1992 BMW E34 520i

[DanielJames]

Hello all,

So, the ultra rare 330i Sport Manual Touring is gone...

I've ticked a few more boxes off the car bucket list.

• A bonnet that opens forwards, away from the car
• A car registered the same year as myself (1992)
• A car I can pretend to be in the movie "Ronin" in (though I would have preferred the Xantia Activa but oh well)

I give to you my 1992 BMW 520i in Calypso Red. It's mostly stock, but with a sport leather interior, and a few mis-matched pieces of trim inside. The previous owner tinted the fog lights which I'm not sure about, and it has a wooden OMP gearnob.

The car spent a lot of its time in Spain, or was it Portugal. I'm not sure, but underneath it's stupidly clean, and even still has its original brake pipes. No rust at all on the body, and barely a dint in any of the panels. It's done 184,000 miles, from the bodywork you can't tell but it doesn't seem to drive all that rigidly. I have had a string of performance dailies though so perhaps it's just me not being too used to a motor designed to float about.

DSC_0966.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr
DSC_0967.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr
DSC_0969.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr
DSC_0972.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr
DSC_0973.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

Being a 520 it has the fairly solid M50b20 engine, which is known for its reliability, but not for its power. I'd have preferred a V8, or at least a 525, but beggars can't be choosers and I needed a car quickly to get me to work.

DSC_0976.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr


I think it's a pretty cool car. Of course this is all down to opinion, but the thing that makes me think it's cool is that my non-car friends are commenting on it, asking about it. I've had some cars in the past that I would class as being far cooler, such as the DC5, and no one at the pub really cared. This however seems to be welcomed and liked by all, which is pretty cool.

The best thing for me without a doubt however is the bonnet.

DSC_0977.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr
DSC_0978.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

It's a stupid thing to want, that I guess only a few will understand, but IT OPENS BACKWARDS. Awesome.

Anyway I have some plans for the car, I want to redo the leather and add more wood. I'm going for a 90s XJ kind of look with it. Something like this:



DSC_0970.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

As you can see it's not a million miles away, just needs some bits to tidy it up.

I'll keep this updated as progression is made!

Cheers
Dan

[Berlin Mike]

Very nice, looks wonderful. I bought a 1988 E34 535 with 140,000 Km on the clock. They're great cars and the attention to detail on making them quiet is astonishing. They really feel luxurious.. Mine is bog standard with cloth seats and not even air conditioning. It does have cruise control which you can set at over 200 Kph!

The magic opening bonnet: mine was sluggish and hardly moved when opened. I bought new gas struts and now it clicks its heels and stands to attention!

Enjoy your car!

Mike

[MattHall91]

Lovely car OP.
My dad had a very similar car when I was young (I'm a year older than you). Good memories of that car.

Your thread inspired me to have a look and found this!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
Asking a bit much but it does look clean.

[JakeT]

Absolutely love these, and spent a good amount of time in one. Honestly even thought the M50B20 may not be a ball of fire it still has the 6 soundtrack and the smoothness! Looks really mint also, down to the '90s looking Uniroyals on it!

[Triumph Man]

The bonnet's great until it blows shut on your head. Although new gas struts should hopefully stop that happening...

I think I might have said on your other thread, but Calypso is definitely the best colour for these

The only thing is that gear knob looks a bit at odds with it... If you sniff out a facelift car it should have all the wood trim you need.

[SVX]

Lovely OP, I had a '95 'N' facelift one of these in the same colour scheme, but in touring guise.

Agree with the other posters, the 2.0 6-cylinder once it gets up-to-speed cruises along nicely, and is surprisingly economical.

Enjoy it!

[matrignano]

I learned to drive in my dad's green 520i, good memories!

I may also have attempted my first power slide in it...

[RSteve]

Nice purchase Dan, hope to see this passing by Garforth sometime!

[DanielJames]

RSteve said:

Nice purchase Dan, hope to see this passing by Garforth sometime!

Cheers Steve! I was in Garforth last Friday actually at Miller and Carter for a steak.

matrignano said:

I learned to drive in my dad's green 520i, good memories!

I may also have attempted my first power slide in it...

Haha, in the wet I presume!

SVX said:

Lovely OP, I had a '95 'N' facelift one of these in the same colour scheme, but in touring guise.

Agree with the other posters, the 2.0 6-cylinder once it gets up-to-speed cruises along nicely, and is surprisingly economical.

Enjoy it!

It does cruise lovely yes. I'm finding the lack of power more of a quirk than an annoyance. It makes me smile in a way with how slow it is. As you say though once you're at speed its fine!

Triumph Man said:

The bonnet's great until it blows shut on your head. Although new gas struts should hopefully stop that happening...

I think I might have said on your other thread, but Calypso is definitely the best colour for these

The only thing is that gear knob looks a bit at odds with it... If you sniff out a facelift car it should have all the wood trim you need.

I agree... wood is all well and good, as long as it matches. The gas struts were replaced by the previous owner earlier this year

These are the door cards I want:


Lovely looking things IMO. Chrome handles would be better but I'm not sure if they came on any E34?

JakeT said:

Absolutely love these, and spent a good amount of time in one. Honestly even thought the M50B20 may not be a ball of fire it still has the 6 soundtrack and the smoothness! Looks really mint also, down to the '90s looking Uniroyals on it!

The soundtrack more than makes up for the lack of power, especially having no cats! I'll get an exhaust video as it really does sound epic.

The tyres are absolutely tragic, but yeah very cool at the same time

MattHall91 said:

Lovely car OP.
My dad had a very similar car when I was young (I'm a year older than you). Good memories of that car.

Your thread inspired me to have a look and found this!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
Asking a bit much but it does look clean.

Ooo, that is a bit expensive really. Maybe I got a bargain on mine. They are rare though especially a manual.

Berlin Mike said:

Very nice, looks wonderful. I bought a 1988 E34 535 with 140,000 Km on the clock. They're great cars and the attention to detail on making them quiet is astonishing. They really feel luxurious.. Mine is bog standard with cloth seats and not even air conditioning. It does have cruise control which you can set at over 200 Kph!

The magic opening bonnet: mine was sluggish and hardly moved when opened. I bought new gas struts and now it clicks its heels and stands to attention!

Enjoy your car!

Mike

This doesn't have aircon either, but it's the first time I've had a car with a sun roof for ages and I love it! I'd much rather have that over aircon to be honest.

Any pics of yours?