Beechcraft Baron B55 vs B58: Which Costs Less

The overhaul interval is not a simple 1,500-versus-1,700-hour comparison. Continental's current TBO guidance varies by engine model and serial number: the IO-470-L is listed at 1,500 hours for earlier serials and 1,700 hours for S/N 1006000 and later, while IO-520-C and IO-550-C intervals range from 1,700 to 1,900 hours depending on model and serial number.

That is the whole problem with Beechcraft Baron B55 vs B58 shopping. The sticker prices point one direction, the hourly reserves point somewhere else, and insurance mostly ignores both and looks at your logbook instead.

One housekeeping note first: there is no factory model called a "B58." Beech built the Model 58, and buyers borrowed the letter from the 55-series naming. When someone says B58, they mean the straight Baron 58 — the stretched, club-seat, double-door version that Textron Aviation still builds today as the G58.

The Short Answer

If you fly two or three people, most of your trips are under 500 nautical miles, and you want twin-engine capability for the lowest realistic cash outlay, the B55 is the better buy — it costs less up front, burns less fuel, insures for less because the hull value is lower, and it will do nearly everything the 58 does at the speeds that matter. If you regularly carry four to six people, load bulky baggage, or want an airplane that is still supported by an active production line and holds value like a current model, the 58 is worth the extra money and you should not talk yourself into a B55 to save it. The trap is buying a B55 and then spending 58 money making it do 58 work.

What You Actually Pay to Buy One

The 55-series Barons — Model 55, A55, B55, C55, D55 and E55 — ran from 1961 to 1982. The Model 58 entered production around 1970 and remained in production through the mid-2000s before evolving into the G58, the current-production descendant of the same basic stretched Baron design. That production overlap is why the price spread is so wide: a 1970 B55 and a 2010 G58 are both "Barons," and they are separated by more than a million dollars.

In the used market, older 58s from the 1970s land much closer to late B55s than most buyers expect, because both are 50-year-old airframes with the same paint, interior, avionics and corrosion questions. The airframe year and the engine and avionics condition drive price far more than the model designation does.

As of September 2026, Flying411 had 3 Beechcraft Baron aircraft listed across all variants, asking $130,000 to $165,000 with a median of $140,000, model years 1964 to 1979 and a median total time of 5,300 hours. Those are asking prices on live listings, not sale prices or appraisals, and the sample is too small to split by variant — treat them as a snapshot of what sellers are asking for older Barons, not as a valuation.

Why It Matters: On a 50-year-old twin, the difference between a $130,000 airplane and a $190,000 airplane is usually engines and panel, not model. A B55 with 200 hours on fresh engines and a modern GPS navigator can easily cost more than a runout 1973 Baron 58 — and be the smarter purchase.

Edge: B55, on entry price — but only when you compare like ages and like engine times.

Engines, TBO and the Overhaul Reserve Math

This is where the comparison gets interesting. The B55 runs two 260-horsepower Continental IO-470-L engines, while the Baron 58 used 285-horsepower IO-520-C engines in earlier aircraft and 300-horsepower IO-550-C engines from 1984 onward. Under Continental SIL98-9E, applicable TBO depends on the exact model and serial number, so verify the installed engines before assigning an overhaul reserve.

Overhaul shops in 2025 were quoting roughly $50,000 to $60,000 for a field overhaul of an IO-470, and roughly $55,000 to $70,000 for a 520- or 550-series engine, with factory rebuilt exchanges at the top of those ranges or above. Turn that into an hourly reserve, which is the number that actually matters:

• B55: overhaul reserve depends on whether the installed IO-470-Ls carry the applicable 1,500- or 1,700-hour interval.
  Baron 58: IO-520-C and IO-550-C overhaul reserves likewise depend on the installed engine model and serial number, with applicable intervals extending to 1,900 hours on some later IO-550-Cs.

They are effectively a wash. The B55's cheaper engines are paid back to the shop 200 hours sooner, and the advantage evaporates. Where the B55 genuinely wins is fuel: owners typically report 26 to 28 gallons per hour total in cruise versus 30 to 33 for a 58. At $6.50 a gallon, that is about $30 an hour, or $4,500 over a 150-hour year.

What you buy with those extra gallons is less than you would think. A 58 cruises in the high 190s in knots true where a B55 runs in the mid to high 180s. Over an 800-nautical-mile leg, the 58 lands about ten minutes earlier and burns 20 to 25 more gallons doing it. It is the same trade as putting a bigger V8 in the family SUV — you feel it on the hill, not on the clock.

Edge: B55 on fuel, a draw on overhaul reserves.

Flying411 keeps Beechcraft Baron listings from both series in one place, so you can compare engine times, avionics and asking prices side by side instead of chasing them across a dozen tabs.

Insurance: Hull Value and Your Logbook Decide It

Underwriters do not price the B55 and the 58 as different risks in any meaningful way. Same manufacturer, same basic systems, same accident profile, same training requirements. What they price is the hull value you declare and the pilot flying it.

That means the B55 usually costs less to insure for one boring reason: it is worth less, so there is less hull to replace. Insure a $140,000 B55 and a $230,000 Baron 58 at the same rate, and the 58 costs more in dollars every year. Owner-flown Baron policies commonly land somewhere in the $4,000 to $9,000 range annually as of 2025, with the spread driven by hull value, total time, multi-engine time and whether you complete recurrent training.

