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It's been sometime since I've had a BMW, the last time was when I sold my E36 coupe with its 1UZ-FE V8 conversion, seven years ago in 2014. The desire for an old project BMW has remained, the only model that tickled my fancy were E34s so meant slim pickings. A particularly nice 540i came up this month so I had to drop everything and make a move on it. It's exactly what I was after, wasn't going to bother with any old thing. This one is exceptionally straight and has only had 2 owners since NZ new, I'm now the third. It's just about to tick over 86,000km I've placed a huge order of service items so that will allow me to get the car back up to scratch, I'm probably going over and beyond but I tend to be like that if I deem the car as being worth it. This one is no exception. Eventually I'll sort some nicer wheels and fit an Eisenmann rear muffler, but those additions can wait.

Armrest delete FTW 😬

Sussed 👊🏼

I bought this car! Had a crazy family connection and had to have it. I spotted my dad's car (74 Tii race car) in the background of his last Trademe pic. In the paperwork pile with the car, there was old pictures of my late father at the same meets as his late father with both of their 2002's in the early 2000's. A beautiful coincidence. Very very happy.

Hi All, Im on the hunt for catless exhaust system, I have been looking at the VSRF street system but will need to order from AMER and wondering if anyone knows of any good alternatives local to NZ. Thanks in advance. Regards, C

And that 330 WILL NEVER be an e34 M5! Agree with you on what you’ve said - well put 👍

IMO it’s little to do with what the car does, it’s what the car portrays and as people get older they generally get wealthier and want to reconnect to that emotional attachment and hence supply and demand applies, there are bugger all of them, you want one you pay for it. It’s generational you saw it across 60s and 50s cars and now it’s doing the same for 80s and 90s, wether it’s a shitbox or not it really doesn’t matter. It’s the connection to the past that drives it, it drives our tastes and thereby what we value. You could buy a current 330 that would beat the sh*t out of a E34 M5 in every logical actual performance category but it doesn’t have the emotional connection and that’s why they are what they are.

Finally got my first remote software upgrade..now to see if it bricks my car 😆

What would be the going rate for a decent E34 M5 these days. At a guess they’d be pushing 6 figures... What is cool is subjective. I find Citroen DS and 1970s - 1980s unloved 6 metre long American land yachts cool while I wouldn’t look twice at an R35 GTR, Audi R8 or the latest M or AMG cars. New models are spurring increased interest in these older cars. Reliability is comprised. High R&M costs, over complicated and unnecessary tech. Limited DIY. Most models across all makers these days are boring as sh*t, placing more emphasis on gimmicky tech features instead of driving dynamics and driver engagement. Hence why cars like this will demand high prices until they’re legislated off the road or the post boomer & early gen X generation don’t have the interest or money to sustain high prices.

Will tell you soon Ive tweaked my CBS to every 7000km, works well.

This is true but only if the spacer is implicated in the cause. If you have a front brake failure (for example), or are simply careless at an intersection and have an accident they couldn't refuse the claim because you had rear wheel spacers. Now, if your rear wheel comes off and you have an accident then you can be almost certain they'll look to decline the claim if you have uncertified spacers.

Just be aware that if in an accident an insurer can refuse to pay out because of it.

Not very valid comparisons. If they were, older cars would be dirt cheap because they fall short to newer models across the board. Why would someone drop 6 figures on a Valiant Charger when they can get a 700hp Hellcat with air con and all the latest features. Why would someone spend $100k on a 930 911 when they could get a 996 Turbo for the same price etc. I'd be surprised if even a handful of buyers would genuinely cross shop this with an E60 or F10. When was the last time an E34 (or E39) M5 were publicly listed for sale? Not as if theres an over supply of them. The way I see it is the asking price is consistent with the increase in values of all decent models from various maker up to the early 2000s. Ten years ago you could pick up a Intergra Type R DC2 for $7k. Now the cheapest one on TM is $28k. I could list dozens of vehicles who've seen their prices increase by hundreds of percent over the last decade. Its all relative. The red E30 M325i currently with reserve met is proof of this.

Haha I'm not really that interested in manuals so not so too bothered there, I did once come into the possession of a manual 5 speed M60 kit that I sold for $3000 a number of years ago but I didnt have an E34 then. Black interior? Haha definitely not, black interiors are generally quite awful imo, just look a bit too generic and show up dust easily, the reason I bought the car was the very clean white / grey interior. My favorite colour combo (Soarer is also grey interior ❤️ )

Seen a couple of neglected\abused E34 540i's recently, both well over 300,000+ which is a testament to their stoutness under garbage owners.

Glad you did it, it makes a very good chassis excellent.

Just stick a bit of tape over it, she'll be right.

Completed the tear down and replacement of the required items. Removal of internal oil pump looks to be incredibly easy and essentially just leaving it out !! Lucky. There was a damaged gasket under one of the notorious VQ oil galleries, so definitely a good decision to do this work now !! Also two of the original screws were loose, so again great to fix while its all opened up. Gave the front cover a nice acid clean and water blast so it looks spanky now. Final re-assembly still to come then can validate the last items before having the oil pan manufactured.

Thanks Jon, I bet there is! ok here is a pic of my 93 about 4yrs back down the mountain, needs a little minor front bumper work at the moment. 1st two are the 93, next two are of the 96 I just picked up, just waiting on it being shipped up from Dunedin. 93 has 18's on it now, will put theses 17's BSS's on the 96 when she arrives. Will add better pics once 93 is finished and have them both out in the glorious sun!

Yup the usual made up stories to try and justify putting a much higher than market price on the car. ”owned by BMW CEO” so a guy who gets given one of these to drive for free also bought one so he could watch the depreciation falling out of it.. yeah right.