E34 540 (£3k) or E46 330 (£12k)

[chriswt]

Looking to change my car shortly but I can't work out what to buy. I need an auto (I have a bad back and do a good few miles a year) but don't know whether to get a loan out for an E46 330ci or just find myself a mint E34 540 Touring.

I've owned a 530 Touring and it was great although not powerful enough and needed lots of work. I've always liked the idea of owning an E34 540 and instead of getting out a 12k loan for a 330ci I could just spend some savings on a MINT E34 for about 3-4k. Although I can't find one anywhere.

I'm worried that if I get a 330ci I'll get bored with the performance after 12 months and want to get rid of it (as I do with every car I've owned). Evo mag says the 330i manual can do 0-60 in 5.9. Is that true and will an auto box blunt that perfromance too much?

[v8 racing]

I am fortunate enough to have both, i have an 34 540 schnitzer touring and the girlfriend has an e46 330 convertible, to be honest out of the 2 i prefer driving mine espiecially on longish journeys, power wise not much between the 2 but around town the 540 is a lot heavier on fuel!

[chriswt]

Cheers for that.

Your comments on performance is intresting, I would have thought that the 540 would be lot quicker considering its got a torquey V8 with 286bhp and the 330 has less power and less cylinders even though its lighter.

My 530 was bad on fuel - 19-21mpg no matter how i drove it.

[v8 racing]

The power difference isnt all that different 286 against 235, if you take the weight into consideration i believe 540 is 1850 and 3 seies is 1500 the bhp per ton is 158 for the 540 and 156 for the 330, also the gearing on the 330 alloys for quicker acceralation where as the 540 is more geared for cruising, when i put the g meter in the 540 i can do around 0-60 in 6.2 the 330 i havent tried to be honest but i bet its around the same

[v8 racing]

Just out of interest theres not a bad looking touring on ebay at the moment a blue one, also the other thing you have to kind of way up is in 5 years time your 540 is still worth what you have paid today for it, the 330 is going to lose you around £7000 if not more

Edited by v8 racing on Wednesday 4th July 16:51

[peebee]

Chris, what age was your 530 and how did you drive it? My 530 Touring gives over 30 mpg on a good motorway run but drops to around 20mpg around town. It's a 2001 E39.

[Apache]

Plus the E34 is cooler than the E46 by a country mile, especially if wearing Alpina or Hartge alloys and built to a superior standard

[Mustard]

Shame this ones only the 3.0 V8

http://www.wlnautomotive.co.uk/prodpage.cfm?Catego...

[car.chic]

I drive a 330Ci Sport Auto Coupe and love it!

I don't believe the 0-60 is all that much different either between the manual and the auto from what i've seen it's actually the same but i don't believe all i read.

Fuel, i get about 23mpg and thats driving it HARD.

Good looking, fun to drive and fast you really can't go wrong!

Auto's can be fun.......

[BMGM3]

Pity you can't wait until around Christmas, a mate will be selling his 530/540 ( read the thread ) which has been tastefully modded for fast road and track use - Brembo 4 pots and bigger discs, all new suspension, bushes arms, shorter LSD diff, short shift, stainless exhaust, part engine rebuild, ACS wheels etc etc. It drives really well. I have a stock E34 540 and his is night and day different.The guy is a Air force mechanic on helicopters and knows his stuff, but I think the thread will show that anyway

http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12061&a...

[Apache]

Nice work there, is it a 3.0 or a 4.0?

[chriswt]

My old 530 was a 1996 E34 3.0 V8. It was good fun but the engine needed alot of work so it wasn't performing too well.

I love the look of the E34's and as I look to treat my cars to a pampered life I should be able to retain most of its value.

There is a Hartage 4.7 E34 still for sale but it probably drinks like a whale!!

[chriswt]

BMGM3 said:

Pity you can't wait until around Christmas, a mate will be selling his 530/540 ( read the thread ) which has been tastefully modded for fast road and track use - Brembo 4 pots and bigger discs, all new suspension, bushes arms, shorter LSD diff, short shift, stainless exhaust, part engine rebuild, ACS wheels etc etc. It drives really well. I have a stock E34 540 and his is night and day different.The guy is a Air force mechanic on helicopters and knows his stuff, but I think the thread will show that anyway

http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12061&a...

It will be xmas when I've finished reading the thread. Does that guy have a girlfriend!! coz if I'd spent that much time with a car mine would leave me!!! - Full marks to him though, what an amazing project, he must be one sh!t hot mechanic.

Once I do get round to reading it all I may well be intrested in that car. Bit worried about insurance though. How do I explain to some dizzy bird (or bloke) at the insurance company what I drive!!!??!

Edited by chriswt on Thursday 5th July 08:42

[BMGM3]

The car was bought by him as a 530. He thought it went pretty well, but only found out someone had fitted a 4.0L lump later on.The thread is a little old now and makes no mention of the brakes and diff fitted,plus some other bits.The car was featured in Total BMW Mag a few months back, if you like modded 540 wagons, this has to be one of the best.

[Apache]

BMGM3 said:

The car was bought by him as a 530. He thought it went pretty well, but only found out someone had fitted a 4.0L lump later on.The thread is a little old now and makes no mention of the brakes and diff fitted,plus some other bits.The car was featured in Total BMW Mag a few months back, if you like modded 540 wagons, this has to be one of the best.

I do, any links to the rest of his work?

[BMGM3]

I don't think he updated the work to the Touring, as it was posted on an E30 M3 site. There is a thread on another forum about his BMW E30 320is track toy build.You need to be a member to view though http://board.s14power.com/showthread.php?t=2166&am...