RE: PH Carpool: BMW M5 (E34) Touring
Discussion
I have both, 3.8 M5 and the long owned RS2,
Re RS2 - alleged turbo lag is something you get used and after a while it no longer exists, your throttle sensitivity/use overcomes and drives through or around it. It can be a real monster.
Re 3.8 M5, totally different engine, needs revs and spinning all the time, power is much sweeter delivered and controlled, almost seems like a gradual take off until 4k passed but I am a newbie to understanding the complex 3.8 a little better.
A fine pair of quality cars, one of the benefits of RS2 is some stock of rhd and compact estate body, also it is not a complex car to own and maintain.
just my views of course.
off_again said:
If only they did them RHD. Shame. Tried relatively posh estates with big engines, but I would go for something that is special. Merc E class V8's are great but lack the fiz. BMW M cars have the fiz but no real demand to make estate or 4 door models in RHD. Shame. Oh well.
I believe there is a RH E34 touring in existence. I might be right if I said Munich Legends built it for a customer.robinessex said:
off_again said:
If only they did them RHD. Shame. Tried relatively posh estates with big engines, but I would go for something that is special. Merc E class V8's are great but lack the fiz. BMW M cars have the fiz but no real demand to make estate or 4 door models in RHD. Shame. Oh well.
I believe there is a RH E34 touring in existence. I might be right if I said Munich Legends built it for a customer.Total loss said:
robinessex said:
off_again said:
If only they did them RHD. Shame. Tried relatively posh estates with big engines, but I would go for something that is special. Merc E class V8's are great but lack the fiz. BMW M cars have the fiz but no real demand to make estate or 4 door models in RHD. Shame. Oh well.
I believe there is a RH E34 touring in existence. I might be right if I said Munich Legends built it for a customer.vetrof said:
toxicfrog said:
E24man said:
toxicfrog said:
off_again said:
If only they did them RHD. Shame. Tried relatively posh estates with big engines, but I would go for something that is special. Merc E class V8's are great but lack the fiz. BMW M cars have the fiz but no real demand to make estate or 4 door models in RHD. Shame. Oh well.
There is 1 RHD about.........E24man said:
There are two E34 M5 Tourings that were converted from lhd to rhd, one in Avus blue and one in purple - the purple one is presently for sale. There were/are also two rhd 525i Tourings that were converted to 3.6 M5 Tourings with a full powertrain transplant.
And the Daytona car is indeed for sale. http://www.barons-auctions.com/details.php?ID=5945
E24man said:
As noted above the two rhd 3.8 M5 Tourings are well known. I went and saw a purple (Edit: it might have been dark blue) 525iT to 3.6 M5 conversion many years ago in Glasgow. It was well done mechanically and had the correct bits and pieces except they had a left a rather faded and tired biege comfort interior in it - I was looking for a minty car so despite driving all the way there from Yorkshire I walked.
The other 3.6 M5 Touring is/was a white [edit: or light green] example which may not even still be around; I certainly haven't heard about it for years. There is also one solitary rhd M5 Touring in the southern hemisphere - a 3.8 again made from a 525iT; he posts sometimes on the M5board.
I have come close to buying three of the four at some stage but each time something else came along; the first time an M635CSi (instead of the Avus 3.8), the second time a minty fresh E34 540i Touring six speed (instead of the purple/biege 3.6),and the third time a stunning E39 B10 V8 Touring (instead of the purple 3.8).
Links:
Daytona 3.8 for sale link in posts above
Avus 3.8
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34-m5-discussion...
White/green 3.6 and blue 3.6 mentioned
http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/31093-e34-m5-touring...
The other 3.6 M5 Touring is/was a white [edit: or light green] example which may not even still be around; I certainly haven't heard about it for years. There is also one solitary rhd M5 Touring in the southern hemisphere - a 3.8 again made from a 525iT; he posts sometimes on the M5board.
I have come close to buying three of the four at some stage but each time something else came along; the first time an M635CSi (instead of the Avus 3.8), the second time a minty fresh E34 540i Touring six speed (instead of the purple/biege 3.6),and the third time a stunning E39 B10 V8 Touring (instead of the purple 3.8).
Links:
Daytona 3.8 for sale link in posts above
Avus 3.8
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34-m5-discussion...
White/green 3.6 and blue 3.6 mentioned
http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/31093-e34-m5-touring...
