kiwi535

drove a 530d not long ago didnt notice whine in that one.

WOW...its all about the engine.Even just a light squeeze on the throttle has this thing surging forward.A big foot full has it changing down twice and accelerating hard on a short uphill passing lane.Impressive.The obc said 8.6 l 100km when i left the dealer,8.4l 100km when i got back! You can not tell this is a diesel from inside the car.Even outside the car its fairly quiet.There are some things i didnt find so impressive.The transmission had a bit of a whine,dont know if they are all like that.Had at least 18 in wheels.noisier on chip seal than on the hot mix,choppy ride on uneven stuff. HUD display of speed and cruise settings was cool

you dont need a fancy machine to reset the service light on a e34.Maybe the obc has dead bulbs? go here to learn more

the mounts may be twisted or bent but one would hope that the cranckcase or block is not cracked

My 1990 535i was around 150,000 new.I dont see that the 540 would be much different

at least he admitted he didnt know what he was doing..id rather that than some gung ho type who didnt but tried out his theories anyway!

"A Pillar" put me off

80k? your car would have been prolly closer to 150k new

in 199x it would have been less common,its pretty std stuff for a 5 series these days

even my e34 had to have some gizmo to fool the LKM

what was so bad about it...thats pretty strong sentiments there

forgive me for saying this....get real.A twenty year old car is a time bomb.I had a very very very well looked after e34 535 and for its whole life it didnt really cost me that much.Well maybe it did,but i serviced it religiously,did not skimp on anything.It blew the head gasket,and the repair (i did i few things that were likely to be required soon) cost me nearly the same ammount of money that i sold the car for. The other side of the coin was for the best part of 10 years it was as reliable as a stone.Thats why you can buy a bloody nice car for 4 or 5 thousand.Thats the risk you take when buying a 20yr old car.And its a risk that can not be eliminated even if you happen to buy a car that i have just described.But even then the car WILL require some input.

yes i think a 3.0 would be quite impressive,would need a chip tho...

looking at a touring,ideally a 530d but they maybe TOO big.Wandering round a yard the other day a salesman came up and asked what in particular i was looking for..a manual diesel bmw touring i said.He said i havent got one but i have an audi...so i went for a drive in a 2009 2litre diesel 6 speed manual. First impressions soft light clutch and easy gearbox.bit rattly and noisy for a supposed 50k car.bit softer of idle than the 120 d,earlier turbo boost but not quite as powerful as the 120.Bit queiter .Many of the controls very familiar,steering quite light and precise not much feedback but no tramlining or such like.Didnt notice the actual tyre wheel size but 18 s and lowissh prohfile,much nicer ride than the 120 Quite confortable but interior was nothing special for a for me.In day to day stuff and even on the open road the 2 litre diesel would be enough.Lower geared then the 120 more useable in 5th and 6th.The 120d is so high geared i am sometimes in 4th on the motorway. didnt drive it hard but no torque steer evident.wouldnt buy one over the bmw equivalent

i am not an aucklander but i think they are one of THE places to take a bmw for a pre purchase.Do not discount the main bmw dealers either,they do a std 90min innspection.I have done that twice in Welly

in some ways thats trade me problem,perhaps thay should have more complete descriptions esp when one of ther search parameters is set by transmision type.they just trying to cover their bases.

The leaky heater core is a classic e34 problem.The antifreeze has a particualr smell,and you may have some slight fogging of the screen when you think you shouldnt.The a/c clears it tho.The leak is very slight.Cant help re the cat i didnt have one

BEAUTIFUL

its anti freeze you have the leaky joints of the pipes into the heater core.

an interior shot please??!!

its more sensitive than that.different sized tyres can confuse the abs system,and its the abs system that allows the tyre pressure monitors to work

is your landcruiser the new v 8 diesel?My lil 2 litre diesel is nearly as powerful and i bet it has a much better power to weight ratio. M3 M5 M6 are factory built high performance versions of a 3 series ,5 series or a six series."motor sport" or M are look a like parts to make the normal e34(for example) look like a e34 M5.My 535 for example had lower suspension,"sports" seats and a body kit very very similar to the M5,so it was a "motorsport with many "motorsport parts".The M badges are quite often applied at the dealer.Again my 535 had no 535 badge just a M this was done by the dealers. there were some motorsport v8 e 34s,the aussies got a special one,and so did the canadians and yanks.The e34 540 six speeds here were also body kitted and sports seats etc very similar in execution to the 535s

pity he cant spell convertible himself then

most aftermarket rims for the e34 will require rings

i reckon the chrome around the grills look good on a dark coloured car.If you have pictures of E34 M5 you will see the chrome around the windowws is not chrome,as antil33t said,shadowline my 535 had the shadowline 1990 E34 535is 003 by kiwiproflexrider, on Flickr