E34 Touring- Buyers guide

[emw525E34]

Nick, Your dad's saloon for 89 has the M20 motor and the 4HP22 tranny. My US version saloon is the same. For touring, it depends on the year.

For Euro 95 touring (built date 94 and 95), manual tranny is S5D 310Z thats a Getrag that is the same as the US E36 M3 3.0 car. Late E34 and early E39 tourings auto tranny are EH-4HP24 (these are expensive to fix when they break!).

[BobHarris]

I had a 93 518 salloon, and now have a 93 530 touring. my 518 had the absolute minimum of gadgets wereas my 530 has lots and obviously goes like a rocket compared to 1.8, not that much more expensive to run either. both body shapes look and feel the same from the drivers seat.

[bfd]

Bruno's site has a nice write on "upgrading" the touring suspension:

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Mainte...uspensions.htm

[Nick.Hay]

Is this self leveling suspension REALLY as dire as its made out to be??

Can it be disconnected or removed??

[632 Regal]

in my life I have only seen 1 touring in the US actually driving. Maybe Michigan didnt carry them or something...my car is from Texas, then Georgia.

[emw525E34]

Jeff, Really that rare in the US ?. I guess the market "missed" the wagons and jumped in the SUV craze. Well, you guys are big on Mini-vans which is just catching on in Asia....

Since I got my Touring, I was told that there were less than 15 (5-series touring) in the country (Philippines), funny that I have already seen almost 6 others, in the 3 months I owned this. Well, it would be about 50% of the existing tourings here if I assume the info I was given was correct.
We are left-hand drive territory, same as US. But we do get a fair mix of Euro models, compared to the mostly US versions in the past.

[Nick.Hay]

So no real issues you've had with your touring then?? How is your Rear Section of wiring harness??

[emw525E34]

No real issues. Its a 95 model with 78K kms on the clock, very good condition inside and decent paint quality. However, lots of little dents all over the place...

Rear wiring harness looks good still. Trunk-lid shocks replaced recently. Minor suspension fixes needed as roads are bad here.

Also, the LAD (self-leveling suspension) was removed by the PO. Parts were too expensive to justify and we don't use tow-bars here unlike DonwUnder. I used to live in NZ for some years, so I know.

Car is a tad heavier but drives more solid than my sedan. Sedan feels more tossable... i would not want my kids to bounce around in the rear seat going to pre-school!.

[StuartB]

There's some pretty dandy buyers guides up for download from Total BMW, although the prices are rather dated now...