Edited by E24man on Saturday 10th May 07:47
E24man said:
Said loads
The rebuilt by owner (info I was given) Avus blue one I mentioned earlier seems to be the Munich conversion one. The owner Paul did have it for sale 2012/13 over on the M5 board and is/was in Bracknell, Berks., the other one I had been told of and saw a poor pic. of was dark grey(?) and was in Norfolk/Suffolk area a few years ago. I would not know if it was a genuine M5 or a tourer conversion.
The fallibility or otherwise of the E34 M5 is a contentious issue.
Most cars have one weakness or 'issue' that will need addressing at least once during it's life aside from standard rust prevention and maintenance. The E34 M5 has possibly two, the engine and the EDC suspension.
The engine issue is predominantly the 3.8 engine and how highly tuned, and hence highly stressed, it is. It is the fourth generation or iteration that started with the M1 M88/1 277bhp engine and ended up with the 340bhp S38B38 engine. It has a very high compression ratio, big valves, a long camshaft overlap all giving very tiny tolerances and no room for error. The sheer power of the engine also stresses the mechanical parts of the engine and so engine failures have occured, most often without any warning and commonly to the top end of the engine with valves being particular culprits. The issue is that in most cases there has been no real explaination or reason why the failures have occured which leads to owners thinking, 'When will or might it happen to mine?'. Anecdotal evidence easily leads anybody to summise that these sudden failures predominantly affect the 3.8 engine and hardly ever happen to the 3.6 and 3.5 engines fitted to the earlier E34, E28, E24 and E26 cars.
The suspension issue is a cost and reliability issue with the EDC (Electronic Damper Control) shock absorbers. They are very expensive in comparison to conventional shock absorbers and, again anecdotally, can have an uncertain reliability. In many cases they are now unavailable from BMW so rebuilding old shocks or replacing them with after-market conventional shocks are the two choices. Until relatively recently rebuilding shocks has been very tricky but I believe this is now possible but the long term reliability of the rebuilt shocks is yet to be proven. Aftermarket set-ups can be found but underlying the decision making process for owners facing this choice is the fact the car handles so incredibly well on a fully working EDC set up.
The easy solution is to buy an earlier 3.6 engined E34 M5 (most of which came without EDC) in which case you potentially reduce the engine risk and remove the suspension issue but in doing this you miss out on the Touring models (all 3.8 engined) and the rather nice UK market last 50 LE (Limited Edition) models.
Most cars have one weakness or 'issue' that will need addressing at least once during it's life aside from standard rust prevention and maintenance. The E34 M5 has possibly two, the engine and the EDC suspension.
The engine issue is predominantly the 3.8 engine and how highly tuned, and hence highly stressed, it is. It is the fourth generation or iteration that started with the M1 M88/1 277bhp engine and ended up with the 340bhp S38B38 engine. It has a very high compression ratio, big valves, a long camshaft overlap all giving very tiny tolerances and no room for error. The sheer power of the engine also stresses the mechanical parts of the engine and so engine failures have occured, most often without any warning and commonly to the top end of the engine with valves being particular culprits. The issue is that in most cases there has been no real explaination or reason why the failures have occured which leads to owners thinking, 'When will or might it happen to mine?'. Anecdotal evidence easily leads anybody to summise that these sudden failures predominantly affect the 3.8 engine and hardly ever happen to the 3.6 and 3.5 engines fitted to the earlier E34, E28, E24 and E26 cars.
The suspension issue is a cost and reliability issue with the EDC (Electronic Damper Control) shock absorbers. They are very expensive in comparison to conventional shock absorbers and, again anecdotally, can have an uncertain reliability. In many cases they are now unavailable from BMW so rebuilding old shocks or replacing them with after-market conventional shocks are the two choices. Until relatively recently rebuilding shocks has been very tricky but I believe this is now possible but the long term reliability of the rebuilt shocks is yet to be proven. Aftermarket set-ups can be found but underlying the decision making process for owners facing this choice is the fact the car handles so incredibly well on a fully working EDC set up.
The easy solution is to buy an earlier 3.6 engined E34 M5 (most of which came without EDC) in which case you potentially reduce the engine risk and remove the suspension issue but in doing this you miss out on the Touring models (all 3.8 engined) and the rather nice UK market last 50 LE (Limited Edition) models.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff