Decieved!!!

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Originally Posted by Nick.Hay

It always makes me laugh when I get guesses anywhere up to $45k(AUD)!!

But I love showing people how good a daily-driven 15 year old BMW can be!!

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Over here in the UK, there are quite a lot of the higher performance engine E34's available, at 'cheap as chips' prices. That's only because gas costs us three times as much as it does to fill up at the pump as you folks.
I've got the 520 but last year a guy I bought an E30 from (keeps the wife happy, the car not the guy) gave me a ride in his 535. What an enormous difference!!!
I'd have one tomorrow, no I'd have one today, if it was'nt for the rip off prices we pay at the pumps. Us Brits envy you guys.

Paid 1400ukp for mine in March 04, it's a 91 525i Sport. Probably spent about 2000 on it since (new clutch, new flywheel, new brake disks, new water pump etc etc etc) but still the most enjoyable car I have driven.

Ian

yeah, it dose suck how much gas cost for you boys over the lake, i bet i could get my car, or even a 540 for dirt, but then again, when i watch a show like top gear, and they say the price of cars over there, its always so much more then we pay here, whats the deal with that?

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Originally Posted by wingman

It never fails to amaze me what people think E34s are worth. Non-BMW people (rudely) ask me what I paid for my car and are always amazed that I paid so little for the car! Just goes to show what a timeless design the E34 was/is and how modern it still looks. Drive on brothers and sisters. Bitumen is God!!!

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Last November we bought our E34 with the idea of moving my wife into the 5-spd 2002 Civic. After a few bouts with the manual tranny and the following anixety we traded the civic for a CRV (she needed 4WD for work). I'm always hearing things like "Wow, a BMW and a CRV; we must be paying you well." I smile and they leave and I think to myself "Yep, I make enought to drive a 13-yr old car with 175K on the clock and for my wife to drive a base model CRV, how much is your payment on that high-end mini-van? Yeah, I pay less than that for both cars."
The weird thing is, I could go out a buy something like a jetta GLI and get less flack than if I added to the BMW corral by buying the '87 533i I have my eye on.

The same thing happens with other well-known marques. I have a friend in Texas who needed a new car. She looked around and found a used Porsche Boxster for 20K. While in a meeting she told her coworker about her find (as she was very excited) and the coworker told her that if she bought the car she could kiss next year's raise goodbye. So she ended up spending more on a used x-terra.

Ahh....perception.
-ashley

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Originally Posted by kyleN20

yeah, it dose suck how much gas cost for you boys over the lake, i bet i could get my car, or even a 540 for dirt, but then again, when i watch a show like top gear, and they say the price of cars over there, its always so much more then we pay here, whats the deal with that?

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I suppose buying a new auto in the UK is more expensive than the price of the same auto in the USA but second hand cars have come down a great deal lately. Especially if buying privately and not from a dealer. Take a look at the price of some of the E39's on UK's e bay see what you think.

I bought my E34 520SE with 54000 miles on the clock almost 5 years ago at a cost of £8,800 ($15,000 U.S.) from a dealer. Get this, the $hits would'nt even service it for me (it had only one light left). When i actually went to collect it, the 5 green diodes were displayed. The salesman told me that he only thought that the mechanic must have serviced it and so stamped the book as Inspection 11 having been completed. And would you believe it, I let him get away with it. Dunno why. Maybe it was because it was my first BMW.
These guys think they can take the pi$$.

I had it looked at by a mechanic who works for a well respected BMW agency. First thing he spotted was that the wiper arms were'nt original BMW parts, something cheap from an outfit called Champions. The guy got me a pair of proper ones and fitted them for £60 ($103).

I needed the radio code, the dealer never had it so i contacted the previous owner. I was amazed when he called to see me and presented me with a spare set of keys and told me the history of it. He is a chartered accountant and told me had owned it for 5 years. He had originally bought it off the dealership I had bought it from. he had traded it in for £5,500 ($9,468 U.S.)

He told me that the car was all orginal when he had traded it in. He was livid when he realised how much profit they had made on the auto, and this is why. He had paid them £30,000 ($51,600 U.S) for a new E39 and the mean bastards would'nt even supply him with a set of floor mats.

I would'nt buy a screw off that shower of $hite, who consider themselves the only place to buy a BMW from. I've had a few folk ask me for a reference since and i am pleased to say that i have completely put them off going near them.
By the way Jeremy Clarkeson, who used to host Top Gear (don't know that he does now) once got bollocked for describing the interior of BMW's as being likened to a German staff officers car. He's still not too kean on them. Dunno why most Brits like em.
Rant over.

Absolutely !
I recently drove the E34 to a dairy farm and some of the milkers were having a go at me for driving the BMW instead of the F250 that I usually drive.
One bloke kept going on so i asked him what he paid for his 7 year old Commodore (6 cylinder GM family car) and he almost fell over when I told him I could have bought 2.5 BMWs for the price he paid for his rustbucket.
The E34 even has a jealousy scratch down half the passenger side.
The same workers don't bat an eyelid when I show up in my F250 which actually cost 9.5 times what the bimmer cost. A truck goes with the job !
Go figure !
The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well in Oz.

It drives me crazy too. I've stopped just telling people i drive a BMW when they ask, i either feign like i don't care enough to remmember what brand of car i drive or i emphasize how old and junky my bmw is. Otherwise i get the "you're a spoiled prick" look, and then they slot me into a little category and stop listening.