Im not seeing the chalk and cheese to be honest, but its too hot to argue
e28,e34,e39 or e60 it matters little - the ///M variants are totally different beasts. Try one and you'll see theres no arguement mate.
E34 M5. whose had one
- Thread starter Matt82
- Start date
e28,e34,e39 or e60 it matters little - the ///M variants are totally different beasts. Try one and you'll see theres no arguement mate.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
[TW]Fox;16911631 said:
It's what keeps holding me back from an e46 M3 also. On a typical road, I dobut I'd get the enjoyment out of an M3 over a 330i (or indeed newer 335i) to make the justification.
I doubt I could "push" much harder than I do currently in the 330d, certainly without compromising my own (and other's) safety.
e28,e34,e39 or e60 it matters little - the ///M variants are totally different beasts. Try one and you'll see theres no arguement mate.
I have driven M varients of BMW's all be it 3 and later 5s and what im saying is this....
If i go and drive an e34 M5 what is it im going to find?
The fact it is hand built means jack ****, all BMW's are well screwed together.
Im still sitting on a 20 year old seat looking at a 20 year old dash holding a 20 year old steering wheel, that M badge on the bottom spoke of the steering wheel dosent have enough allure for me to overcome the fact im in a generic 20 year old 5 series interior.
Now lets get it in gear and get going, what am i going to find now.....
A car that in its day was sublime but now is no better than any 10 year old sporty BMW.
Anyway all that aside all im saying is they dont ring my bell, and im not understanding why anyone would want to pour that amount of money into something thats not that special.
Edit, sitting here thinking about this, i suppose the whole M thing is wasted on me, as i never drive in a way that is going to be getting one near its limits anyway.
Last edited:
To you perhaps...
It is a car that an enthusiast buys with their Heart and not the Head
.To you perhaps...
It is a car that an enthusiast buys with their Heart and not the Head
Once they have more money than they know what to do with. It's a car you have at the back of your garage, in mint condition, as part of your collection. I do not think it's a credible car for a daily driver anymore. 90% of them time it will simply be driving around in an old 5 Series - only 10% of the time will you even approach it's real talents. And whilst driving around in an old E34 may well be something you fancy, you don't need to spend anything like that you'll spend running an E34 M5 to get broadly the same experience from something like a 95 525i Sport.
[TW]Fox;16913111 said:
I don't know about that! I had a 525i Sport and although it made 197bhp on the rollers and really was superb to blast around in, your 530i simply left it for dead up a sliproad! I know there were circumstances surrounding that etc etc but really, I needed more power to really have felt like it was motoring. A 540i would be the best compromise here IMO!
Because I like performance and the compromises in order to chose a 330i over a 320i are not that big. I gain the additional ability of a 330i both in terms of performance and increased specification, without havbing to give much up.
Probably a better question to ask me is why I seem to have gone off the idea of my dream car - an E39 M5. So I'll answer that as well.
Most of the time, driving an E39 M5 will be no different to driving my E39 530i Sport. It has the same interior. It has the same exterior with the exception of subtle tweaks like the exhuast and the mirrors. It will ride the same as my E39 530i and it will handle broadily similarily to my E39 530i unless I'm really pushing it (I know thats going to sound controversial but a good friend of mine owns an E39 M5 and has a 530i Sport in his household and that is his findings). On the Motorway driving to the girlfriends the M5 will cruise in an identical fashion to the 530, consuming 30% more fuel and, at that moment in time, delivering 0% more ability.
Only once you break away from all of that, hit the open road and open it up do you get the proper M Power experience. And wow - what an experience - they are simply fantastic, but this is what? 10% of driving? 20% if you are lucky? And in order to get that benefit, you experience massive, massive additional cost both in terms of purchase price compared to the non M version and ongoing costs.
The rest of the time it is simply a 5 Series BMW. Which you will remember is actually part of the cars appeal - it's unique ability to be, in theory, all things to all people.
This is great when the car is new and you are wealthy.
The car is not new, and you are not wealthy*
*Wealthy in this context means able to buy nearly new M Power BMW's and shrug off costs as irrelevent. I am not wealthy either before you take that as an insult. Don't.
Whereas a 330i? It'll be far easier to buy in the specification I want and the 6 cylinder engine is appreciately more smooth and refined even when simply bimbling around town. See my point? You don't have to comprimise much to access the 330i's abilities over a 320i.
For me the difference is most clear when you look at it like this:
In a 320i, you put your foot down and make some limited progress. It isn't "slow" but it isn't fast either. Driven correctly and driven with foresight, you can make progress compared to those around you in any given situation.
