What to do with my E34 540??
Discussion
Been meaning to write this for some time now but not gotten around to it. I am the very happy owner of a '96 registered 540i auto with only 77k on the clock and a pretty good history. De-chromed and debadged from the factory and in the M-blue colour it looks great still. It has been our family hack for 6 years and although it has been serviced religiously by well trained indies it is a little tired in a few areas I suspect.
I dinged it last year on a Ford Galaxy (well, T-boned to be precise
- front bumper and slight bonnet kink dge, the bodywork is rust free (of course!) but paint is pretty tired I would say. Drivers cat rattles and I suspect it is overfueling a little as economy has dropped off the last couple of years (this may of course be related to the cat rattle). If I had to guess I would say O2 sensors.
Anyway, point is wife wants a newer family car which is fine. The 540 is basically worthless in terms of resale in this climate so I have thought about keeping it as my toy and spicing it up a bit!
Trouble is the E34 540i seems to be the single least modifiable BMW EVER MADE! Short of fitting a ludicrously expensive supercharger I am looking for help and advice as to what to do with the old girl. I love the shape and the power delivery and don't want to have her put down just yet as underneath the wear and tear it's a great car! It isn't a manual which is a shame in terms of mod options but I'd love to make a sleeper.
Any ideas?
I dinged it last year on a Ford Galaxy (well, T-boned to be precise
- front bumper and slight bonnet kink dge, the bodywork is rust free (of course!) but paint is pretty tired I would say. Drivers cat rattles and I suspect it is overfueling a little as economy has dropped off the last couple of years (this may of course be related to the cat rattle). If I had to guess I would say O2 sensors.Anyway, point is wife wants a newer family car which is fine. The 540 is basically worthless in terms of resale in this climate so I have thought about keeping it as my toy and spicing it up a bit!
Trouble is the E34 540i seems to be the single least modifiable BMW EVER MADE! Short of fitting a ludicrously expensive supercharger I am looking for help and advice as to what to do with the old girl. I love the shape and the power delivery and don't want to have her put down just yet as underneath the wear and tear it's a great car! It isn't a manual which is a shame in terms of mod options but I'd love to make a sleeper.
Any ideas?
With only 77K miles on the clock and being a very late car ('96) I personally wouldn't 'modify' it in anyway.
Consider...Rather invest the time, effort and money into restoring it back to a really nice original example?
Ok...to do a proper job might take quite a lot of the above but at the end of the day you'll still have a car which is aesthetically nice, mechanically sound and amply fast yet is actually worth some money to the right potential buyer. Spend your money on 'modifying' it and come a time when you might want to sell it will be truly worthless.
Just a thought maybe worth considering?
Consider...Rather invest the time, effort and money into restoring it back to a really nice original example?
Ok...to do a proper job might take quite a lot of the above but at the end of the day you'll still have a car which is aesthetically nice, mechanically sound and amply fast yet is actually worth some money to the right potential buyer. Spend your money on 'modifying' it and come a time when you might want to sell it will be truly worthless.
Just a thought maybe worth considering?
I have the Touring version, but mines a '94 car. I absolutley love it and won't be selling (well, that and I spent 1500 quid on the last service...) I'd do as Derrin suggests and make the old girl like new again.
They don't make BMW's like that anymore, to me, a decent E34 is a keeper.
They don't make BMW's like that anymore, to me, a decent E34 is a keeper.
Other than a re-chip and a cat-bypass, you're not going to get much power without shelling out a few pennies.
You probably get a fair bit selling the parts that are in good condition rather than trying to sell it whole, but I for one don't like stripping cars down into their components like that (although I don't mind other people doing it and selling me parts I need
)
You probably get a fair bit selling the parts that are in good condition rather than trying to sell it whole, but I for one don't like stripping cars down into their components like that (although I don't mind other people doing it and selling me parts I need
)Ahhh Derin - if I had even 1% of your skills and patience I would probably do just that!
I want to keep it rather than sell/dispose and I do accept the notion that it would be better for the cars value to make it a minter but I am not sure in all honesty that I would see it through as a project on that basis. Either way I wouldn't keep it with any thought of making money. In my mind's eye I would keep it very understated using accepted BMW addons rather than bling it - just give it a nice look and nicer sound I guess.
