bmi silver status is only really worth something if you regularly fly with bmi. In my case 90% of my flying is on LHR-Scotland shuttles so BD*S is quite helpful in terms of lounge access and priority everything. If you do your flying on another Star Alliance carrier you won't get much save for a bag fee waiver on the US carriers and a 20% destination miles bonus.
Having said all that however if you aim to make Gold status this does cut out the need to 'waste' 16,000 miles making silver first.