80s-early90's beamer affordable performance

[JaKob 0]

Say i had about 15 grand to play with, what Beamers would you guys recommend that have reasonable performance. Preferably late 80's, and please not anything like a mid-nineties 318i

[Gus 5]

late 80's 325i, or M325i (m would run you prob 8 grand ish, 325i a bit less, prob around 5-6 for a decent one) and turbo......250 hp at the wheels not too hard to achieve with a decent setup.....and car is approx 1100-1200 kg.....so it should go ok...only prob is finding an LSD if you dont go for the M

thats what i would do anyway!

www.e30tech.com a good place for info, along with corky bell's maximum boost, available from amazon.com, which i am reading now

there are other ways, ive just listed my personal fav

Edited April 21, 2005 by Gus

[kiwi535 538]

An E28(Pre 88) 535i or even a m535i if you can find a one. They are a lot lot faster than most people would think.They are lighter than the E34s by quite a bit.However Beamers arent traffic light rocketships..i think most would agree,they tend to be heavier than the equivalent models in any line up....

[E30_318i 0]

I read a US mag that got an E34 535 manual 0-100 in 7 seconds :mosh:

Thats quicker than an E30 M3 I think, other wise, you could get a mint late 80s 750i for 15 grand, which will put most cars on NZ roads to shame.

[bimmer boy 21]

or insted of spending 15k on a 750i you could get this 92 750il for much less

1992 BMW 750iL

:thumb: :mosh:

[JaKob 0]

I WANT THIS

Im not very clued up on the older beamers.... appears to be a 535i with a Body kit and a nice pair of mags?. How much would it set me back for one of these + a similar kit and wheels

Edited April 21, 2005 by JaKob

[rxsumo 33]

Depends really on how you want to do it, and how fast you want to achieve the look.

If you want a 535 manual then the base car is probably a minimum of 10K, a hunt around Trade-Me will probably get you a 535 Auto for a few grand less than that.

If you want name brand wheels then Trade-Me could be a good start, of late there was a set of the Alpina B10 Twin Turbo rims....9 and 10 inch wide? rims that sold for around $1100, I brought a good set of Racing Dynamic's 17 x 8 and 90% Bridgestones from one of the local performance shops here for $1600.

You could check with one of the second hand wheel importers unless you really want to go new.

Not too sure on the Body Kits for E.34....if you get an NZ New Manual, chances it will have the M-Tech Body Kit fitted as Standard.

One comment, I would make if you are looking at E.34 535, they are thirsty to run, mine typically does around 14-16 MPG around town averages no more than 20MPG on a trip, and with the race car on the trailer does betwee 14-18 MPG. The manuals are a bastard around town, really heavy clutch and the torque makes the driveline shunting unpleasant....much happier on the open road.

Our one is used for touring rather than a daily.

[kiwi535 538]

i dont think a e 34 will do a low 7 0 100 more like eight and 17s will knock em back a bit...the e34 535 is much happier on the open road.As a a daily driver i get around 13 l 100 ks but i dont sit in traffic and on the open road i get around 11l 100,but i am pretty light on the throttle....and even tho they are fairly quick and fairly fast (140mph or thereabouts) they dont really feel that fast.........If i sold mine i would like to think that the 5 spd ,manual, mtech body kit ,sports seats, lsd etc etc would get me 15k or so.......

[Moose 0]

I bought my 1989 E34 535i 18mths ago for $9900. Its a five speed manual with 195000 miles on the clock, 18 inch mags and full leather with sports kit. Its a fantastic car. I'll be selling next year and going to an E36 M3 evo as I will not need the bigger car then.

If your looking for a 535i, there is normally a few around in manual, shouldn't have to pay more than $10 unless its mint. Parts are easy to find on Trade me and wreakers.

E30 - Great cars unless your 2 mtrs tall like me, had a 325i, which was cool but cramp.

E36 - My wife has a 96 328i touring which is also a great car.

7's - Don't know much but I wouldn't want to pay the gas bill or park them in town.

Good luck and be patient!

[CaM 0]

i dont think a e 34 will do a low 7 0 100 more like eight and 17s will knock em back a bit...the e34 535 is much happier on the open road.

"drag racing in a 5 series isa like taking a hooker fishing.... sure, it's fun, but it's not what you got her for"

sums it up dont you think?

[E30stz 0]

"drag racing in a 5 series isa like taking a hooker fishing.... sure, it's fun, but it's not what you got her for"

sums it up dont you think?

CaM be honest... did you take a hooker fishing ?

[CaM 0]

"drag racing in a 5 series isa like taking a hooker fishing.... sure, it's fun, but it's not what you got her for"

sums it up dont you think?

CaM be honest... did you take a hooker fishing ?

why yes, yes i did..... then she mowed my lawns... mow my lawns bitch!!!! hah, said she'd do ANYTHING for 3 hours for $300... bit of gardening, fishing, did my laundry, gr8.

[cainchapman 0]

Do you want something to drive in comfort everyday, or do you want a toy?

A 5 series is the most universally useful car. Ever seen 4 adults in an E30?

I'd look at an M535, E34 in that price range.

That car in the photo, you wouldn't get for $15k.

