Learn me: E34 BMWs

Do they suck? Why are they so cheap?

Reasons

• theres tons of them
• too old to be luxurious
• too new to be classics (and see first point)
• higher parts cost that similar buy in corolla
• remember the bushing issues on e36s? Ramp that up a bit.
• too fat to be serious race cars (not always)
• donks (but that's usually the 7's)
• the very cheapest mechanics tend to be less than positive toward the foreign brands

I don't see why they are not a strong candidate for good GRM DD.

Ohh, I forgot. The pixels all go out on the LCD displays. Everytime. Bar none.

So you naturally will never be able to tell if you are hot or cold, which radio station you are listening to, or how many miles till your next oil change.

p.s. I really want a BMW 5 series wagon swapped with the m70 v12. e34 wagon is on my short list for that want.

My dad had a 95 525. Great car. He drove it for about 30k, now his brother owns it. I might buy it from him if the opportunity arises.

Automatics like my dads old one are slow.

Around here I think the tinworm took most of them. M5 versions were pretty reasonable last time I looked. Not quite the hand-built exotic the E-28s were, but nice machines all the same.

My first car was an e34, I enjoyed it and had none of the issues previously mentioned, all the pixels even worked. Other than the typical biodegradeble BMW cooling system... Btw I know where an e34 m5 is for 6k.

The biggest drawback is that they have crappy recirculating ball steering that makes them kind of numb compared to other BMWs. The 535i/5 is the one to have, the rest are kind of meh unless you can find a rare 540i/6 M-Sport.

My wife has had one for a few years now. Its been a good reliable car for the most part. It's like a Buick or Mercury that was designed and built by people who actually cared about how it handled and how serviceable it was. That being said, at it's age, it requires a DIYer/ enthusiast owner. I've been able to do 95% of its repairs and maintenance myself, but there has been a lot that has needed repairs and maintenance, so if I weren't able to do it myself, we could never afford to keep it.

BTW, 230k miles, the pixels still work, the interior is holding up well and the AT is still working right.

I would definitely consider another one, especially a wagon or MT, or better yet, an MT wagon.

oldtin wrote: Around here I think the tinworm took most of them. M5 versions were pretty reasonable last time I looked. Not quite the hand-built exotic the E-28s were, but nice machines all the same.

IIRC, the E34 M5 was the last of the hand built M cars.

E34s are decent buys and highly overlooked.

Few gotchas:

• Auto transmissions
• Crappy interior panels
• 50 mph shimmy
• Seat front twist (can be fixed with a lighter)

The recirc and ball steering is something to get used to as it is bit numb and slow.

• https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/who-knows-e34s/76210/page1/
• https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/what-are-the-possible-pitfalls-in-buying-a-94-525i-touring/53426/page1/
• https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/old-bmws-are-like-cracke34-530i-daily-driverfor-no/60969/page1/

A lot of car, that is DIYable (parts from Rockauto and FCP are resonable), for the money.

My $2300 1995 540i had 276k on it and ran and drove like a new car.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4n1v00ab1wmvnh6/FB_IMG_1457399159902.jpg?dl=0

In reply to Storz:

me likely . . .

They definitely have the potential to last. I've been casually looking for a 535i/5 and it seems like most of the ones I see for sale are pushing 300k miles and still going

rcutclif wrote: I don't see why they are not a strong candidate for good GRM DD.

I love E34s. But, a 525i is really, mind-bogglingly slow. I wouldn't touch a 530i if you paid me for it, if there are any still out there that haven't dissolved their cylinder liners yet. 540i... now we're talking, although the possibility of having to yank the cylinder heads to rod out the air injection passages so it will pass emissions is daunting.

Also, cheap ones are neglected, ones that are worth buying aren't cheap.

chiodos wrote: My first car was an e34, I enjoyed it and had none of the issues previously mentioned, all the pixels even worked. Other than the typical biodegradeble BMW cooling system... Btw I know where an e34 m5 is for 6k.

E34 m5 for 6k. Please share!!

In reply to markwemple:

That post is over a year old...this is a zombie thread re-upped by a now-deleted spam post, have a look at the post dates.

D'oh . . . I didn't check the dates.

pointofdeparture wrote: In reply to markwemple: That post is over a year old...this is a zombie thread re-upped by a now-deleted spam post, have a look at the post dates.

Whoops. I saw that the OP was from Feb 12 (didn't notice the year) and failed to look at the dates on the other posts.

There is an interesting one listed near me for about $6500. It has a 99 M3 engine in it and is a IS car.

In reply to ccrelan:

There was never a factory E34 "is" suffix car so someone is getting creative with badging there.