first few years of a new model the depreciation is a little less than usual because the model is still "hot" and the obsolescence of the body style is still far off.

Good point, my 550i M Sport will be very "exclusive" here in the UK, it's the only one at the moment ordered here, there are two registered to BMW, that makes three all told.
SO it just might make the RV better, at least I hope so.

[Autojack]

This thread is all over the place - so here are my random observations and comments about my new (Oct build) F10 550 M sport which has about 1050 miles. IMHO:
1. I get about 17/18 mpg for an entire tank of fuel, mixed city, highway, rush hour and some mid-day driving.
2. I can easily get 23/24 mpg for 100% casual highway driving between 60mph and 70mph. The rpm stays at about 1450 rpm for 60mph and at about 1700 for 70mph.
3. One of the the biggest power differences between the F10 535 and F10 550 is the huge amount of low rpm torque in the 550. The full 450 ft/lbs of torque is delivered at 1750 rpm all the way to 5k rpm, which for highway on-ramps is like a rocket ship on wheels. From my experience, the acceleration between 10 mph and 60 mph is drastically different between the 535 and 550.
4. I also compared my F10 550 with an "identically equipped" 2011 F10 535 on the BMW NA "Build your own ... :. The MSRP price difference was $5150, the dealer invoice price difference was $4688.

[bobblehead]

weather & temperature also key factors in the fuel consumption result.

[JK479]

Originally Posted by bobblehead

weather & temperature also key factors in the fuel consumption result.

Nice!

[xxpanipuri]

i average around 15 around town...and 18-21mpg on the highway.

now i have a lead foot, for example i was driving home from SF last night at 10:30 and i was cruising down 280 at 90mph without issue in sport + mode. and average 18mpg...that was also including stop and go driving in SF.

Now i could have put the car in eco pro, and kept trans in regular drive mode etc etc...but i didn't buy this car for fuel economy. As others have mentioned if you're looking for fuel economy then a twin turbo 400+ hp v8 is probably not for you, because the temptation to punch it when you have an opening in traffic, is too great for me.

You want Fuel Economy and that is your #1 concern then dont get the v8.

Also, i don't commute in this car all the time, so for normal commute duty i have a 2000 camry with 281k miles on it which is perfect to put those commuting bumper to bumper traffic miles on ....

hope that helps...