[Gus 5]

sorry i thought you guys were talking about performance......

[kiwi535 538]

define performance...and we were talking about the 5 in the picture werent we..

[rxsumo 33]

I assume by performance, to compare apples with apples, we are talking potential cars in the prices range and stock performance figures (non LHD...no specials...Alpina etc)

Quickest 3 series......

E30 325.......131 MPH, 0-60 7.4

Quickest 5 Series

E34 535........141 MPH, 0-60 7.4

The E12 535 will do the 0-60 sprint in 7.1 but finding one of them here would be like trying to find hens teeth

Source of data Total BMW Data file

ah...... as the 5 series will out run the 3 series and the 0-60 is the same....perhaps we should be sporting and call it a draw

Now if you have 30K or so to spend and could import a LHD car...shall we mention the E34 B10 Twin Turbo.......

as for a M535, I suspect you actually want a NZ new 535i manual. I think the M535 was only released in NZ in '88, my car which is a manual 535 was marketed later as a 535iS, but BMW say these were standard 535s with a large option list. BMW say they never sold any 535iS's in NZ....it was only a marketing thing.

The British M535 from my understanding is a less optioned car than the NZ 535 Manual. The NZ car would seem to be a combination of the M535 and the 535SE.

[Gus 5]

haha pulling legs.....its just a wouldnt define performance as a 535i......more like a 535i turbo, 325i turbo, e30 s50....but i digress!

[bmwsparkle 3]

535i, turbo, use e28 low comp pistons, 8:1, 300whrp v v easy on stock internals etc. w3rd

5s rule

[BMW POWER 2]

5s rule

Damn right Sparkle... I have been converted from a 3er to a 5er

H

ow about get a crashed E30 M3, use the engine and kit all the extras so long as they aren't damaged (pick all this up for 10 grand) buy a 318 coupe for $5000 and then you have a fakeish relish weirdish one.

Simple. :mosh:

[bimmer boy 21]

crashed e30 m3's just arnt that common

[rxsumo 33]

535i, turbo, use e28 low comp pistons, 8:1, 300whrp v v easy on stock internals etc. w3rd

5s rule

yeah but the problem with RHD, is the steering gear mucks up optimum exhaust/turbo pipework

but I have a LHD E23 manual 7er sitting in the backyard....there could be a project in that......

[kiwi535 538]

BMW say they never sold any 535iS's in NZ.

BMWnz refer to the 535 manuals as HD12,s(one guy said"very special cars") and if they arent 535is,s i would like to know what they are....from what i have seen they are identical to 535is,s in aussie.I beleive that bmwnz put //M badges on all of them

as for a M535

what do you mean by M535?I thought the e 34 didnt have a m535,only the e28 had an M535.All the e 34 535s had the same output,the only difference between a sports and any other model was options......

sheesh the way values are going i might be looking for an e34 m5 soon....

Edited April 28, 2005 by kiwi535

[BM WORLD 1283]

i will be selling a 1988 535i 5spd in the future if anyone is interested , delphin grey , black leather recaro's , 17" borbet or maybe 15"basket weaves lowered . with late model lowish millage engine fitted .

10.5Lper 100km on a trip or about 13L around town . open to offers .

has 3.25lsd or can supply 3.65open to be converted to lsd .

best motor BMW made . strong , realible ,ecnomical (for size)easy to fix or service .

if wanted can maybe fit older 3.5l motor with higher compression and maybe with latter model head , for a price

[rxsumo 33]

BMWnz refer to the 535 manuals as HD12,s(one guy said"very special cars") and if they arent 535is,s i would like to know what they are....from what i have seen they are identical to 535is,s in aussie.I beleive that bmwnz put //M badges on all of them

what do you mean by M535?I thought the e 34 didnt have a m535,only the e28 had an M535.All the e 34 535s had the same output,the only difference between a sports and any other model was options......

sheesh the way values are going i might be looking for an e34 m5 soon....

This is getting a bit of topic but here's the response from BMW on 535iS specifically my car but....

"Your car was original purchased through the "tourist delivery" scheme by Mr

G Smith of Palmerston North on 05/04/1990. The model designation of "S" was

a NZ marketing term only, as the car was assembled as an ordinary 535i, with

various added options including M-Technic suspension, seats, and sports kit.

There are no factory modifications to the engine.

Yours faithfully,

G.J.R. Wenzlick

Warranty Administration

BMW Group

New Zealand"

I'm guessing that they are very special because they are virtually "fully loaded" from the options book, and are probably unique that they were all factory spec'd like that. If you brought a British iS, you would have paid extra for the seats, the big wheels, the full body kit, the climate air, the premium sound etc etc.

From my reckoning (and my dealer sales book), the only options these manual cars are missing is the heated seats, factory cellphone, ASC (I'm not too sure if this was an auto only option), and an electric sunvisor. They cant run the tilting rear seats because of the ski bag.....

I think you will find that an E34 M535 does exist for the British market but it only was around in '88 and maybe '89 until they introduced the iS.

On the M5's an associate of mine brought one 3 or 4 years ago for around the low twentys mark...about the time the dealer had my car on the yard at $22K.

[E30stz 0]

Kit that up ... it'd be rad