I still want a barge - What should I do OcUK?
- Thread starter Joshy
- Start date
Not known to cause any major problems, is it?
I really like the Omegas myself the comfort for the price is pretty awesome. Bit pricey on the petrol but what petrol barge isn't?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I don't mind the odd tinkering as long as the car is relatively cheap and easy to fix. The barge would still see the odd spot of track action itself so fixing and tinkering go with the territory.
[TW]Fox;16197816 said:Seriously MrLOL, but what? I know its nice but its a £70,000 car in a thread where some guy wants help deciding whether to buy something 1/70th of that value
just wanted an excuse to post. nevermind
Soldato
- Joined
- 2 Mar 2004
- Posts
- 11,919
- Location
- SE England
Just buy one and try it? If you don't like it, sell it on.......
Mileage is pretty irrelevant with the E34s provided they've been cared for (although I'd steer away from anything with over 150k on it just as a matter of principal). A decent spec BMW will be leagues ahead of the Omega in terms of refinement, build and general feel - as at the time it was a whole different class of car....
I'd always swing for the VANOS M50B25 over the old M30B35, as there's not much in it power wise (although the 35 is more torquey) but the M50 is considerably more frugal in manual form. The 3.0 V8 is OK but why bother when you can get 80BHP more from the 4.0 and it costs exactly the same to run (probably just as, if not more, efficient too)!
I bought my 525i SE (manual) for 800 with practically FBMWSH, ran it for 3 months, put 3k on it and sold it for 1500, so if you buy wisely, it's not that difficult to claw most of your purchase price and expenditure back
Just suck it and see! You don't need us to give you an excuse to try something you're actively interested in
Put M5 throwing stars on, profit:
Wouldn't have called that one a barge though!
...and my other one:
Mileage is pretty irrelevant with the E34s provided they've been cared for (although I'd steer away from anything with over 150k on it just as a matter of principal). A decent spec BMW will be leagues ahead of the Omega in terms of refinement, build and general feel - as at the time it was a whole different class of car....
I'd always swing for the VANOS M50B25 over the old M30B35, as there's not much in it power wise (although the 35 is more torquey) but the M50 is considerably more frugal in manual form. The 3.0 V8 is OK but why bother when you can get 80BHP more from the 4.0 and it costs exactly the same to run (probably just as, if not more, efficient too)!
I bought my 525i SE (manual) for 800 with practically FBMWSH, ran it for 3 months, put 3k on it and sold it for 1500, so if you buy wisely, it's not that difficult to claw most of your purchase price and expenditure back
Just suck it and see! You don't need us to give you an excuse to try something you're actively interested in
Put M5 throwing stars on, profit:
Wouldn't have called that one a barge though!
...and my other one:
Last edited:
Whilst I would consider one, I'm not too keen on the idea of a M50'd E34. My dad has a E36 323i (M52 engine, which are very similar to the M50s) and I didn't really enjoy the power delivery when I drove it. I felt like you really had to drive it hard to make any real sort of progress and I really don't like that. I'd much prefer masses of low down grunt, which seem to be the 530i and 535i special subjects
Would love a 540i but insurance forbids it
.Would love an old 540i!
I bought this Jag Sovereign for £750 with 105k on the clock verified with MOT history, sadly no service history. It has a bit of dodgy paint in the bonnet and a rear window sticks but does have a dateless plate on it!
Stuck 6 months tax on it just to run it for a week or so then I'm just gonna eBay it!
But it's a lovely car and drives superbly, and feels quite fast when you stick it in Sport and floor it!
I bought this Jag Sovereign for £750 with 105k on the clock verified with MOT history, sadly no service history. It has a bit of dodgy paint in the bonnet and a rear window sticks but does have a dateless plate on it!
Stuck 6 months tax on it just to run it for a week or so then I'm just gonna eBay it!
But it's a lovely car and drives superbly, and feels quite fast when you stick it in Sport and floor it!
Why not run the Jag for a bit longer than a week a Maz? ...they are lovely cars indeed, for sheer comfort I'd choose an old Jaguar over pretty much anything else. Not so much for driving pleasure though, you're better off with a BMW there.
