Winter waft-o-shed 1989/90 BMW E34 525i SE
Discussion
I do not own a single modern car (by modern I mean a car designed after about 1995). I use an assortment of old spanners as one meta-car, working on the basis that at any given time one of them will be working, or at least sort of. Usually, this theory works. Usually.
This year, my rusty BL heaps and shonky old Lotus are going indoors for the winter, although my Landy may stay out if it gets snowy and I haven't sold it. I have therefore bought something moderately sensible to smoke about in over the winter, namely an E34 525i SE, in JRG over Freikorps Brown, with cross spoke alloys, and a four speed autobox connected to the SOHC straight six engine. Yay! I now own three straight sixes - Setright said that the straight six is the gentleman's engine. I ain't no gentleman, but I'll take what Setright said.
I have had the mostly rubbish and mismatched tyres that the car came with removed and replaced by Michelin Cross Climates, supposedly good all season tyres.
The car drives very well and is pleasant to be in. It is by no means super fast, but it feels quite nimble, despite being quite long (but not wide), it stops well, and it has a working heater/demister and a good if garish stereo. Also a good plain steering wheel, pre airbags. The chocolately/Marron interior is really rather fun, and all the buttons and bits work. Me likee.
This year, my rusty BL heaps and shonky old Lotus are going indoors for the winter, although my Landy may stay out if it gets snowy and I haven't sold it. I have therefore bought something moderately sensible to smoke about in over the winter, namely an E34 525i SE, in JRG over Freikorps Brown, with cross spoke alloys, and a four speed autobox connected to the SOHC straight six engine. Yay! I now own three straight sixes - Setright said that the straight six is the gentleman's engine. I ain't no gentleman, but I'll take what Setright said.
I have had the mostly rubbish and mismatched tyres that the car came with removed and replaced by Michelin Cross Climates, supposedly good all season tyres.
The car drives very well and is pleasant to be in. It is by no means super fast, but it feels quite nimble, despite being quite long (but not wide), it stops well, and it has a working heater/demister and a good if garish stereo. Also a good plain steering wheel, pre airbags. The chocolately/Marron interior is really rather fun, and all the buttons and bits work. Me likee.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 27th January 07:48
Very nice....pity it wasn't a manual though ! I am also a fan of 90's BMWs....I have a mint '98 E36 318iS which is outside your pre-1995 parameters but has some of the benefits of pre-electronics simplicity. It complements my daily 2005 Alfa 156 JTDM, and I can therefore justify my 'multi car policy' as you do....they both have over 115,000 miles on them, so if one is getting fixed I have a spare car to get to work !
I don't mind a bit of old fashioned autobox for wafting, although a manual gearbox would be better for overtaking caravans. My 1983 Rover SD1 2600 feels quicker than the Beemer, at least partly because the Rover has a good five speed manual box. The Beemer has pleasant, neutral and predictable handling, although I doubt that I will fling it about much. The new tyres feel a lot better than the Chinese hedgebusters that were on three of the four wheels when I bought the car. The car's very smooth and well mannered. You have to wind it up a bit to get much speed, but it's a good long range cruiser. It's a lot more sedate than the E30 325i that I was driving back in 1989, but I was only 27 then, was utterly clueless, and drove like a 
.
I don't like the dull grey/black interiors that so many BMWs had and have, but the brown cloth and vinyl interior of this one is strangely soothing, and the interior looks and feels much better quality those in more recents Bims.
If the weather gets very snowy, my 1976 Landy may take over the station run (another car that always starts first time, and it even has a sort of heater (also huge door and window gaps for the cold wind to howl through, but never mind).
.I don't like the dull grey/black interiors that so many BMWs had and have, but the brown cloth and vinyl interior of this one is strangely soothing, and the interior looks and feels much better quality those in more recents Bims.
If the weather gets very snowy, my 1976 Landy may take over the station run (another car that always starts first time, and it even has a sort of heater (also huge door and window gaps for the cold wind to howl through, but never mind).
Paul S4 said:
Very nice....pity it wasn't a manual though ! I am also a fan of 90's BMWs....I have a mint '98 E36 318iS which is outside your pre-1995 parameters but has some of the benefits of pre-electronics simplicity. It complements my daily 2005 Alfa 156 JTDM, and I can therefore justify my 'multi car policy' as you do....they both have over 115,000 miles on them, so if one is getting fixed I have a spare car to get to work !
The E36 318iS was designed before 1995, so it counts as non modern! I prefer the E30 318iS, however, because it is lighter. When I bought an E36 325i in 1992, the dealer invited me to a day at Silverstone to drive the whole model range with professional drivers giving instruction. The 318iS was an E30 (its E36 replacement was not yet available, IIRC), and was the best car for a mere mortal like me to blat around the GP circuit in. Fabby little rev monster. We punters were mostly too gingerish about the E36 M3 (although it still went through several sets of tyres during the day). The then new 8 series was dire - a horrid barge. The Pros were very rude about it. They all loved the 318iS. Much fun was had in a Five series touring with a big engine (I can't recall which one) - mucho sideways!Breadvan72 said:
My criterion for whether a car is 'modern' is based entirely on whether it has a distributor. Obviously that only works for petrol engines, but for me the absence of a distributor is a defining characteristic of a 'modern' engine.
Coil on plug ignition is indeed the work of Beelzebub. OK, no it isn't. It is one of the very few sensible things about modern cars.
For me, the car reached its apogee some time in the 1980s or 1990s. By then, cars were quite reliable, not so quick to rust (although they still do rust), and had reasonable crash protection, but were not burdened by weight and by gadgetry. Everything since then has been utter toss.
To make matters worse, the design of modern upmarket and sporty cars has been handed over to a committee made up of Russian oligarchs and Premier League footballers, plus the WAGs of oligarchs and footballers.
For me, the car reached its apogee some time in the 1980s or 1990s. By then, cars were quite reliable, not so quick to rust (although they still do rust), and had reasonable crash protection, but were not burdened by weight and by gadgetry. Everything since then has been utter toss.
To make matters worse, the design of modern upmarket and sporty cars has been handed over to a committee made up of Russian oligarchs and Premier League footballers, plus the WAGs of oligarchs and footballers.
Breadvan72 said:
Coil on plug ignition is indeed the work of Beelzebub. OK, no it isn't. It is one of the very few sensible things about modern cars.
For me, the car reached its apogee some time in the 1980s or 1990s. By then, cars were quite reliable, not so quick to rust (although they still do rust), and had reasonable crash protection, but were not burdened by weight and by gadgetry. Everything since then has been utter toss.
To make matters worse, the design of modern upmarket and sporty cars has been handed over to a committee made up of Russian oligarchs and Premier League footballers, plus the WAGs of oligarchs and footballers.
Couldn't agree more, that 5 series is delicious! For me, the car reached its apogee some time in the 1980s or 1990s. By then, cars were quite reliable, not so quick to rust (although they still do rust), and had reasonable crash protection, but were not burdened by weight and by gadgetry. Everything since then has been utter toss.
To make matters worse, the design of modern upmarket and sporty cars has been handed over to a committee made up of Russian oligarchs and Premier League footballers, plus the WAGs of oligarchs and footballers.
If you mean the actual timey wimey clock, I agree - classic German styling. If you mean the instruments, they don't seem to have changed much for a while after the E34 era. My brother has a rather dull 2003 316i, the interior of which uses rather naff materials for the most parts, but the instruments look pretty much the same as in this E34.
German electric clocks tend to be groovy, and that one is very fine - the same design vibe that you see in 60s to 80s airports and railway stations and so on in Germany. You must be gert posh if your parents had Beemers when you were little (unless that was only last year or so). My dad had manky old heaps.
When I had a 1986 E30 325i in SE spec, it had, IIRC, a digital clock, and a trip computer (no such gizmo in the E34, or if there is it is hiding - I do not yet have a handbook for the shed).
When I had a 1986 E30 325i in SE spec, it had, IIRC, a digital clock, and a trip computer (no such gizmo in the E34, or if there is it is hiding - I do not yet have a handbook for the shed).
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 16th November 17:10
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