this mornings hankerings... E36 M3 or E34 540

[dylan0451]

bit of an odd pairing perhaps though i had no idea both were coming in so cheap at the moment. quite fancied something v8 based for a while, and while i love the idea of a chim, a possible move to scotland soon would leave me without access to a friends workshop, something that'd make me feel a little vulnerable owning a tvr. on the other hand, a mere £1200-1500 to insure a group 20 Mcar also ticks many boxes, maybe the image is a little questionable now what with used prices being so low but for 4-5k it's quite a proposition, with a cold I6 howl to boot

manual 540 saloon's seem to be pretty rare but surely no more than £3-4k for a minter, and bar E21's and E30's seem like one of the nicest shapes. how come so little exist? and how would they compare to say a E36 328/m3 etc.? i'd expect it to be more of a comfortable barge in comparison, but they are the penultimate performance model in the 5 series range...

[RobM77]

I think the 540s had recirculating ball steering or somesuch (I've no idea what that is!), but apparently they didn't drive that well because of it. Manual cars are very rare yes. That model of 5 series was also the first BMW to switch to drive by wire throttle, in about mid 1997 I believe. Great cars though - I looked into getting one a while ago. I'd have thought the E36 would be much lighter on its feet and a more sporty drive, although obviously not as comfortable on long distance trips. A friend of mine has owned two 5 series of that vintage, and I've had two E36s - a 325i and a 328i. All have been absolutely fantastic cars - that was a great era for BMW.

[soad]

I'd have M3 myself - unless you need more space or something = bigger car.

[dylan0451]

RobM77 said:

I think the 540s had recirculating ball steering or somesuch (I've no idea what that is!), but apparently they didn't drive that well because of it. Manual cars are very rare yes. That model of 5 series was also the first BMW to switch to drive by wire throttle, in about mid 1997 I believe. Great cars though - I looked into getting one a while ago. I'd have thought the E36 would be much lighter on its feet and a more sporty drive, although obviously not as comfortable on long distance trips. A friend of mine has owned two 5 series of that vintage, and I've had two E36s - a 325i and a 328i. All have been absolutely fantastic cars - that was a great era for BMW.

jesus. that's fair enough then, recirculating ball is a hateful design imo great on lorries etc. for taking big loading and not needing any servicing but a far cry from the directness of rack and pinion. coming from a track prepped mx5 i think that counds the 540 out along with DBW. of course it could be worth driving before making rash decisions but i don't think i could envisage paying money and DD'ing something that felt numb

i assume the M3's remained cable throttle? and i assume you can pull the fuses to any traction control/abs etc. nannying gadgets?

[RobM77]

dylan0451 said:

RobM77 said:

I think the 540s had recirculating ball steering or somesuch (I've no idea what that is!), but apparently they didn't drive that well because of it. Manual cars are very rare yes. That model of 5 series was also the first BMW to switch to drive by wire throttle, in about mid 1997 I believe. Great cars though - I looked into getting one a while ago. I'd have thought the E36 would be much lighter on its feet and a more sporty drive, although obviously not as comfortable on long distance trips. A friend of mine has owned two 5 series of that vintage, and I've had two E36s - a 325i and a 328i. All have been absolutely fantastic cars - that was a great era for BMW.

jesus. that's fair enough then, recirculating ball is a hateful design imo great on lorries etc. for taking big loading and not needing any servicing but a far cry from the directness of rack and pinion. coming from a track prepped mx5 i think that counds the 540 out along with DBW. of course it could be worth driving before making rash decisions but i don't think i could envisage paying money and DD'ing something that felt numb

i assume the M3's remained cable throttle? and i assume you can pull the fuses to any traction control/abs etc. nannying gadgets?

For the 5 series:

Steering info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_E39#Steering_and_...

DBW I couldn't find any information on, but I'm sure it came in around 1997. That might be worth a bit of research.

For the 3 series, yes, they were all cable throttle until the launch of the 330ci in 2000 on an X reg. I believe something weird went on with the throttles in the end of line facelift 328i (T and W) reg though to do with throttle closure. My latest E36 was a 1998 S reg, which I sold in Nov last year to another PHer. Again, wikipedia will have info on each engine.

I think the only electronics aids the E36 had was traction control, which was completely switchable, and ABS, which wasn't. M3s had an LSD, and very early non M sport models had it I think.