Now, imagine a situation where all cars around you are 320is driven as I described above. A 335i gives you the ability to be "that car" again, only this time it hasn't really cost you that much more to do it in terms of TCO.
Set the bar a little higher and imagine all other cars are 335is. An E39 M5 is just not going to make any swifter progress on your journeys than the 335i because the power difference is not useable. This is accompanied with a TCO that is staggering amounts higher than the 335i.
The same applies to the E34, except in all cases you are sat in what is really a fairly old, ancient-looking BMW...
In a 320i, you put your foot down and make some limited progress. It isn't "slow" but it isn't fast either. Driven correctly and driven with foresight, you can make progress compared to those around you in any given situation.
Now, imagine a situation where all cars around you are 320is driven as I described above. A 335i gives you the ability to be "that car" again, only this time it hasn't really cost you that much more to do it in terms of TCO.
Set the bar a little higher and imagine all other cars are 335is. An E39 M5 is just not going to make any swifter progress on your journeys than the 335i because the power difference is not useable. This is accompanied with a TCO that is staggering amounts higher than the 335i.
The same applies to the E34, except in all cases you are sat in what is really a fairly old, ancient-looking BMW...
Interestingly, and this is purely as a matter of interest because it's completely missing the point, both the 330i and the 335i are quicker to 60mph than an E34 M5 - the 335i considerably so, shaving almost a second off the E34 M5 3.6's quoted time of 6.3 seconds.
An E39 540i is also quicker to 60, and an E39 530i is half a second behind.
All of these cars have lower running costs than an E34 M5.
Get the point yet?
An E39 540i is also quicker to 60, and an E39 530i is half a second behind.
All of these cars have lower running costs than an E34 M5.
Get the point yet?
I guess your last comment sums it up mate, I on the other hand am an out & out driver in many respects, no, not a cretin behind the wheel (I'd hope not anyway, been to the school of hard knocks & all that....) but would appreciate something like a - decent - e34 M5, M5 of any variant tbh, my pick would probably be an e28 through rarity.
Me having such a beast would be a complete loss leader from a money point of view, but, it would be an every day driver and get driven - where apt - as intended.
Well worth me having one I'd say.
For you, the 535i is probably all the car you'd ever need, and quite rightly.
I describe the Regular & M cars as Chalk & Cheese, I guess it sums us up as drivers - and possibly car / motor enthusiasts.
Shame I can't realistically afford one, that said, it probably won't stop me one day, however absurn a notion it is when you consider Fox's coment re performance compared to the "lesser models"
Then again, to my mind anyway, a Motorsport developed, hand built machine like an e34M would always appeal to me more than a later and admittedly "superior" car in so many regards.
As I say, its absurd.
Last edited:
[TW]Fox;16913355 said:Interestingly, and this is purely as a matter of interest because it's completely missing the point, both the 330i and the 335i are quicker to 60mph than an E34 M5 - the 335i considerably so, shaving almost a second off the E34 M5 3.6's quoted time of 6.3 seconds.
An E39 540i is also quicker to 60, and an E39 530i is half a second behind.
All of these cars have lower running costs than an E34 M5.
Get the point yet?
I'd imagine an MX-5 is blown into the weeds in terms of 0-60 by an E9x 335i but I know which one I'd probably have more fun in down the lanes.
I guess you cannot attach a device to measure smiles per mile and I think the E34 probably delivers more than the E39 despite being measurably slower.
I guess your last comment sums it up mate, I on the other hand am an out & out driver in many respects, no, not a cretin behind the wheel (I'd hope not anyway, been to the school of hard knocks & all that....) but would appreciate something like a - decent - e34 M5, M5 of any variant tbh, my pick would probably be an e28 through rarity.
Me having such a beast would be a complete loss leader from a money point of view, but, it would be an every day driver and get driven - where apt - as intended.
Well worth me having one I'd say.
For you, the 535i is probably all the car you'd ever need, and quite rightly.
I describe the Regular & M cars as Chalk & Cheese, I guess it sums us up as drivers - and possibly car / motor enthusiasts.
Shame I can't realistically afford one, that said, it probably won't stop me one day, however absurn a notion it is when you consider Fox's coment re performance compared to the "lesser models"
Then again, to my mind anyway, a Motorsport developed, hand built machine like an e34M would always appeal to me more than a later and admittedly "superior" car in so many regards.
As I say, its absurd.
Thats a good sensible post my man, and i hope you get what you are after.
At least when you get one, it wont be a garage queen.
Care to explain how?
Given some of the comments I've made today, I thought that was one of the more sensible ones
.