The pilot side is where the real money is. A 300-hour private pilot with 15 hours of multi time buying either Baron will either be quoted a painful number, be declined, or be required to complete a set number of dual hours with a named instructor plus annual recurrent training. A 2,000-hour instrument-rated pilot with prior twin time gets a very different quote on the exact same airplane.

Heads Up: Get a real insurance quote with your own name and hours on it before you sign a purchase agreement. Buyers regularly discover the premium is twice what they budgeted, and it is a much cheaper discovery to make in the quoting stage than after the deposit.

Edge: B55, purely because a lower hull value means a lower premium.

Cabin, Loading and What Each One Is Actually For

Here is the difference you feel from the first flight. The Model 58 uses a fuselage stretched about 10 inches with the wing moved forward, which bought Beech two things: a genuine club-seating cabin and double doors on the right rear. You load passengers and bags through an opening you can walk a cooler through. The B55's back seats are reached by folding yourself past the front seats through one forward door.

The wing shift also gave the 58 a more forgiving center of gravity envelope. B55 owners consistently report that filling the rear seats and the aft baggage area pushes the airplane toward the aft limit faster than they expected, and that careful weight and balance is not optional. On the 58, four adults and bags is routine.

Fuel capacity follows the same pattern. The B55 came standard with 100 usable gallons and offered 136; early Model 58s commonly have 136 usable gallons standard with larger optional systems, while later 58/G58 fuel capacity differs by year and configuration. With four people aboard, the B55 often cannot take full optional fuel, which quietly turns a five-hour airplane into a three-and-a-half-hour airplane.

If you want the broader context on where both sit among light twins, our roundup of the 9 best light twin aircraft is a useful map, and the Baron 58 vs Cessna 310R comparison covers the 58's closest rival.

Edge: Baron 58, and it is not close.

Maintenance, Parts and Corrosion

Both airplanes sit on FAA type certificate data sheet 3A16 and share most of their systems, so the annual inspection story is broadly similar. Owners report base annuals in the $4,000 to $7,000 range on a well-kept Baron, with $10,000 and up common on an airplane that has been sitting or deferred. Landing gear rigging, fuel bladders, magnetos, exhaust systems and corrosion in the magnesium control surfaces are the recurring line items on both.

Where the 58 pulls ahead is support. Textron Aviation still builds the G58 — list price is well north of $1.7 million as of 2025 — which keeps a current parts pipeline alive for structures and components shared with older 58s. The 55 series has been out of production since 1982. Common parts are still available, but the odd bracket or interior piece gets harder to source every year, and salvage yards become part of your maintenance plan.

Good to Know: The American Bonanza Society covers Barons as well as Bonanzas and runs type-specific maintenance clinics. For a 50-year-old Beech twin, a type club membership pays for itself the first time it saves you a misdiagnosis.

Both benefit from the same discipline any older airframe needs — see our guides on maintaining an aircraft to extend its life and on maintaining vintage aircraft engines.

Edge: Baron 58, on long-term parts support.

Flying411 keeps light twin listings, specs and ownership guides in one place, so you can compare a B55 against a 58, a 310 or a Duke without guessing at the numbers.

Which One Should You Buy?

The step-up owner flying two people. You are moving from a Bonanza or a 182 and want redundancy for night and weather work. Buy the B55. The lower purchase price, lower hull value and 26-gallon-per-hour burn all pull in the same direction, and you will almost never need the back half of a 58's cabin. Spend the difference on fresh engines and a modern panel.

The family or small-business flyer. Four to six people, golf clubs, trade-show boxes, 600-mile legs. Buy the 58. The double aft doors, club seating, 136 usable gallons standard and wider CG envelope are the entire reason the airplane exists. A B55 will make this trip, but it will make it annoying every single time.

The budget-first buyer. If the purchase price is what is stopping you, be honest about the operating side. Two piston twin engines cost roughly $70 to $75 an hour in overhaul reserve alone on either airplane, before fuel, insurance, hangar and annual. If that reserve is the number that breaks the budget, the answer may be a smaller twin or a high-performance single rather than the cheaper Baron. Our comparisons of the Duchess versus the Baron and the DA42 versus the Seminole cover the lighter end of that market, and the Duke versus Baron piece covers what happens when you go the other way.

Pro Tip: Budget $3,000 to $5,000 for a prebuy at a Beech-experienced shop, and insist on a full compression and borescope check on all twelve cylinders plus a gear swing. On a twin, one skipped prebuy item costs more than the entire inspection.

The Cheaper Baron Is the One That Fits the Mission

Run the Beechcraft Baron B55 vs B58 question through real numbers and it stops being a contest. The B55 is cheaper to buy, cheaper to insure and cheaper to fuel, by margins that add up to several thousand dollars a year. The 58 costs more in every one of those columns and earns it back in cabin access, useful fuel, CG flexibility and a parts supply that is still being manufactured. Neither one is a bargain if you buy it with tired engines and a stack of deferred squawks, and both reward a thorough prebuy more than almost any other light twin on the used market.

Decide how many seats you will actually fill on a typical trip, then let that pick the model. The savings follow from the right airplane, not the cheaper one.

When you are ready to compare listings, visitFlying411and see what is on the market today.