out of the E34 models which is the best

Well, after owning 10 BM's in the past 13 years, of the 3 E34's I've owned (525i, 535i & 540i), the car thieves preferred my 540i and thought that was the best, although they failed to break the steering lock and thankfully ran off without doing any other damage-in fact the steering lock & ignition switch still work ok, if a little stiffer than normal.

The best all rounder in the real world is the 525i, preferably late model 24v Vanos. Tourings even better as they're still great fun to drive and you can pile all sorts of stuff in the back, or fold the back seats down and live in the rear of the car if you get evicted from home or can't bear to be away from your BM

Best cheap old bruiser is 535i cos they're peanuts to buy and do sooooooooooo much more than a ratty old hatchback you'd get for the same amount.

540i's-brilliant cars with Alusil engines & risky or depression inducing with Nikasil engines-do ya feel lucky, punk?

Fuel consumption on any E34 ain't brilliant round town as they're all heavy cars-yes, even the humble 518i tips the scales around a portly 1400kg, with fully loaded 540i Tourings squashing the tarmac with a hefty 1800kg fully laden.

My 540i does 18-22mpg round town, and 28-30 mpg on a long motorway run on a warm summers day one up and no heavy luggage. I once brimmed the 540i and drove to Scotland, turned round and came back again until the red low fuel light came on. At around 75-80 mph motorway cruising I got 485 miles and still had over a gallon left in reserve.

It's so long-legged you see, 2000rpm at 70mph.

525i Touring does 22-24mpg round town, and around 32-34mpg  on a similar long motorway run lightly laden on a warm day. Expect saloons to do a little more because of slightly better aerodynamics.

Very dependent on how you drive them though. Enjoy yourself and you'll pay the price at the pumps. Drive with sensible restraint and you'll get some very good figures on long runs for such big, heavy cars.

Weight, however, has minimal effect on sustained flat road cruising economy-aerodynamics plays the bigger part here.

Take an E34 round town though, and watch that economy tumble, even with the smaller engines, as you have to work them harder to shift all those kilos.

Doesn't really make sense to buy small-engined big car, so aim for the mid-sized engines as the best all rounders-the 525i is the clear winner here, also possessing very balanced handling with less weight up front than big M30 sixes.

For those dedicated to arriving before they set off, Alusil engined 540i or M5 is the only way to go. M5 sublime but specialist. 540i gives a grunty 90% of M5's absolute performance and bit softer handling for 50% of M5's price and less painful/restrictive insurance.

Higher overall gearing of 540i compared to M5 means bit better cruising economy from 540i, although by no stretch of the imagination can either of these ever be called economy cars. Revvy M5 always ready to tear your heart out when you toe it and gearing set so engine is more 'busy' than 540i on motorways.

All E34's top cars though-very strong with few weak points in old age & usually as tough as old boots if you get a good one. Good looking old tub too & traditional 4-exposed headlamps to keep the BMW purists happy

Electronics not as complicated as E39 although still requires some knowledge of basic electronics if you're going to tackle faults with 'servant sparks' etc.

All in all one of BMW's very best models. The greatest E34 all rounder? Late model 525i SE Vanos Touring with leather & air-con. All the car you'll ever need in the real world!

And yes I have got one, and I'd rather put my hand in a bacon slicer than ever sell it

I have a 540i too, but that's a selfish indulgence although I couldn't live without that either,as it's huge fun to take apart young twerps in new 'sporty hatches' at the lights in my ancient 13-year old grandad's saloon car with 120k on the clock

525 24V is the best IMHO...

Had a 520 24V and a 525TDS, so I think it would be right to say that I love the E34, and I must own a 525 at some point :-)

Doive,

A nice looking project for you seeing you now have 2 525e's for spares:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-525e-E28-5-series-lux-manual-LPG-1 987-spares-repair_W0QQitemZ4630646795QQcategoryZ31357QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem

Paul