I stumbled across my M5 3.8l to be purely by chance. I had originally been looking for a Mercedes Benz 500E when I stumbled across the car that later became mine. I called the owner and was soon on my was home with my new M5. And seeing as eveyone in the family drives BMW I thought it would fit better than a Bad-ass Benz. The car has been fully served plus more ( oil changes every 5000km) and is in very good shape. Infact its in better shape than my 320 from 2002!
What has gone wrong?
The snyc on my 2nd gear is starting to go so that will have to corrected once the car is on the road again. The gearbox is made by getrag and is a pretty complicated and delicate piece of equipment. Price for the repair is about 600 euros, 400 of that being labour but im still not opeing any gearboxes! Ill leave it to the experts! However I knew this when I bought the car and its a common fault even in fully serviced cars like mine. A word of warning: if you look at a car with dodgy history and it has drivetrain problems be warned as it usually means the car has had a hard life including burnouts and similar things that make spotty 16 year olds wet their pants! Come on people, get a life!
The only problem that has come up is that the fog lights don't work and its probably the LKM module that needs to be changed. Cost for that will be about 250 euros from BMW
Service history is a must so make sure the car has been taken care of, including adjustement of valve clearances etc( very important )!
The car is up on axel stands at the moment in a heated garage and will be so until April (ah the long Swedish winter) and when its time to take it out I have to change the oil (castrol RS 10-60), coolant and transmission fluid. I also need to change the sparkplugs and front discs.
This type of car is best suited for an entusiast, if you are looking for a reliable daily driver I would not recommed this car, instead go for a Yaris or a Jazz. Spare parts are expensive, especially bits like shocks 900 euros a piece. Then there is road tax and insurance to think of. Make sure you have plenty of money that you are willing to invest in her and she will repay you a thousand times over!
This is my first BMW M car after owning several "normal" BMW's such as a 525i, 325, 320, 750 etc. I can honestly tell you that the e34 M5 is an absolutely amazing car in all aspects. For example: taking it home for the first time I was cruising in 3rd gear at about 70km/h and put my foot down... the acceleration was so fierce from 4000-6000rpm that I actually hit my head against the headrest. Within seconds you are past 200km/h and the power is addictive. I am quite a sensible person but when driving the M5 I keep on finding excuses to overtake other cars.
My car has the so called nurburgring package.. meaning, amongst other things, that the suspension can be made stiffer at the flick of a switch from inside the cockpit. This results in even sharper handling and I still havnt been able to loose grip on the road yet (255's at the back)grip like stink. However when driving around the city I use P mode as its softer than the before-mentioned S mode.
Comfort wise the car is also a high performer... nothing feels better than a nice motorway cruise at higher speeds. The seats made of alcantara grip very well while cornering. As an american football player (hobby) I find the seats a little tight but your average guy/girl will have no worries at all.
Conclusion: This is a car that was built with a passion that has sadly faded over the past years. Get into a modern M5 and you'll see what I mean. Sure its comfy and fast, but it lacks that untamed edge that the e34 M5 has. The engine burbles and spits on its uneven idle and this can be felt inside the car as the beats vibrates. This coupled with the deep rumbling from the engine makes for an unforgettable experience without even having to put your foot down. But once you do not much can keep up with you as you howl your way to the redline. This car is a true racebred car with its engine being based on the legendary M1. Its the car as a whole that impresses me so much, though the engine is the primary cause for my excessive sweating..lucky I have AC!
No other car compares to the e34 M5...347hp, 0-100 in under 6 seconds, 280km/h topspeed. However, its much more than just how fast etc it is because there are faster cars, but no car I have been in feels this true to its cause. Try one, buy one and you'll see what I mean.
Best of luck!
I own a '91 M5 and this comment is as perfect as the car. Never driven a car that could even come close to the e34 M5.
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