I am after a fast toy to be the yang to the family car's ying you see
I want to keep it rather than sell/dispose and I do accept the notion that it would be better for the cars value to make it a minter but I am not sure in all honesty that I would see it through as a project on that basis. Either way I wouldn't keep it with any thought of making money. In my mind's eye I would keep it very understated using accepted BMW addons rather than bling it - just give it a nice look and nicer sound I guess.
I am after a fast toy to be the yang to the family car's ying you see
Hammerhead said:
Keep strong young jedi - 540s must be cherished.
Rob - that sounds like a hell of a service! What got done/fixed??
Rumble on!
It was a bit of a beast of a service to be honest, but I wanted the car to be as mint as possible...Rob - that sounds like a hell of a service! What got done/fixed??
Rumble on!
It had a full Inspection II, new front front discs and pads, aircon regas, new bushes all round, full four wheel alignment and balancing, gearbox service, and the biggy was sorting the bubbling that was just starting to come up on the door bottoms and arches, plus some other bits and bobs...
chazzer said:
Hammerhead said:
Keep strong young jedi - 540s must be cherished.
I couldn't agree more and am doing everything I can to keep mine in fine fettle 
IMHO the E34 540i is a seriously good piece of kit, would I sell mine ? Not ever 
I keep looking at this one and thinking:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/582704.htm
pezz said:
chazzer said:
Hammerhead said:
Keep strong young jedi - 540s must be cherished.
I couldn't agree more and am doing everything I can to keep mine in fine fettle IMHO the E34 540i is a seriously good piece of kit, would I sell mine ? Not ever I keep looking at this one and thinking:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/582704.htm
Running costs aren't too bad really, they don't depreciate, I've got mine on a classic policy, fully comp at 300 pounds a year (I'm 28).
Around town I tend to get 22mpg and on a good run I'll get around 28-29mpg cruising at a steady 80-85 leptons, it costs me around 67 pounds to fill up. I have however spent quite a lot of money on mine, not because I had to, but really beacuse I wanted my car to be like new. A regular service at an indie will be a couple of hundred pounds.
They are extremely well built cars. The last of the money no object BMW's. If looked after and serviced they will cover several hundred thousand miles.
You need to have a look carefully at any you look at for rust and accident damage. The self levelling rear suspension on the Touring can sag and the dampers are quite expensive to replace.
They rust along the door bottoms, arches and along the leading edge of the bonnet. They are also heavy cars, and the bushes can wear leading to clonking at the front and when pulling away.
The big the thing to look out for in the V8's is the problem BMW had with Nikasil liners. These engines suffered from the high sulphur content in UK fuel and the liners wore prematurely causing poor starting and eventual engine failure. Most engines were replaced with Alusil lined blocks, you can tell which engine is which from the engine number.
I have a list of the effected engine numbers at home if you want a copy.
That 540i Touring advertised could be nice. It's a shame the piccies are crap. I'm not keen on the exhaust fitted, but it has the sports seats fitted which look really nice. I'd certainly go and have a look at it.
pezz said:
I remember seeing that car on auto-trader before buying mine. It was originally down in Cornwall and had had a recent new engine and up at a heady £4k IIRC. Reckon you should go and check it out - looked lovely in the previous set of pics I saw. Those rims.. <bites hand>Edited by Hammerhead on Thursday 31st July 17:58
Hammerhead said:
pezz said:
I remember seeing that car on auto-trader before buying mine. It was originally down in Cornwall and had had a recent new engine and up at a heady £4k IIRC. Reckon you should go and check it out - looked lovely in the previous set of pics I saw. Those rims.. <bites hand>
,its a fantastic car . At £2k the one in the Ad. looks a bargain. P.S. The almost bits on ours is its a LHD 6 speed 3.8
Edited by MartinD on Thursday 31st July 22:31
pezz said:
G*d damnit man - I go away on holiday for a week and return find no sign of a new thread saying you've bought it! What's going on? Or will I be forced to open a sanctuary for unwanted 540 Tourings?
(Can you imagine that - a herd of them gently grazing an oil field, gently rumbling under star lit nights, and the roars as they're happily released back into the wild..)
Hammerhead said:
pezz said:
G*d damnit man - I go away on holiday for a week and return find no sign of a new thread saying you've bought it! What's going on? Or will I be forced to open a sanctuary for unwanted 540 Tourings?
(Can you imagine that - a herd of them gently grazing an oil field, gently rumbling under star lit nights, and the roars as they're happily released back into the wild..)
I wouldn't mind a collection of Munichs finest loadluggers.
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