I tend to agree. So many special abilities. Stat boosts, bonus feats, skill bonuses, energy drain, dominate...
It comes with some inbuilt weaknesses, for sure. IMHO, these are far, far outweighed by the benefits. There's a reason I use vamps as BBEGs in my games far more often than Liches or other high powered undead. They are just that good.
Since LA +5 will never get through, I'm voting LA +4.