I have had an 89 520,a 96 525se (auto) & currently a 525 sport.

The sport is head & shoulders above the others,the ride is not as smooth as the se but it handles ludicrously well & has instant power.

Cant comment on any others as I havent owned them.

Paul

Mine! 540 touring, M-power body & suspension, 6 speed manual. Can carry my wife, kids, dog AND shpping AND still beat the spotty little saxo vtr drivers off the lights who are trying to impress girlfriend/mates! so there!

Mike

I agree Whitey, late 525i 24v with vanos, smoothest BM they ever made 

Michael

Yep 525 M50TU, and make that a Touring

Although I wouldn't say no to an M5 Touring or late 540 6-speed.

I think when stating the 2.5 is the best, what I meant was, it is the best ALLROUNDER of the pack. It does everything in a far superior way to any of it's competitors around at the time.

Yes the M5 is a fantastic car and boy if I had the space, there'd be one on my drive for sure but as grahame34m5 states, big bills are the norm. The 540 can be awesome but pushed, can be juicy and you can't forget the nikasil problem. Seriously thought of buying a very nice 540 tourer on eBay this week but head ruled heart for once!!!

Looking at mpg, handling, quality, finish, running costs and performance as a package, the 525 was IMO, the best of the bunch. I still see my 93 L diamond black 525iSEa with silver leather and AC regularly, as it only went to a neighbour up the road. And I still look at it with the same love and affection I had for it the day I bought it in July 98. Can't say that about my e39 I'm afriad. And the e34 is still mint at over 12 years old.

heres a nice e34 on ebay, ive seen it running around - looks in good nick

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4604467709&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=460 4467709&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

everyone seems so impressed with their own cars i think the E34 family speaks for itself a brilliant car whatever engine and spec each have pro's annd cons but are all great 

Long live the E34

All this talk has got me reminising (spelling?) so I thought I'd share my old e34 with you:

javascript ;" target=_blank onclick="MM_openBrWindow'displayimage.php?pid=1343&fullsize=1','52988004243ca13ffecd20','scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes,status=yes,resizable=yes,width=656,height=496'">

And the two together just before I sold the e34. I'll leave you all to make your own minds up.

javascript ;" target=_blank onclick="MM_openBrWindow'displayimage.php?pid=1341&fullsize=1','143060083243ca1448d46aa','scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes,status=yes,resizable=yes,width=656,height=496'">

Does it show I miss it?????

I'll be keeping my 530 as well - love her to bits and only cost me rear discs, control arms and pads at the moment. Needs new front shocks but still loving E34 ownership!!

Paul

As has been said, they are all good.

I've a chipped M20 525i SE, its great.

I've also been suprised by what a nice drive the 518i tourer was, it lacks the grunt of the larger sixes, and the noise, but still a great car to drive.

The E39 seems flimsy to me, although it is more modern, the E34 does look dated now, but mines 18 years old.

BMW also couldn't be bothered to put the windscreen wipers on the correct side for rhd cars with the E39.

Beware though, they are getting old now, so be prepared for the odd gremlin, although the back up from here, and my local dealer is superb.

Nigel wrote: Beware though, they are getting old now, so be prepared for the odd gremlin, although the back up from here, and my local dealer is superb.

That wouldn't be http://www.robertstern.co.uk/ - http://www.robertstern.co.uk/  by any chance?

absolutely Pittsy old chap, wonderful people, they even get bits for those poxy E30's some people insist on driving

Can not fault E34 at all  have had her for almost 2 years and she has not missed a beat even the trek to Gaydon last all the way from Stonehaven (15 miles south of Aberdeen) and back have to put on front shock and rear discs.

since i bought the car all i have had to do is put on

tyres

battery

front discs and pads

rear shocks

whole exhaust from manafold back

a couple of services's and mot's

THIS IS THE BEST CAR I HAVE OWNED and look forward to buy another before Gaydon this year

M5 surely has to claim the undisputed title of best E34 model (and possibly best BMW road car ever...). Outside of that, which one is best depends upon preference.

