BMW E34 Five Series

Background

The E34 was indeed a worthy successor to it's E28 five series predecessor. The E34 became the car your manager wanted to drive in order to appear successful to the rest of the world, a true icon of the late 1980's.

 

The car appeared much more streamlined than the previous E28, but not overly round like some of its competitors. Keeping the four headlights was the right move, sadly a failing of the later E39. It also had an elegant aggression about it and the front grill was a reminder of the great E30 three series. Despite looking a fair bit larger than the E28 the new E34 was only about 5-10% heavier and boasted an even stiffer body which improved the handling.

The E34 was a very relaxed car to drive, as befitted its luxury status. But a true performance car lurked just underneath and the handling was second to none in its class. In terms of driver involvement this car was on a different planet to its Mercedes Benz rivals, you only had to look at the M5 to see the potential of this design.

In the UK the E34 was the first car to get a diesel engine, we never did diesel E28s or E30s. The M51 525d/td was worth the wait and started the reputation modern BMW diesels are famed for. In fact the car introduced a lot of new technology to BMW such as bonded windscreens, four valve per cylinder engines, more modular electronics and better aerodynamics. It was a technical tour-de-force that left other companies way behind before you even considered the driving pleasure and build quality. Nowhere was the improved build quality more obvious than the interior. It had the same design language as the E24 and E28 but put together in a far, far better way with even better materials. These cars still look good and work properly 30 years later.

 

But BMW committed one cardinal sin with the E34 design, something unforgivable. They didn't make a two door coupe to replace the E24 635CSi. Instead they made the E31 8 series, a very different animal at a stellar price. Imagine a "new" six initially with the same M30 3.5 but later with the M60 V8. It would have shared the E34s good looks and build quality. The car would have lasted until the late 90s and overlapped the E39, might a final M6 have had the E39 M5's 5.0 S62 V8? What a thought.

 

 

See the engine details page for power figures. Where several body styles exist or the engine was changed during the model's life the figures above are for late model saloons.

 

Driving an E34

I've been lucky enough to drive quite a few different E34s including brand new ones. The one thing they all shared was a sense of superb build quality and effortless comfort. They ranged from the not that quick 520i to the awesome Alpina B10 but all showed why the E34 kept on winning Executive car of the Year for very year it was produced in the UK.

520i's were a good introduction to six cylinder BMWs but when overtaking you really did miss the extra 500cc of a 535i. Later cars had 150bhp but it wasn't quite enough, a 2.2 would have nailed it at this level. That said my boss couldn't believe how much faster and better handling a 520i touring was than his Volvo 940, even with four adults.

One thing all E34s have in common is the brakes, they're excellent both in feel and stopping power. Much better than the E24 / E28 but luckily a simple bolt on upgrade for the older cars. If you want an upgrade just fit higher performance pads, nothing more is needed.

The 525i 24 valve was just superb in every respect. An easy to drive town and motorway car but if you revved it the engine showed it's real potential, it was a transformer of a car. Even as an automatic it worked well and was just a superb BMW. My friend had a four wheel drive 525iX touring and it was unstoppable with snow tyres even in a Highland winter. Quite a few folk have put a 2.8 M52 (with 525i manifold) in one of these, that would be a stunningly good daily driver.

A friend had a 530i M30 12 valve manual and I was impressed at how well it drove compared to the 535i. This is largely due to the easier final drive ratio and meant the power difference didn't make itself felt until higher speeds. I never drove a 530i V8 but I did have a 3.0 M60 in my E38 730i and in that heavier car it was great fun so in an E34 it would be even better - similar to a 535i possibly.

My wife had a 535i Sport for a while and it was a real beast. Oodles of power at any point in the rev range yet still a well mannered drive around town. The suspension was excellent, not too firm or too soft. Yet it lacked the excitement of our E28 M535i and was a noticeable amount slower than that raw animal of a car. The E34 was much better built inside and a far better motorway car though, more stable too.

And lastly the Alpina B10 3.5, a car so advanced it had a fly-by-wire throttle body in 1989 for the traction control. This was the 535i Sport on steroids and with some of the E28s rawness added back in. It was firmer and had an extra 45bhp, louder too. It felt like a car built without compromise. When it was launched there was no M5 so it was the fastest four door saloon you could buy in the UK, of course the Germans had the twin turbo version and 188mph.....

I've not driven an M5, yet!