E34 - Educate me

[ashley]

I drove a 1993 E34 525i manual, for 2 years before getting the 540i
In town I got about 12/13l/100 and down to 8.4 l/100 on long trips
Love the ride esp. on long trips, and power was more than enough, cruised at little above the legal limit with no effort, very reliable
Repeat very Comfortable!
Actually surprised once or twice on had quickly she could around clock, if required
The 525i had over 400000kms on the clock when I sold it, and cost ½ what the V8 cost to run

Still prefer the E34 drive over the E39
Thinking of getting another one – but I want a Touring
Good value for money
But rust is a problem esp. in A pillars and boot area

But for 25K bargain, I paid 25k with a RWC, sold it for 18K - 7 grand lost , over two year and 50000 kms, not bad

 

[maximus]

Manual in both please, otherwise no admission into the E34 mafia :bat:

One day :mmm:

 

[Solo Man]

Get an E36 318iS. Nice nippy car that drives well and is quite safe in case of an accident (much safer than a Citi Golf by far). You can pick up a 1997/8 318iS for about R35 to R40k with between 100 and 200k km (i did recently) and you will need to spend a max of R5k to fix it up to drive like new. They are not heavy cars and handle like a dream. The manual will give an average of about 10l/100k in traffic and about 7,5 - 8l/100k on the freeway and the auto should be much the same or maybe slightly heavier. Parts are readily available (i would say the ratio of scrapped E36 to E34's are about 15:1) Keep a look out for cars advertised on the Gum and you will be surprised to see the bargains to be had in between the junk. Just be prepared to travel and be patient. I was lucky to be the first visitor after the car was advertised and i immediately phoned and got in my car and drove the 110km to see the car. Was in excellent condition with really low kms (114 000) on the clock with a good history. So, the bargains are out there. Just be patient. The autos aren't as popular and are not bad to drive and should be slightly lower priced.

 

[splintheter]

This looks good, a 1 owner 540i, with 165000km in Constantia

http://www.gumtree.co.za/cp-cars-in-constantia/1995-classic-silver-bmw-540i-import-520562773

 

[Nic_s]

I'm currently on 16.8L/100km with my E34 540i manual. This is mostly town driving with 2 bits of road where I can cruise at 60km/h for about 1km.

If you really want an E34, but don't want the crazy fuel bill, the late model 525i is the only option since pretty much all the other E34's use about the same amount of fuel as the 540i.

That said... firing up the V8 after a long day at work is very satisfying

 

[cookiemonster]

We have a 95 E34 525i Manual in the fam runs like a dream! Fuel consumption is not the best but acceptable. Rust on a pillars or boot area is caused by poor workmanship by glass fitters. M50 vanos motor is just about bullet proof just don't overheat!