Am i mad??? BMW - Volvo?

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Don
Joined
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Right, i took the plunge and my lovely (albeit slightly tatty looking) low milage 1994 e34 V8 530 is being sold. The guy is coming to collect it tommorrow, and has got a bargain.

ANYWAY, im looking to move to something a little quicker and a bit sportier.

Im currently mulling over two different choices, with a budget of about 3k

1996+ Honda Prelude 2.2 with a manual gearbox (hopfully with the motegi kit)
Mid 90s 850 T5-R with an auto box (manual if i can find one)

I am aware that these are an odd pair to group together. However, they are of similar performance specs both have looks that i like, are considered reliable and have better fuel consumption figures than the 530.
Can you think of anything with similar performance specs, within my budget to tempt me away from these?
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
Right, i took the plunge and my lovely (albeit slightly tatty looking) low milage 1994 e34 V8 530 is being sold. The guy is coming to collect it tommorrow, and has got a bargain.

ANYWAY, im looking to move to something a little quicker and a bit sportier.

Im currently mulling over two different choices, with a budget of about 3k

1996+ Honda Prelude 2.2 with a manual gearbox (hopfully with the motegi kit)
Mid 90s 850 T5-R with an auto box (manual if i can find one)

I am aware that these are an odd pair to group together. However, they are of similar performance specs both have looks that i like, are considered reliable and have better fuel consumption figures than the 530.
Can you think of anything with similar performance specs, within my budget to tempt me away from these?
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Bloody hell, I'm behind the times, I thought you had an old e34 520i with HGF ? :confused:

850 T5-R is tempting, but, I'd be looking for a 540i - thats the e34 you should have had all along mate. ;)

Just out of curiosity, what did the 530 go for? and, what age was it? Pics?

BTW, Yes, your mad, but theres nothing wrong with that minor character flaw. ;)
 
It was a 525i, and yup, it did have HGF. It had more than just a HGF in the end.. It ended up a donor car for a friend of my brothers who had a crashed M5!! A fitting end i feel!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/299597.htm Thats the 530, and it went (well, will do tommorrow) for asking price. Not bad seeing as i bought it for 1850 and have taken it from 47k-67k in a year :D

Im not going to 540i yet. As i am working further from home now, and would like to at least make a money saving gesture and get some better fuel consumption. I will be getting one at some point though!
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
It was a 525i, and yup, it did have HGF. It had more than just a HGF in the end.. It ended up a donor car for a friend of my brothers who had a crashed M5!! A fitting end i feel!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/299597.htm Thats the 530, and it went (well, will do tommorrow) for asking price. Not bad seeing as i bought it for 1850 and have taken it from 47k-67k in a year :D

Im not going to 540i yet. As i am working further from home now, and would like to at least make a money saving gesture and get some better fuel consumption. I will be getting one at some point though!
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My memory! :o

Good advert mate, I'd have been sorely tempted (albeit for an enthusiastic friend) had I known, glad you got a good price for it - I only got £2200 for my e38 but then I knew it had some big bills looming.....

Enjoy the replacement. :)
 
moteigi (sp) preludes for 3k ! bargain !

I'd go for one of those if I was you :)... but then ive just got the vtec bug myself.

If your doing lots of miles however it can get quite boomy...
 
Should i look at Impreza/Legacy?? What should i expect for my money? There seem to be loads about, but I would want a relatively untouched example. Just how difficult is it to insure imports. There seems to be more imports than domestics models?

I hear that they are bulletproof, but is this just a myth? Im worried about getting a dog!!
 
It's not on a private plate, thats not one of the numbers the DVLA held back for private plate purposes. It just has a short plate, like many other cars do.
 
[TW]Fox;10568793 said:
It's not on a private plate, thats not one of the numbers the DVLA held back for private plate purposes. It just has a short plate, like many other cars do.
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Sorry, was what the blokey said to me when i bought it, not that i cared!

If it was not already sold i would change it :)

Care to offer any advice on the actual thread topic?
 
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/299014.htm

Is he having a laugh? :confused:
1996 Volvo 850 T5 glt, Very straight body work with no rust and only a couple of small car park dents. Paint work cleans up very well with only has a small patch of lacquer damage on the top frame of the front passenger's door.

Fitted with Gaz gold adjustable gas suspension, adjustable platform fronts, with adjustable camber and custom matched springs, poly bushes, all expertly set up geometry with rears using Lotus Sport shims to get specifications exactly right.
Alloy strut brace.
17 inch Volvo alloys wheels (from the later T5 coupe) with Toyo Proxes T1R tyres all round.
Larger Volvo / brembo calipers & disc's with competition brake pads and Goodridge brake hoses.

2.3 5 cylinder engine with Rica 305 BHP chip fitted May 07, high mileage but with full Volvo service history up to 185,000 and very well maintained since with history to prove (£3000 spent on the above tuning parts alone in the last year!). Engine starts and runs very well with no nasty noises or leaks. 5 speed manual box and clutch work just fine but thrust bearing does sound a little noisy sometimes when taking up drive.
The seats, carpets, door trim etc had been removed to save weight but most have now been re fitted with full grey leather trim, still needs a few small bits and a roof lining. Included in the sale but not fitted yet is one brand new (£250) Cobra Daytona reclining race seat.
I only refitted the trim because for the last 6 months I have been using the T5 every day and its proven to be very reliable and fun to drive, it still has all the usually T5 extras fitted; ice cold air con, electric windows and sunroof, central locking etc (still has tow bar fitted which I've used a couple of times) but the car has been built to use on the track so the ride is hard, the competition brake pads squeal and bits of trim rattle sometimes so if you want a nice comfy car buy something else but if you want a reasonable fast Q car with great brakes and handling this could be the car for you!
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£1875! :confused:

Sounds like its a shed that apparently he's spent £3k on yet now wants to let go for £1875 I bet he's fighting them off..... :p:D

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/296373.htm - probably the shortest ad on Pistonheads! 81,700 miles - £2,000.
 
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Be aware that you'll need to spend a fair amount on running an 850 - ones of that age will undoubtedly have issues, most likely electrical, will eat front tyres for breakfast and, being the barges they are, aren't particularly efficient. Otherwise they're great motors, nice to drive and will run forever, but to be honest you'd probably be better off upping your budget a little and looking for a more modern S60 T, T5 or R.
 
Heh, all i would say, is if your getting a T5 , get an estate - just look nicer imho, and its really quite scary being in something so huge that can take off so quickly.
 
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