Indestructable E34s

[patmahe]

I owned an E34 with 178000 miles on it when I sold it, bought an E49, the build quality on the E39 is good but isn't a patch on the E34 - I still see my old one running about every now and again.

[Hammerhead]

I've been an E34 fan for the past 18 years. My dad's fault - he had an '88 525i SE back in 1990. Vowed I'd have one. Now on my third, a 540 Touring, simply a superb vehicle. They may be cheap nowadays but they still feel special. Can you think of another car with better sounding doors? (when you shut them and get that solid 'thunk'). Will be running mine for a long time to come (assuming the oil doesn't run out!)

[buggalugs]

Hammerhead said:

Can you think of another car with better sounding doors? (when you shut them and get that solid 'thunk'). Will be running mine for a long time to come (assuming the oil doesn't run out!)

It's like closing the door on a bank vault! Its such a solid and nicely damped sound, a good start to any journey.

[Gravy]

buggalugs said:

Hammerhead said:

Can you think of another car with better sounding doors? (when you shut them and get that solid 'thunk'). Will be running mine for a long time to come (assuming the oil doesn't run out!)

It's like closing the door on a bank vault! Its such a solid and nicely damped sound, a good start to any journey.

Funny that, I always found the E28 to have the most satisfying "thud" when closing the doors! The E34 is right up there though, I love mine!

[Mustard]

Gravy said:

buggalugs said:

Hammerhead said:

Can you think of another car with better sounding doors? (when you shut them and get that solid 'thunk'). Will be running mine for a long time to come (assuming the oil doesn't run out!)

It's like closing the door on a bank vault! Its such a solid and nicely damped sound, a good start to any journey.

Funny that, I always found the E28 to have the most satisfying "thud" when closing the doors! The E34 is right up there though, I love mine!

E28 has a beautifully crafted delicacy(sp) about it, feels a far less 'heavy' than the E34, which the E39 goes some way to recapturing, if I have one critismof the E34 is it feels the most 'volvoish' of all the 5ers.

[matt21]

well im back and suprise suprise my E34 didnt miss a beat

did 1629 miles in 4 days just passed 217,000 on the way home. Drove at 80-90mph all the way there, had to drive hard over the twisty steep highland roads but returned 32.7mpg worked out properly. Not bad I think.

all in all nothing went wrong, feels better than when I left, and only used half a litre of oil.

pics to follow of the beast at John O Groats and on the Isle of Skye

[jamoor]

Was the w124 merc designed to be as good as the e34, and the e39 in turn meant to better the merc?

[Mustard]

jamoor said:

Was the w124 merc designed to be as good as the e34, and the e39 in turn meant to better the merc?

E39 meant to be better??? not hard! 96-03ish E classes are dreadful in the quality dept

Do feel W124 has the edge in some deparments, build wise

[jamoor]

Mustard said:

jamoor said:

Was the w124 merc designed to be as good as the e34, and the e39 in turn meant to better the merc?

E39 meant to be better??? not hard! 96-03ish E classes are dreadful in the quality dept

Do feel W124 has the edge in some deparments, build wise

the ones between late 80s and mid 90s, with square headlamps, the e39 was released just as those were stopped.

[Mustard]

jamoor said:

Mustard said:

jamoor said:

Was the w124 merc designed to be as good as the e34, and the e39 in turn meant to better the merc?

E39 meant to be better??? not hard! 96-03ish E classes are dreadful in the quality dept

Do feel W124 has the edge in some deparments, build wise

the ones between late 80s and mid 90s, with square headlamps, the e39 was released just as those were stopped.

I know! see profile

[SJobson]

jamoor said:

Was the w124 merc designed to be as good as the e34, and the e39 in turn meant to better the merc?

The W124 was launched in 1986ish, the E34 in 1987. So I don't think the W124 was designed with the E34 as a comparator at all...

[pezz]

I just got myself an E39 528 touring and whilst I am loving the experience, I have a thing for the E34 esp touring. Am leaning towards the 540 E34 especially but wondered how much if at all the E34s are for running costs against the E39 for example.

I know of a couple of 250k E34s which seem to be doing quite well still... (from visual inspection)

[SJobson]

My E34 530i Touring cost a similar amount to run to my E39 540i (including in fuel, doubt the E34 540 is any worse). Being older, there were more things wrong with the E34 though, such as air-con not working (didn't fix that). E34 prices don't seem to have gone down in the last year like E39 prices have, so the fanboys are definitely looking after them now.

[pezz]

Thanks for that.. I will keep an eye out for a local E34 tourer (with Alusil engine preferably) to have a nose around.

[bob1179]

I'm a big fan of the E34, it is a good strong car. I've put several thousand miles onto my 540i Touring and it still feels tight and very comfortable.