Buying s/h today for a 10yr old car with 100,000 miles (say) I'd recommend the 540i the most - will have depreciated the most (so represents the best value), will have been owned by wealthier people (so alledgedly will have been better maintained / maintained regardless of cost), will have been driven much more gently, more likely by older people (especially if the automatic) and will have been the least stressed (the 540 generally lopes around at not much more than tickover...). Only drawback to the 540i is the slightly vague steering compared to the six cylinder models (due to the steering box as opposed to rack and pinion). When I was looking for my E34 540i Touring there were a few about with 300,000 miles still looking good - hard to say that about the smaller engined models...

For me he best is the 540i tourer, rather than the M5.

A mate bought an E39 540i saloon, all the toys, last year, 120,000 miles...£5K

Incredable value second hand these bm's.

I reckon the 3.6 M5 must be the best.  The reliability of the straight 6 engine puts it far above the 540 V8s as a used car proposition.  It also does without the EDC suspension of the 3.8, which is very expensive to repair/replace when it finally goes wrong.

And I'm buying one on Thursday if it matches the description given over the phone 

Chas C wrote: And I'm buying one on Thursday if it matches the description given over the phone

  good choice!   if you do buy it can i get a spin in it at a meeting please?

Check this out Paul - and all will become clear with the demise of the 525e

http://www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=29067&PN=2 - http://www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=29067&a mp;PN=2

Paul

I have owned 2 E34's - a 520 and a 530 (V8)

I would say the 520 was smooth but sluggish - the 530 was a vast improvement.

As far as I am aware it was the original Nickasil engine block, but it never let me down

Didn't think that BMW could improve on the E34, but I think I was mistaken as my E39 540i is a much improved car

Regards

Doive,

The big six engines are pretty much bulletproof, mines been no trouble whatsoever. Fuel economy will cripple you if on short twisty roads when you're up and down the gears as I'm now finding out, but if reasonable length journeys on decent main roads pretty economical - big fuel tank though (80 ltrs and £70 to fill up if empty) but very comfy and beautiful to drive. Also suspension ball joints do go but are cheap enough to buy. Take it out for a test drive - you may just like it. The brakes will feel far superior to the e28. HTH

Paul

I totally agree with you whitey - the auto box feels lovely and I think doive will warm to it even though he prefers the shark nose shape of the previous model. I don't blame him though as I still miss my 528 and was thinking of getting another to go through the modding process again. Would upgrade the brakes this time though

Paul

Id have to say mine was!

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9800 - http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9800

paulfinucane wrote: hello mate-first time I have seen you on here. hows your car which looks like it never left the showroom ? brybusa wrote: Id have to say mine was!   http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9800 - http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9800

I post on here a fair bit mate but I only have net access at work and sadly do have to spend some time actually working so it can be hard some days to post as much as id like…I also spend some time between the bike and car forums.

Anyway , about the car, low mileage(64K) and 3 sympathetic owners have helped the cause

I don’t use the car thru winter, I know the previous owner didn’t as well but apart from that its used almost daily on my shortish commute and for trips out in the summer-I usually run it down to the Ace café once a month.

The guy I bought it from kept it in a heated garage with blankets over it and was fanatical about cleaning it, ive just added to the work he’d done, further detailing the engine bay, replacing a few furred up bolts and keeping the arches as clean as he had.

Ive also used some thick plastic backing they use on moto x bikes to protect exposed edges of the sport kit.

 The previous owner used to clean the underneath of the car which isn’t feasible for me.A stiff brush and a jet wash is the best I can manage on that front.

 It’s amazing what some gunk, a selection of brushes and replacing some furred up nuts and bolts can achieve but the whole car was in amazing condition when I bought it some 18months ago, there’s hardly a chip on it and no rust at all.

I love the look of the(TRX) wheels n tyres, despite there shortfalls, it looks just right to me as standard.

[/QUOTE]…I also spend some time between the bike and car forums.

[/QUOTE]

Brya are you a Member of Eggs forum?

