10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 27, 2019 9:54:07 GMT
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Hi all. I would like to introduce you to our new family car. After a few years of owning a far newer E90 330I M Sport it was time for a change. As nice as the E90 was I personally never gelled with it. For a family car the ride was far from ideal, especially while it was still fitted with runflats. The autobox, as relaxing as it made it, just took the enjoyment out of driving. And then there was the fear that at any time something was going to go wrong and cost us a curse word ton of cash for someone with the right level of software to fix! So the decision was made to get something for family days out and holidays, something an ex BMW/Audi tech could fix at home. Something that excited us, so not a boring everyday car that you a see 50 times each day and blends away into the traffic. I know that comment is subjective but it had to be something we liked. So whilst out looking at some cars advertised on eBay I noticed this...  ![https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/8hCKtMMVzzsX0LXl3rxYLMRi4ajNennYFzwTEF43e8p]() As I mentioned I was a BMW tech back in the 90's and have a soft spot for the E24/28/30/32/34 era. Even when I was working in a BMW main dealer they were far from common visitors but these cars catch my eye as much as any other car out there. I visited the seller and as this technically is going to be my wife's car we had the conversation and she was 100% on-board with the idea, the work that was going to be needed for us to be happy, and more importantly, driving nicely and safe. We placed our bid and a few day later if was on our drive!I Work is already well underway and due to an imminent holiday I had a lot to do and not much time to do it! However now things have settled down I thought I would start my first ever thread in case anyone was interested in what has been done and hopefully find some like minded souls. Thanks for looking and I will post some more soon (once I've worked out how this posting lark works!) |
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Sept 27, 2019 9:59:38 GMT
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Nice. My dad had a '95 E34 525i Touring from 2008-12 and we absolutely loved it. Hellrot Red with a caramel leather interior  |
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Last Edit: Sept 27, 2019 9:59:50 GMT by mattTR6
1972 Triumph 2000 – first car, long-term daily driver and all-rounder, done 65,000 miles in my ownership. Has a tuned 2500 motor and is used for a lot of long-distance touring events 1972 Triumph TR6 – US import, returned to the road in 2019 for the first time since '85! 2004 BMW 330d Touring – general hack, much mapped up goodness  |
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 27, 2019 9:59:44 GMT
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 Has this worked! |
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 27, 2019 10:03:47 GMT
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As much as you rarely see these nowadays I have had so many people saying 'I used to have one of those'!
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 27, 2019 14:06:34 GMT
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 The car had been sitting for a while but not thst long as it still had an MOT. The previous owner could see that the car had ptential but his partner thought their new born twins had more so it sat outside his mums house gathering dust (or more accurately leaves!)  There were some unusual flaws (although I have now learnt that flaking paint on the roof rails isn't as unusual as I thought!) Fuel filler flap and glovebox lid are annoyingly missing. High level brake light removed to get round an MOT failure just means more bits to find  |
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big02
Part of things
Posts: 62
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Sept 27, 2019 16:03:38 GMT
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What a lovely looking machine.
I remember test driving an N reg 520i Touring auto about 9 years ago. It was Techno Violet with silver leather and 1 lady owner from new. It was a peach but god it was slow, so slow, so slow I thought there has to be something wrong with it. I left it in the end and walked away.
But, track forward 9 years and I still have buyers remorse. Great looking cars.
Looking forward to the updates on this one.
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hogie
Part of things
Posts: 30
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Sept 27, 2019 19:23:58 GMT
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I do like a touring, looking forward to the updates on this thread.
I have an e34 myself thats just had a fair amount of work done to the driver sill.
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Last Edit: Sept 27, 2019 19:24:19 GMT by hogie
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 27, 2019 20:12:28 GMT
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Glad to hear there are some E34 admirers out there. Thankfully we have a manual but it's definitely not a quick car. And that was my thought before i got the AC working and switched it on.....oh dear! Just thankful it sounds so good when you have to wind it up, which is often!
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hogie
Part of things
Posts: 30
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Sept 27, 2019 20:27:38 GMT
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 27, 2019 21:19:36 GMT
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Cracking looking car! Quite fancy a front bumper lower spoiler when the time comes for the bumper to be repainted. I hadn't given a chip much thought, the first thing that came to mind was picking up a 2.5 motor and making a stroker!
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vitessetony
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,055
Club RR Member Number: 114
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1996 BMW 520I touringvitessetony
@vitessetony
Club Retro Rides Member 114
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Sept 27, 2019 21:30:55 GMT
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The E34 touring is a car I've always wanted but never could find one at the right time. Bookmarked.
