Which E34?: Follow-up

[kramsivad]

I thought you all might be interested in hearing the Bimmer magazine technical editor's take on my question about which E34 to purchase. My question and his responses follow...Mark

Me: I'm looking for a used E34 automatic that will come as close to meeting
or exceeding the performance of the E39 528 we just sold.* We sold it
to reduce our car payment, so the new one has to be reliable. The easy
answer is to get a '95 525i but of course the performance isn't quite
there with the 528i Sport.* The 540i is so alluring and seems to offer
so much better performance for only $2-$3K more.* I am sternly warned
by both my new mechanic in Arizona and my old mechanic in the Bay area
that not only is the 540i a more expensive car to keep up (I'm already
assuming it would be on an Alusil motor) but it has model-specific
problems with such items as the engine cooling system that can lead to
very expensive repairs - so expensive that they may not be worth doing.

So my questions are: (1) how much more am I likely to spend keeping up
a 540i vs. a 525i; (2) what is the probability of catastrophic failure
or massive repairs on the 540i; (3) if I were to purchase a 540i, what
would I absolutely have to insist on in order to purchase it (other
than Alusil)?

You talk to the owners of those 540i's for sale, of course, and they
have not had any major issues - the usual wear replacements and oil
changes.* But my mechanics see these things every day, so I'm sure
their comments are well founded. It's just that those comments seem to
argue against ever owning an out-of-warranty M60 or M62-powered BMW.*
Maybe it's true? Mark Davis, Chandler, AZ

-----
Mike Miller@Bimmer: Alusil is the good engine. Nikasil is the bad engine. The defective nikasil V8 engines went out of production in 3/95 for automatic transmission cars and 5/95 for manual gearbox cars. Most*nikasil engines were replaced with*alusil engines under warranty. For more information, including how to tell one engine from the other, visit www.koalamotorsport.com and click on the V8 engine article.

BMW's contemporary V8 engines run great, but have proven to be labor intensive in their maturity. However, apart from the nikasil debacle, which*was premature cylinder bore wear, the only catastrophic failure is the oil pump bolt backing out problem, which can affect any BMW V8 except the M5's S62. See http://www.terrysaytherauto.com/M60OilPumpBoltProb.htm

Other than that, BMW V8s suffer from oil, coolant, and vacuum leaks in their later years that are very expensive to repair. BMW six-cylinder engines generally do not suffer from these issues, and to the extent they do, repair is far simpler and less expensive.

Now, ALL contemporary BMW engines suffer from certain cooling system parts quality problems. I recommend preventative water pump and thermostat replacement every 60,000 miles, usually during the course of a two-year coolant change, in order to avoid a breakdown and possible engine damage. We typically see radiator failures up*around 100,000 miles, so if you want to replace the radiator preventatively I would do so at 90,000. This all applies to six cylinder as well as V8 cars.

If you are looking for durability and lack of expensive repairs, then I strongly recommend you buy a manual gearbox car and not an automatic. Automatics simply don't last as long as a well-maintained BMW manual gearbox, and replacement automatics are very expensive -- about $6,000 for a V8 car.

My favorite E34 5 Series, both from a performance and durability perspective, is the 1988-1993 535i 5-speed manual.

Attached for your light reading pleasure is an article on enhanced BMW maintenance to keep whatever you buy running well, a shorter article on the M30 engine in case you buy a 535i, and an ATF and filter article to talk you out of buying an automatic.

If you purchase a 540i, and if it must be an automatic, I would look for a higher mileage car that has a freshly installed BMW rebuilt automatic. We typically see automatic transmission failures in the 80,000 to 120,000 mile range. This will save you a $6,000 repair.

Also, higher mileage cars tend to have already gone through the radiator, water pump, oil/coolant/vacuum leak debacle, so that the owner has dropped a good ten grand on the car including the slushbox, and now he has "had it." Often times, the car will then need something simple like brakes or shocks, and the owner dumps it.

This is how E34 540i automatics become $2,500 work cars for BMW technicians -- they buy them from their customers.

Ask your tech to refer you to one of his long-suffering 540i customers. You might get a good deal!

Other than that, insist upon maintenance records. Most cars don't have them, and in fact most cars are not very well maintained. But at least you can use that to bargain a lower price and then do the maintenance.

[Bimmer Nut Ed]

Excellent information. Good questions and good answers.

I've got two M30's in two 535im which run very strong, even the one with 208,000 miles on it. Both manual transmissions which I expect to continue to run for a very long time.

I also own an M62 1997 740i with 110,000 miles on it. I've done the radiator/water pump replacements (easy job). And I've done the Vacuum plate replacement on it. It's hard but really not a terrible job to do your self as long as you take your time. The car is a wonderfull car and I love the engine. I have no regrets about owning it whatsoever. I think it's a technical marvel and very "self" repairable. The 740 is our vacation car, the others are our daily drivers. It is my opinion that, for a bimmer to be fun to drive, an auto trans needs a V8, and a 6 cyl needs a stick!

Also, are the "articles" mentioned available for our reading pleasure?

Attached for your light reading pleasure is an article on enhanced BMW maintenance to keep whatever you buy running well, a shorter article on the M30 engine in case you buy a 535i, and an ATF and filter article to talk you out of buying an automatic.

[Bimmer Nut Ed]

Bump back to the top.

Are the "articles" mentioned available for our reading pleasure?

Attached for your light reading pleasure is an article on enhanced BMW maintenance to keep whatever you buy running well, a shorter article on the M30 engine in case you buy a 535i, and an ATF and filter article to talk you out of buying an automatic

[kramsivad]

Happy to, Ed. Just let me know your email address. Not sure how to post a document to the forum. Mark

[SharkmanBMW]

As a 3rd owner of a 540ia, I have had a few issues, but easy fixes for the pro shop I found to fix it. The first was a rebuild of the auto tranny... $600 canadian (it was slipping in reverse),
2nd was rough idle after a cold start, changed a part on the back of the intake manifold
and 3rd was a rear end shimmy - occasionally! That was the pitman arms (dogbones) and a good wheel alignment as well as tranny mounts.

All other repairs seem to have been done by the 2nd owner - I have all the bills... In 3 years he owned the car, he spent $18000 canadian at the local BMW stealer changing everything including repainting all the spots of rust on the bottom of the doors........ you name it, he did it, parts I had never even heard of!
chris