With all this "biggin Up" the E34 (which I agree with - PS.Alpina B10 bi turbo???) Why doesnt somebody start up an E34 register???

Popeye(E30 318is owner)

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-1987-spares-repair_W0QQitemZ4630646795QQcategoryZ31357QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-525e-E28-5-series-lux-manual-LPG-1 987-spares-repair_W0QQitemZ4630646795QQcategoryZ31357QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem

Paul

popeye76s wrote: Why doesnt somebody start up an E34 register??? Popeye(E30 318is owner)

regards

chaz

Bill- wrote:

[/QUOTE]

Brya are you a Member of Eggs forum?

[/QUOTE]

No mate..Im over here http://www.ukbusas.org/forum/index.php - http://www.ukbusas.org/forum/index.php ?

Hope to get out on the bike over the weekend

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 :-)

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

Looks like i'm gonna save a bit on petrol and have a bigger/better car if i can get a 525 auto 24v vanos.

My 320i auto is so thirsty, 20mpg round town and 25-30mpg on motorway if i drive like a granny.

Paul-thanks for the compliments on my E34 review. I tried to give a fair appraisal of the various models.

There isn't really a 'bad' model in the E34 range, although 12v 520i autos have a small, peaky six-pot engine matched to a 4-speed autobox with wide gear spacing, and so have their work cut out to shift the E34's bulk. Neat handling though with not much weight up front so you can keep the speed up round the bends 

E30 sid-same comments apply a bit to the 320i, which uses about the same amount of fuel as the E30 325i, both autos driving through a 4-speed box. Not an ideal match, particularly the 320i, which has official government fuel consumption figures virtually the same as the 325i, without the 325i's better grunt.

E34 525i 24v Vanos has the better engine, and the autos are 5-speed which, take it from me, are much better than the older 4-speed autoboxes. 1st gear is lower than in the 4-speeders, and gives a snappier step-off, whilst 5th gear is correctly set as an economy overdrive, maximum speed being reached in auto 4th gear.

Early 12v 525i's had the 4-speed autobox, so buy as late a model as possible for the full Vanos 24v 5-speed auto combination. Manuals give the maximum performance/economy combination on the smaller sixes, but the 5-speed auto isn't anything like as handicapped as the older 4-speeders were with the small sixes, and 5-speed autos come very close to matching the manual's performance/economy figures.

Don't buy the first you see-no point getting an 'average' E34 when a bit of homework can turn up a really nice example for not much more cash-they weren't 'rare' cars and there are plenty of excellent ones still around, if you can prise them out of the owner's hands though, and don't mind travelling a bit to find a mint one

Compared to your E30 320i auto, an E34 525i 24v 5-speed auto will, at the worst, equal your current economy, and at best will be a bit more economical, mostly on long runs where the overdrive 5th gear helps economy. Here's where the Vanos cars excel as they have better low-end torque so don't feel 'flat' when you toe it in 5th gear on the motorway.

I owned 3 E30's in my time, and don't regret going over to the E34's in the slightest-get yours now and join the happy band of contented owners from 518i's to 3.8 litre M5's, and all shades in between

Alex

One more thing concerning the autos. You can improve the economy of your automatic BMW by using the 'fuel cutoff on the overrun' facility.

Basically, this means that if you take your foot off the accelerator and the engine is doing more than 1500rpm, the ECU switches off the fuel injectors until the engine speed drops to around 1000rpm.

In a manual you'd change down instinctively so you'd make use of this facility automatically.

In the autos, however, if you take your foot off the accelerator, the autobox invariably shifts up through the gears, dropping the engine revs and preventing the ECU shutting off the fuel injectors.

If you manually downshift your auto, then you can take full advantage of this fuel shutoff facility for better economy-I do this all the time and it does make a difference, as well as giving better engine braking.

You can also tell from the dash instruments when the ECU shuts off the fuel injectors.

Look at the swinging economy needle in the lower rev counter quadrant. It indicates the instant fuel economy at that moment. When the ECU shuts off the fuel injectors, the needle will swing all the way over to the far left of the gauge, past the 50mpg bit and into the uncalibrated sector.