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Alpina99
South East
Posts: 1,536
Member is Online
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Sept 28, 2019 3:55:12 GMT
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Nice looking car,
Looking forward to seeing future updates,
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BMW E39 525i Sport
BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 28, 2019 9:09:31 GMT
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So I had bought a car and only had eight weeks to thoroughly go through it and make it safe and reliable for August which is always our busiest month of the year. We had a Cornwall holiday booked and also had MotoGP at Silverstone. August generally equates to a third of the annual mileage for the family car.
The journey home after collecting was interesting! Had 80 miles twiddle with everything and apart from the AC everything appears to work (note to self, still havent a chance to check the HRW!). The brakes worked well with some slight rear judder evident but of more concern was the shimmy that went on for a couple of hundred yards after hitting a bump at speed! It actually made my laugh out loud every time it happened, it was so comical.
I had already decided on a full damper change and a set of subtle lowering springs regardless but was gagging to get underneath and get a full shopping list together. It was nice to have the cash from the sale of the E90 and the freedom to order everything and get it in ready to go.
In true Grand Designs fashion there was to be unexpected problems, an overspend over the anticipated budget (I am confident I'm the first person on this site to experience such problems and an overspend!!😂)but unlike Grand Designs at least there wasn't a new baby born half way through to complicate matters!!
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 28, 2019 9:31:49 GMT
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 Everything present and correct, some dust covers looking tired, slight play in a couple of ball joints so its all going to get done.  Initial idea of a underbody fuel line clean and paint was quickly discounted, its going to get a new set.  Apart from the front jacking points the only corrosion is a bit of surface rust around bracketry etc and the odd flap of loose underseal (but thankfully solid underneath) Whilst I am in anywhere its going to get done, I can't put back something that is rusty or needs attention. Do it once, do it right, I havent got time to do things twice! |
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🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧
Part of things
If in doubt... flat out !
Posts: 975
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Sept 28, 2019 10:12:56 GMT
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Very nice indeed. Keep them updates coming.
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`99 BMW 528i auto - current `01 Merc C320 - Gone `01 Forester S-Turbo - Sold `89 BMW 320i Convertible - Sold(shoulda kept it  ) `88 Toyota MR2 T-Bar - Sold `89 BMW 325i touring - Sold `89 BMW 535i - Let her go too early `85 BMW 320i 2 door - Rust = character `00 Subaru Impreza Turbo wagon - Sold (engine failure) `93 BMW 325i - Sold |
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Sept 28, 2019 11:53:53 GMT
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Great choice. Do miss my old e34.
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1994 BMW 525i touring
2004 BMW Z4 sorn and broken
1977 Ford Escort
1982 Ford Capri getting restored
1999 Mazda B2500 daily driver.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,872
Club RR Member Number: 58
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1996 BMW 520I touringadam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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Sept 29, 2019 12:46:09 GMT
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Nice, thats a late one! I had a 520i touring for about 3 years until I broke it up to focus on other projects, was a good daily driver and the best/worst thing about them is the ability to retrofit so much stuff from higher spec models to make the car even better (but this can cost a fair bit  Started off like this  ended like this  forum.retro-rides.org/thread/185924/1995-bmw-e34-520i-endI got a 2.5 engine and parts to do a stroker swap but never finished it, kept the engine for another project though |
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 29, 2019 16:50:15 GMT
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Yes, ive seen it mentioned that production ended in June '96 and ours was registered in August! I'm a fan if all age E34's but glad we ended up with a wide grill version. Yours looks great, see you were afflicted with metric rims too!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,872
Club RR Member Number: 58
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1996 BMW 520I touringadam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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Sept 29, 2019 17:23:36 GMT
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Yes, ive seen it mentioned that production ended in June '96 and ours was registered in August! I'm a fan if all age E34's but glad we ended up with a wide grill version. Yours looks great, see you were afflicted with metric rims too! Yeah the metrics didn't hang around too long, for the price of new metric tyres, might as well get some imperial wheels on there! 17s look best to me but 15s and 16s are readily available and even cheaper too |
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10.22
Part of things
Posts: 19
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Sept 29, 2019 19:50:14 GMT
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Agreed. I toyed with a few different wheels, almost bought a set of M Parallels only to find out they weren't genuine but it all worked ouf for the best.....  Gotta love a deep dish! After not enjoying the ride of the E90 with 18's I went the safe route with 17" wheels and a decent sidewall. Plus I think an E34 AC Schnitzer S5 in period had these wheels so I was happy they would be in keeping with the age of the car, I hate to see old cars with wheels that are too modern. |
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