540i Buying advice needed!

If you want all out perfromance you could always go for an E34 M5. As Andy says most of the 540's were autos which IMO doesn't lend itself to being sporty although i'm sure others will disagree. There were a few 540 sports with a manual box but they are like rocking horse S**t.

well,mine has a k+n panel filter,the end of the airbox chopped off and a superchip.all this raised the power to 310hp from 286hp.mine has nitrous on top which adds another 100hp but thats usually reserved for the drag strip.

  as standard they come with an "open" diff which is extremely long legged and not much kop for sprinting,more for cruising(if it could reach it fifth gear is geared for 195mph! and they hit the speed limiter in fourth!) the way round this is to fit the diff from an m5.i have had a look on the oem parts website and the driveshafts are the same so there shouldn't be any probs fitting one.the 3.6's and five speed 3.8 m5's come with a 3.93:1 diff which would be excellent for acceleration  but the top speed would be down to 140ish in fifth.the six speed m5's had a 3.23:1 diff which would give you 170ish top end if deristricted.the other benifit of the m5 diff is it is a limited slip diff.this is the one i am going to try and find over the winter.

  they are never going to be quick off the line being an auto.i think standard 0-60 is 7seconds.but they will match a standard cossie or scooby up the drag strip(14.8 seconds for the 1/4)

                             bryan 

"4 litres worth, 286 bhp and the sexy V8 noise would beat a 6 pot 3.5 litre IMO any day."

Andrew have you driven both the 3.5 and the 4.0?

"A manual 523i will do 0-60 in 8.something seconds, the auto is much slower in comparison but that is only with 170 horses to play with, you have over 100 more, that's like a Ford Focus engine plus my 6 pot from my E39".

It really does not work like that.

A auto box will never be/feel as sporty as a manual not ever, and a manual 535 is a bloody quick car where as a auto is more leisurely power.

how do you knock the timing back at full pelt then ?

you would be wise to have this retarded 4degree.

i drive an e34 535i auto sport and in my opinion you can't go wrong with an m30.its done 161k and still goes like stink.

i was looking for a manual but this very nice 1990 auto came up and i couldn't resist! every time i drive it i have a smile on my face,the kickdown is ferocious and the noise is great.

I think Peter has stated the manual auto debate again!!!!

All good stuff.

b8alk wrote: "4 litres worth, 286 bhp and the sexy V8 noise would beat a 6 pot 3.5 litre IMO any day."

A six pot is still a six pot if it is 2.5 or 3.5 litres.  Yes one will have more power but they still work the same.  A V8 is a completely different engine and that is what I would want.  I have owned two 6 pot cars and if I had a chance of owning a V8 over another 6 pot, the V8 would win.

b8alk wrote: Andrew have you driven both the 3.5 and the 4.0?

No I haven't driven either of those.  I presume you have driven a 540i then? You had one of those lovely big Hartge (excuse the spelling if that is wrong) 535i E34.  Nice car......

b8alk wrote: "A manual 523i will do 0-60 in 8.something seconds, the auto is much slower in comparison but that is only with 170 horses to play with, you have over 100 more, that's like a Ford Focus engine plus my 6 pot from my E39". It really does not work like that.

What doesn't work like that?

The fact that you take a 170 bhp and you add 100+ bhp more from an ordinary family car you get around the bhp of a 4.0 litre BMW engine? 170 +100 and a bit = 270 and a bit.

I have driven a 1.6 Focus company pool car which has around 100 horses and if feels adequate for what it is.  I then get in my 170 bhp E39 and it feels so much quicker.  Add the two together and you will have, IMO, something that will really fly!

b8alk wrote: a auto is more leisurely power.

They can still shift once you knock them into sports mode.  Slight delay, granted but it'll still beat them ordinary cars.

The point I was making was that if you have more than 200 bhp you will have a quick car regardless if it is manual or auto. 

Those ordinary Fords and Vauxhalls on the roads will have what say 130 bhp on average. 

Andrew