This indicates that no fuel whatsoever is being fed into the engine, and you should notice the engine braking a bit. When you slow to a halt, the needle will come off the left-hand end stop and move to the right, indicating that the ECU has now switched the fuel injectors back on to prevent the engine stalling.

By using anticipative driving and this economy feature, you can coax some impressive mpg figures out of any modern BMW with this facility-basically any BMW after around 1981 ish.

Works very well with autos, if you can bring yourself to downshift manually and then not forget to shift back up again manually to allow the autobox to get into the economy top gear again 

Alex

RedOctober wrote: Paul-thanks for the compliments on my E34 review. I tried to give a fair appraisal of the various models. There isn't really a 'bad' model in the E34 range, although 12v 520i autos have a small, peaky six-pot engine matched to a 4-speed autobox with wide gear spacing, and so have their work cut out to shift the E34's bulk. Neat handling though with not much weight up front so you can keep the speed up round the bends  E30 sid-same comments apply a bit to the 320i, which uses about the same amount of fuel as the E30 325i, both autos driving through a 4-speed box. Not an ideal match, particularly the 320i, which has official government fuel consumption figures virtually the same as the 325i, without the 325i's better grunt. E34 525i 24v Vanos has the better engine, and the autos are 5-speed which, take it from me, are much better than the older 4-speed autoboxes. 1st gear is lower than in the 4-speeders, and gives a snappier step-off, whilst 5th gear is correctly set as an economy overdrive, maximum speed being reached in auto 4th gear. Early 12v 525i's had the 4-speed autobox, so buy as late a model as possible for the full Vanos 24v 5-speed auto combination. Manuals give the maximum performance/economy combination on the smaller sixes, but the 5-speed auto isn't anything like as handicapped as the older 4-speeders were with the small sixes, and 5-speed autos come very close to matching the manual's performance/economy figures. Don't buy the first you see-no point getting an 'average' E34 when a bit of homework can turn up a really nice example for not much more cash-they weren't 'rare' cars and there are plenty of excellent ones still around, if you can prise them out of the owner's hands though, and don't mind travelling a bit to find a mint one Compared to your E30 320i auto, an E34 525i 24v 5-speed auto will, at the worst, equal your current economy, and at best will be a bit more economical, mostly on long runs where the overdrive 5th gear helps economy. Here's where the Vanos cars excel as they have better low-end torque so don't feel 'flat' when you toe it in 5th gear on the motorway. I owned 3 E30's in my time, and don't regret going over to the E34's in the slightest-get yours now and join the happy band of contented owners from 518i's to 3.8 litre M5's, and all shades in between Alex

You should be a car salesman, what good information that is, i didn't realise that they had a 5 speed auto box, i'm going to start looking now and hopefully get one hopefully in sterling silver, i just love that colour.

I'd be a useless car salesman especially if selling BMW's, as I'm a perfectionist and would bankrupt my business making the cars perfect before sale, so I'll stick to my current job and concentrate on buying them for myself instead

Right, here's the lowdown on which E34's have 4 or 5 speed autos.

Firstly, all 518i's have the 4-speed auto

All early 12v small sixes (520i & 525i), and all M30 engined big sixes (530i & 535i) have the 4-speed auto.

Around 1991 the 24v small six was introduced for the 520i & 525i, and was fitted with the new 5-speed auto built, believe it or not, by GM. Early 24v sixes were non-Vanos, those came later around 1994-1996 and can be recognised by the pronounced 'hump' at the front top of the cylinder head where the Vanos unit sits and drives the camshaft sprocket. You should also see a small cylinder/valve around the same place with a solid oil feed pipe going into it and an electrical connection. This is the electrical valve which controls oil pressure to the Vanos unit.

All V8's (530i & 540i) had the 5-speed autobox built by ZF of Germany.

You can differentiate between the 4 or 5-speed autoboxes by looking at the numbers on the selector panel by the gear selector lever.

