by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 10/20/2017 at 01:06
by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 10/20/2017 at 01:06
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STARS: 1
But it looks nice and grips well. It’s amazing how much progress we’ve made in the 28 years (!) since this car was built. Now, even my allegedly ‘slow’ minivan can blow this thing into the weeds. Mind you, it doesn’t feel as solid or stop as well as the trusty old E34, nor is it as quiet and as smooth, but then again, in 2012 dollars, we’re comparing a $21,000 car to a $71,000 car. For a $50K difference I would expect the BMW to be a tad more refined...
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
10/20/2017 at 01:08, STARS: 1
I’ve been getting the itch for an old bimmer lately. E34 would hit the spot.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
10/20/2017 at 01:16, STARS: 1
Just be sure to get one with a manual or a big motor, but preferably both. Although mine has a manual, the poor little M20 engine is a tad taxed moving all of that weight around, and this after installing a chip, running it on premium only, a good exhaust system and whatever bolt-ons I could through at it. My bone-stock Mazda5 6MT will toast the E34, which is kind of embarrassing considering the rather handsome looks.
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
10/20/2017 at 02:14, STARS: 1
It is crazy the difference in acceleration thats change in the last 30 years. My 26 year old high tech sports sedan, is slower than a new Camry V6. Infact with a 0-60 of 6.5 seconds, it’s slower a lot of things. But at the time that was unbelievably fast.
"RT" (rt-p)
10/20/2017 at 04:27, STARS: 0
Yep, we live in an era where the Camry is faster than a Lamborghini 40 years prior.
But what’s that without good design?
https://driventowrite.com/2017/01/25/c-pillar-vw-golf-gti/
https://driventowrite.com/2017/02/08/base-metal/#more-29543
^We need more thought put into that these days.
"FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
10/20/2017 at 04:57, STARS: 1
It concerns me that a 2016 Ford Tourneo Custom has more features and is almost as “quick” as our 2005 VW Golf Plus.
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
10/20/2017 at 05:16, STARS: 0
It’s a large-ish sports sedan from the late 80s with the slightly above base engine. What do you expect? It’s designed to be a fun to drive cruiser, so a ‘real’ BMW. I bet it’s still capable of performing that task quite well. It was never intended as a drag racer and was designed as a sports sedan first and as a luxury car, well, third? Very different from the boring but capable luxobarge BMWs from today.
I bet I’d have a lot more fun in that E34 than in a modern V6 Camry. I’ve only owned E30s though, so it’s merely a guess.
"random001" (random001)
10/20/2017 at 06:23, STARS: 2
A big engine, you say?
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
10/20/2017 at 06:36, STARS: 0
How was that a $70k car? Mine is much newer, has an bigger engine, and only cost the equivalent of $60k.
"diplodicus forgot his password" (diplodicusforgothispassword)
10/20/2017 at 06:58, STARS: 0
Did the m20 get a different compression ratio in the e34 requiring premium? Or is that do to the chip?
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
10/20/2017 at 07:15, STARS: 0
Two factors - when the car was young there was a carbon buildup problem and BMW tore the engine down, cleaned up the deposits and provided a new warranty provided you either used BMWs fuel additive or Chevron premium. And when I added the chip the premium requirement went from optional to mandatory.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
10/20/2017 at 07:21, STARS: 0
Different times, different standards. I like it for what it is, and knew full well it wasn’t going to have the performance of a 535i or 540i. I didn’t buy the Mazda for its performance either, it just happens to actually have some (at least by my standards...)
Those long drives between Los Angeles and Las Vegas? It ate up those miles with grace and aplomb, easily cruising at triple-digit speeds for extended periods. That’s what it was meant to do.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
10/20/2017 at 07:28, STARS: 1
Well, when the E34 was new for 1989, the 525i had a basically one price since there were no options, just a choice of transmission and colors. The calculator I used last night showed that the amount in question, which I think was $38,000, was the equivalent of $71,000 in 2012 (the year I bought the Mazda) dollars.
There was some backlash on the high price, and in future years BMW made some of the formerly standard equipment optional, a tradition that continues with all of the packages and trim levels available on today’s cars.
"MM54" (mm54mk2)
10/20/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 0
A guy I went to college with had an automatic e34 525i - it had to be the slowest BMW on the planet (excluding the isetta).
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
10/20/2017 at 19:13, STARS: 1
Did it have the 12V M20 engine? I test drove one of those and was longing for the raging performance of my old 1.9l VW Vanagon. The damn transmission would not downshift unless you mashed the accelerator with both feet. Absolutely dreadful, and that’s when it was new - I can’t imagine what it would be like as an old, used car.
"MM54" (mm54mk2)
10/21/2017 at 19:05, STARS: 0
I just know it was the later one with vanos, which gained I think 2hp. It got decent fuel mileage but that’s about it.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
10/21/2017 at 20:16, STARS: 1
A friend bought one with the M50 engine, but meant to get one with the M50TU, which had a little extra HP but more torque than the plain M50 (dual VANOS instead of single). Both of those engines were considerably more powerful and torquey than my M20, even with the mods. But an autotragic can suck the life out of even that more powerful engine.