soarer260@hotmail.com

Hi guys, After searching for a few days I have not really found what my issue is here. Basically the electric seats and power mirrors work when they feel like it, some times not at all and sometimes straight away. Its like power gets cut to them at a certain point in time weather its parked up or your driving or at the traffic lights.... just seems to be totally random. However its extremely annoying. I thought one cause could be the seat switch but that does not seem plausible in this situation. My guess is a power loss of some sort? Like a relay sticking, or having bad contacts?? Any information / help / a solution to this would be excellent! This is an E34 540i 1993. Cheers Mike

Hey guys, In the last day or two Ive noticed this strange sound coming from the drivers footwell. Its not always there - but has been for the last couple of times I have turned the car on, its like a whirring fan sound. At first I thought it was a firewall seal letting engine noise in but it switches on and off sometimes - I'm guessing its a cooling fan for a device or something under the dash above the accelerator area? Could anyone shed any light on this?

Precicely.

Hey Mike, good purchase! I was looking into that one last week but found another that I preffered more so.... Mine goes fantastically, and had a fair few of the common issues sorted out - plenty to do but what can one expect. Glad someone here bought that one off TM though. Enjoy! Mike.

Hopefully he will work out they look appualing.

Apparently it's not in as good of a condition as the pictures suggested. Had all kinds of oil/fluid leaks underneath and was not what it seemed according to a mate which checked it out.

How would one go about that exactly?

Hi Guys, My 1993 E34 came with a factory dual button remote key, which doesn't work - and yes Ive put new batteries in. After looking around on the internet I found that apparently the control box is under the backseat where you can do a few things to re-program the key, however mine is clearly not there, just a fuse box on the passenger side and the battery on the drivers side. Does this mean it didn't come with the unit and my car doesnt actually have this feature, even though I have the key? It's not big deal but never the less of interest just to see if I can get it to work Cheers Mike

The suspension looks like its broken. Must have a detrimental effect on the handling and clearance over bumps. A low car is good, but only to an extent.

Absolutely, it is far superior in so many ways. I like the Soarers but have grown tired of them after having 4 of them over the last few years..... this BMW just destroys mine hands down handling wise, quite amazing really - Certainly can see why they are called 'Driving Machines' The styling is what does it for me though, the E34 is one of the most classic BMW shapes in my opinion, original and true!

Well hey there, I managed to find a terrific 540i this week - through a special someone namely Ray at Hell BM, A top bloke! Here it is anyway - Should make a nice project & day driver! (Will get more pictures next time) Most pleased.

Cheers guys. Yeah Creaver, a mate of mine did show me yours as advertised on here. Why are you selling yours? I would be quite keen to have a look over your 540i, see if they are what I think they are - send mea PM with your details. Currently Ive got a Soarer, which the engine is being rebuilt, almost done but probably looking to sell once its running next month. A good car but I have had 4, so rather tired of them - a new direction like a E34 5 Series would be much more interesting for the year. I have thought about the 535i's but for me, 215HP/305nm is getting a little on the sluggish side... Something to think about but definitely more keen on a 540i because of the similar outputs to the Soaer V8 I have and the fact they are an 8 cylinder! My main focus with one would just be to keep it original and look after it, look into some light intake exhaust modifications and just replace common wear parts. Haha, it appears I put my password in for my old account - Im the same as Gtourer, just lost my details so made a new account.

Yeah, that makes sense, lot of wiring for all those systems. Well that's what the Toyotas I have are for, the general problem free daily drivers. Essentially with buying one of these BMW's (or whatever) it would be a weekend type car that's slowly restored back to a near new condition, mechanically anyway so most if not all of the age/millage problems are corrected so that it has another 15 years of mostly reliable life ahead of it.... One thing that's going to be interesting is if the 8 Series models will start appreciating in time. There's been quite a bit of talk about it in buyers guide videos/articles over the last few years so buying one while they are good value in the 20's might not be a bad idea.

Hmmm this electrical issue sounds rather concerning. Is it just engine related? My guess is it's probably the under bonnet wiring failing due to the engine heat? Could be a bit like the Nissan 300zx coupes which are prone to this... nasty!