4-speed autos were marked P-R-N-D-3-2-1, which gave manual selection of 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears, with 4th (top) only being available in postiton 'D'

5-speed autos are marked P-R-N-D-4-3-2, which gave manual selection of 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears, with 5th (top) and 1st only being available with the selector in 'D'

In my personal opinion the 5-speed GM autobox fitted to the small sixes (520i & 525i) is smoother and more responsive than the ZF 5-speed auto fitted to the V8's, and I have driven/owned both types.

Late 'L' reg, all 'M' & 'N' plate cars are the ones to look for to get 24v Vanos/5-speed auto combination. Some were left over at dealers and ended up on 'P' plate, so these rarities are worth seeking out. At the very least you want 1991 'J' reg cars or later to guarantee that combination & the 5-speed auto.

On the small six engine front, the 12v sixes had a single belt-driven overhead camshaft. 24v sixes had chain driven twin overhead camshafts with hydraulic tappets.

One thing you must look out for on the 24v sixes is unexplained random overheating. This is caused by the plastic impeller on the water pump shaft breaking up and not pumping coolant around the system.

Symptoms are sudden random unexplained overheating, and heaters only blowing cold air as there's no hot coolant being pumped around the heater matrix. Coolant levels will all be ok and everything will appear ok under the bonnet too with all pulleys turning fine on the outside-it's INSIDE the pump that the failure happens though!

My '95 525i did this, but I caught it in time on an empty road before the temp gauge went into the red.

Sure enough, it was the water pump, which I replaced myself with a metal-impeller pump. Since then it's been fine. It's not an expensive job for a garage or independent specialist to do so it's certainly worth making sure it's been done.

If you don't spot the fault until it's too late then you can boil and wreck the cylinder head, which will cost a fortune to replace as it's a 24v head with twin camshafts and maybe Vanos.

Other than that, the 24v small sixes are generally bomb-proof.

Hope this helps 

Dolph540 : Thought I was the only one on here with a 6 speed 540 on Lpg ,I'm on a Romano Type N system ........Brilliant

Bill I can see you never had a 540 with the latest system .....I could drive off on Petrol cover the change over light &  bet  you to tell what fuel it was running on , there's no difference with these new kits Bill ,at todays petrol prices every gallon I put in I'm saving over £2.50 per Gallon Lpg @ .38.9pl  & U\L @ 94.9 Pl or put it this way .

town driving petrol 17mpg Lpg Eq =44mpg M\way Petrol 29mpg Lpg Eq = 67Mpg & my car has been chipped to 320bhp.......what a lovely old tug she is

paulfinucane wrote: However for shear power & knowing that you have the ability to destroy (speedwise) 8 out of 10 cars on the road you cant beat the m5 for the shear fun element.

Looks like we have twins Paul, but I'm a purist when it comes to wheels...

Well, prior to my E30 325i, I had a E34 530i SE manual M30 model and the fuel consumption of the E34 was better than I can get out of the E30...
Can't fathom that out, myself!
[/QUOTE]

Sometimes bigger engines can produce more power with less input.

Did you know that a V8 engine is, cylinder for cylinder, the most efficient engine type?!! i.e. because it always has two cylinders on the same stroke at any one time, it can produce the power without having to use double the fuel of a four pot engine!

Food for thought!

Regards

Mike

Chas nice wheels whats the size pls

Hello paul

Coo i wish I could post pics, there is a Beauty of a e39 540 six speed manual on ebay, ends today a few weeks down the line and I might have bid on that one too.

I'd be hung drawn and Quatered by the Laydee though.

On reflection this car would be worth Divorcing for

topaz blue with light cream Leather FBMWSH minter x reg (2000) £6500.00 at the moment

Bill- wrote: LPG Yuk Goodnight

Did I really say that  sorry mate I must have been 'off Colour'

new member here not got my bm yet but its only a matter of time!

does anyone know anythin about the e34 525 with 4 wheel drive?

seen one for sale i think they are quite rare has anyone owned one/driven one? what are they like?

Got to be a late 525 sport