A 540i will certainly give you the low end grunt you're looking for Joshy, my year 2000 E39 has the M62TU B44 the one Lashout had would have been the M60 B40 which has the same power output at 286bhp but a bit less torque on paper at 295lbs/ft for the M60 compared to 325lbs/ft for the M62TU ...it's got a huge wodge of low end and can drive around all day at under 2000rpm barely changing gears if you so wish.
I know you wont really get an E39 540i that's worth a damn for you budget but an E34 ...certainly could be done you 'might' also find an earlier E39 535i SE ...they always tend to be a bit cheaper than the 540is ...and while they aren't as fast ...they are are quick enough and make all the right noises.
A 540i will certainly give you the low end grunt you're looking for Joshy, my year 2000 E39 has the M62TU B44 the one Lashout had would have been the M60 B40 which has the same power output at 286bhp but a bit less torque on paper at 295lbs/ft for the M60 compared to 325lbs/ft for the M62TU ...it's got a huge wodge of low end and can drive around all day at under 2000rpm barely changing gears if you so wish.
I know you wont really get an E39 540i that's worth a damn for you budget but an E34 ...certainly could be done you 'might' also find an earlier E39 535i SE ...they always tend to be a bit cheaper than the 540is ...and while they aren't as fast ...they are are quick enough and make all the right noises.
[TW]Fox;16201200 said:
Pretty much this.
My worry with an E39 is that they seem to mark the change over to almost everything being operated by a control module that needs to individually coded to the car. At "home" DIY repairs are absoultely vital to me, being half competent with a Spanner and having access to full workshop facilities is really the only way I can afford to run a car like an old BMW. The second I buy something that needs to be taken to a specialist to plug in a code reader and code control modules then owning a barge just doesn't make sense.
An E39 has crossed my mind more times than I'd like to admit. I know a few friends that have picked up E39s recently in varying flavours (530D, Alpina B10 and a £2000 540i that actually works!) and seem very happy with them, and I can insure a 535i (Oddly not a 530i though?
) and there does seem to be the odd manual example about (which I'd prefer, seeing as I want something I can very occasionally mess about in on the track), but I cannot get rid of the thought that for £1,500 I'd be looking at very tidy late E34s, but for £1,500 I'd be looking at the dregs of the E39 world, and that repairing at home without the necessary code readers will bring a world of pain.Yea I think you're right, I think Fox is right. I wouldn't buy an E39 from the bottom of the pile, I bought one from much higher up the pile than that and I can't say that I've had a cost free plain sailing experience so far ...but all in all I am very happy.
I really like the E34, in some ways I like it better than the E39, at least I like the look of the car from the front better, and I like the side profile with the throwing star alloys better too ...well maybe about the same anyway. I love the front end of the E34 though, lashout's looks fantastic.
...but all in all I am very happy.I really like the E34, in some ways I like it better than the E39, at least I like the look of the car from the front better, and I like the side profile with the throwing star alloys better too ...well maybe about the same anyway. I love the front end of the E34 though, lashout's looks fantastic.
I'll be selling the car, but I didn't realise how thirsty this thing is! I ran a 4.7 V8 Grand Cherokee over the winter and this car is much thirstier than that! Well that and the price of fuel has gone up by 10p a litre.
Yea but you're driving a Jaguar, one that didn't cost you much to buy ...few things will make you feel that good
Alright so it has a bit of an appetite but it's a relatively small price to pay I think. With economy figures like that I assume you have a V12 though ?
Back in the '90s before he switched to BMW after geting sick of the Jags breaking down (actually he had a 540i SE in 1997, brand new, in glacier green with cream leather ...that's when I fell in love with the E39 540i), my Dad had a Jaguar XJ12 ...one of the square headlamp XJ40 models with a 6 litre V12, it used huge amounts of fuel and while it was quick it was not as fast as you might imagine, certainly not as fast as a 540i ...but what a car, so smooth and stately and ...well it was a Jaguar with a V12 ...what's not to like, other than 15mpg at best
Last edited: