The reason I was considering them had to do with the type of airports in
which I fly. The majority of my flying is for Angel Flight Northeast,
which brings me into Teterboro and Boston Logan frequently. If I could
fly at 160-170 all the way to the outer marker, it would certainly make
fitting in to the traffic flow much easier.

Well, I'm all for being a good citizen, but spending tens of thousands of
dollars to make ATC's job a little easier seems like money poorly spent to
me. You should be able to be in 65% cruise until the OM, pull power back a
few inches, drop the gear, and sail down the ILS at about 140K or so. On
short final, you can pull the power back to 15", pull the nose up to bleed
speed to full-flap speed, drop the flaps, and you'll come right down and
make the 2nd taxiway. ATC will think you're a pro. I really don't think
the engine will have any issue with this operation at all.

But, cost is certainly an issue and if I am lacking in skills to slow
the aircraft down, then this is something I should explore. I was going
to take a Bonanza Proficiency course last October, but unfortunately a
cylinder cracked and started this extended maintenance period.

I've done the BPPP twice. Money very well spent. After this course, you
will be able to handle the airplane well enough without speed brakes for any
reasonable ATC situation.

Personally, if I had $15K burning a hole in my pocket for IFR Bonanza mods,
I'd go for ice protection long before speed brakes.

- Mark