Long & thoughtful discussion of 525 vs 535

[Interceptor]

I know. Its pretty sad. I guess when it comes to knowledge a man has to know more. I experience first hand the "pissing match" that girls go through over petty stuff, but and its almost as pathetic as when a man thinks he knows what he's talking about when he doesn't.

We all sometimes find ourselves in such a situation, and it's a perfectly human-like behaviour, but making a habbit of it is what's bad.

[Paul in NZ]

in hindsight we are all much cleverer!I may have been tempted by a 525 m50 but at the time I bought mine I was looking specifically for an manual IS model,I didnt even conder that i should look for a 525 M50 in the same spec.Very small market here.Many times you find yourself in the situation where if you find a good un you buy it.Besides i am a lazy bas&^%$ and like the tourque,I shouldve got a 540 IS 6 speed.But...........

[Kalevera]

This is getting a bit o/t, but....

Int, I agree completely with what you've said. My earlier post wasn't directed at your initiation of that thread, but instead the subsequent bickering that ocurred....the whole "mine is bigger than yours" attitude that I, for one, find unproductive and condemning.

I champion continuous and expedient learning practices; my involvement with this forum should serve as a testament to that fact. However, when one party turns the learning process into an effrontive or arrogant attack on another, what was once a benign query results in confrontation and anger, emotions that do little to promote the community.

Humankind would do well to reconsider itself when the majority of its participants can only respond to, in accordance with Maslow's work, the sensations of pain and pleasure, or anger and orgasm (as most TV would have you believe).

Just something to think about.

best, whit

[Interceptor]

Int, I agree completely with what you've said. My earlier post wasn't directed at your initiation of that thread, but instead the subsequent bickering that ocurred....the whole "mine is bigger than yours" attitude that I, for one, find unproductive and condemning.

That's almost inevitable on a large board like this one - as Ed said in his sticky post for newbies, there's always someone (or more of them) having a bad day. Some have a bad temper as their genetic heritage, which is also unpredictable in discussions of that magnitude, especially because of the open-type community, where everyone can be a part of it by simply entering a username/password of their choice.

I champion continuous and expedient learning practices; my involvement with this forum should serve as a testament to that fact. However, when one party turns the learning process into an effrontive or arrogant attack on another, what was once a benign query results in confrontation and anger, emotions that do little to promote the community.

Humankind would do well to reconsider itself when the majority of its participants can only respond to, in accordance with Maslow's work, the sensations of pain and pleasure, or anger and orgasm (as most TV would have you believe).

Just something to think about.

That theory would work flawlessly in a perfect world - in which we, unfortunately, do not live in. Most of the people are not capable of sensing subtle changes of emotions, and communication of this type is restrictive by it's nature anyway.

I also felt I was misunderstud in a lot of situations - maybe because I have a weird sense of humour and english is not my native tongue so I cannot translate my feelings/attitude with 100% accuracy all the time, especially because my vocabulary is somewhat limited as opposed to US/UK/OZ people.

Anyway, to cut this psycho-babble short - I try to keep an open mind on this board, which is not always easy since I'm only human. I don't keep any grudges towards anyone on this board and I hope it'll be like that in the upcoming years. I'm a member for almost a year and I really feel at home here.

Regards

[SRR2]

I agree. There's a lot of noise in that thread. Lots more smoke than fire. I confess I didn't read the whole tedious thing, but the key part of performance comparison, which is the integral of power under the power v. rpm curve, over the range of rpm set by the transmission ratios, wasn't mentioned anywhere. Any discussion based on simplistic notions of "power" and "torque" (specified at a single rpm) without mentioning the shape of the curves and the range over which they optimally operate, just isn't worth having, much less archiving.

Anyone who's driven an S2000 with its engine rated at 240 hp, and then diven an M-roadster with its engine also rated at 240 hp, will immediately appreciate the difference the shape of the torque curve makes. The latter accelerates much better, and is a much more tractable driver.

[SLEX Runner]

I very much enjoyed the discussions about the 525i and the 535i.

I drove last night and tried to understand torque and hp and smoothness of delivery and working less to reach nirvana (as this applies to the 535 more than the 525) and will attest that I am happy with the 535. Running at 120kph and accelerating to 190kph effortlessly was purejoy!

I haven't driven an M50 and wont say that I will never own one. Having an e34 is a current addiction for me!

[callen]

and I think Bill R replied to that right on the head....those are the reasons to own the 3.5L.

[bfd]

One thing about this thread that doesn't appear to be mentioned is the fact that the E34 is an OLD car. The newest ones are 10 years old; the newest 535i would be what 12 years old?!!

Arguably the most important thing at this point is to find the "cleanest" car you can. I would take a 525i that is "clean" over a crappy 535i, torque or no torque.

[Interceptor]

One thing about this thread that doesn't appear to be mentioned is the fact that the E34 is an OLD car. The newest ones are 10 years old; the newest 535i would be what 12 years old?!!

Arguably the most important thing at this point is to find the "cleanest" car you can. I would take a 525i that is "clean" over a crappy 535i, torque or no torque.

I think my favourite would be '95 540i/6 - chip it, and you're over 300 HP, torque is insane, maintenance costs are lower than for an M5 + the engine lasts longer and has cheaper overhaul.

[Paul in NZ]

One thing about this thread that doesn't appear to be mentioned is the fact that the E34 is an OLD car. The newest ones are 10 years old; the newest 535i would be what 12 years old?!!

I think that was mentioned and of course the actual engine design of the m30 is older still.

I think my favourite would be '95 540i/6 - chip it, and you're over 300 HP, torque is insane, maintenance costs are lower than for an M5 + the engine lasts longer and has cheaper overhaul.

Make that an M540 or one of its brothers and i think you are spot on.Or at least lower and uprate suspension on a 540 /6