That's good to hear about the M60 V8 engine... in saying that however you would expect a V8 to easily get to 300k's... but that's coming from having experience with the Toyota 1UZFE V8 which can easily do 400k's+ when regularly maintained. Interesting to hear your thoughts on the SL 500's, I've always been very keen on them and are my second choice next to the 8 series for a weekend type car. They seem to be more plentiful and versatile, like the better all round car as some of you mentioned. At the end of the day they could be a better option to an 8 series. I'm guessing slightly cheaper to maintain/insure, plus from factory they're fairly quicker and handle better when the road gets curly than the 8 series being lighter.... so that's something to think about. Guess the trick is to look into both cars, try some out and see what really interests me the most, other wise I'll keep the idea of an 928 S4 or XK8 in mind too. Be nice to have them all but you have to start with one I suppose, good things take time!

The 850CSi is the 5.6 V12 one, look's like that's the one bradc imported having a search on the forum... It's pretty much the one most people want so from what I've seen it tends to make the normal 5 liter 850i/ci's cheaper being 'only' 220kw, not 282kw like the Csi's are. Yeah, re the Nikasil problem, I wasn't sure if it's a major issue here like over in the States.... something to watch out for but I think It would be a good idea to not discount looking at an 840ci... Cheers Ian, I'll send him a PM and see what he has to say.

Hi Guys, My names Mike, I'm new to Bimmersport, unfortunately I don't currently own a BMW but drive something from Japan which is quite comparable to a few European models of the same class, that being a 1991 Toyota Soarer V8... "The poor mans Mercedes" It's fairly Immaculate, was definitely a good purchase, only 61,300 Miles! heres a picture of it followed by the interior.. It's my fourth Soarer, I love them, fantastic well rounded cars but as with most things Japanese they lack the prestige and class similar European cars have..... So I've started to think about what really would interest me for my next coupe in the next couple of years thats has the edge on the Soarers, specifically something rare(ish) and different to most of the cars on the road in NZ, including a higher price tag. Basically I'm interested in a early 90's (1990-95) Two door European coupe with a V8 or larger. I've got about half a dozen in mind so far... the Mercedes Benz SL500's... they are not too bad but there's just something to bland about them styling wise, the 5.0L 928's are one thing I'm fairly interested in but obviously fetch an extra premium on insurance/parts being a 'Porsche'. Other wise a mid 90's Jaguar XK8 is quite tempting but what really gets me more interested than all of these is a BMW 850i/Ci.... They just have that presence about them, from every angle, parked or driving along. Sure they aren't the most quick machine around due to their rather hefty mass (Similar performance to my Soarer) but thats not the point, its the way they look, the fact they have a BMW V12 and just the kitchenbuger of German Coupes... I mean they are an 8 Series! Now, its all very well wanting one, but as with anything I look at buying I research meticulously everything to know about them, their issues, what to look out for, what to avoid etc etc... this is what I did with the Soarer's when I discovered them 5 years ago, and it certainly paid off.... I know pretty much everything there is to know about them and what each little problem is (not trying to brag, but yeah) so I'd like to do the same with the 8 Series. Anyway about the 8 Series, the main things I gather with them so far is that they are rare... that's obvious but I often see a few here in there in Auckland if I'm lucky. They usually fetch just under 20k to around 35k (Depending on year but the early ones I'm interested in seem to be under 25k. As with most cars of this nature parts, servicing and insurance costs are measurably larger than Japanese cars, but thats just part of wanting and owning a car like this. I won't rave on too much but, I'm pretty firmly focused on the 90-94 5.0 Liter V12 version, not so much the V8 models as I'm aware they have the Nikasil cylinder lining problem so would rather not go there. If anyone has any comments, thoughts or tips for me to think about, as well as web based links to decent indepth resources/clubs on the 8 Series please let me know. Also are there any 8 Series owners of either the V8 or V12 versions in Auckland (or surrounding area) that would be willing to meet up sometime to fill me in on their personal experiences with their ownership? If so give me a PM, I would appreciate it! Cheers, Mike