13 replies to this topic

[Bill_B]

Trying to decide what to do with my E34 touring, Its not really suitable for me as its too thirsty for commuting (22mpg 24k a year ) and its going to need more welding work for the next MOT. Basically I have:

E34 530i touring, with about 280k miles on it
4.0l bottom end, 5speed manual box, 535sport rear diff re-ramped to lock 75%. K&N and supersprint exhaust. this is a very fun combination of bits
Eibach springs and koni shocks

The shell is rotting out at the rear of the sills, I welded one up last year the other will need doing next, and the whole thing creaks and groans a bit and the underside looks pretty crusty. Every panel has a little ding/scrape, it looks good from 20 paces at night The interior is comfort leather, everything works apart from the usual electrical light warning due to lamp adjusters and offside rear does cl doesn;t work. The lights and wiper linkage is good (new about 40k ago), it has alutec 18" ACS copies (could do with a refurb but not terrible).

Do I sell as a whole of break? I'm tempted to keep the running gear as it is all the right bits to do an E30 v8 conversion which would be VERY fun. but what would it be worth as a whole and in bits less the running gear?

Thoughts please!

[The Flying Banana]

Sounds as tho it maybe not worth doing unless you love it !! I recall the pics of it and its a nice car. On another note i woulld love the wheels off it for my Sport !!!

[Sir Anthony Regents-Park]

The Silver one right?

Well, it was a nice car 5-10 years ago but if it's rusty, it doesn't have a future. You'll probably get 500 - 1000 from a drift hero and if it's closer to 1000, I'd be tempted to sell it whole. Engine and box £500, £50 for a wiper linkage, £150 for the wheels, £250 for the diff, £200 for the exhaust and the rest is £200 on the weighbridge. Comfort leather isn't worth aq lot unless it's black and really nice. These are all 'sell it quick' prices and you can hold out for more of course. You could drag it out and break it to 1500 quid without too much aggro however.

[525td]

Its worth a decent sum in parts.. unfortunately... as im sure you are aware the manual box is worth circa 500 on its own... couple that with the motor you probbaly have a grand, while the whole car with metal rot probably wouldnt push too much more than that...

However, that being said... id rather dip into my pocket and fix what needs fixing.... do it once properly and youll never need to do it again...
Ive never seen an e34 with chasssi rot however.. all mine have been brand new underneath....
An e34 touring 540/5 with good suspension and a great locking diff is going to be one of the ultimate combos...
and 22mpg isnt bad.. marginally worse than my 525....i could live with that
if its a big deal buy a 300 quid peugeot diesel and make some cash back that way.... use the money you save to fix hte tourer

[Bill_B]

Yep the silver one.

For day to day my honda integra is just as quick (actually quite a bit quicker, but you do have to really wring its neck) and returns about 37mpg on my commute, so quite a bit cheaper to run. the touring isn't really quick enough to be really fun and not economical enough to be day to day practical. I feel the best way to make a fun car out of it would be to transplant its heart into an E30 and for that I have all the right bits. If i could get £5-600 for the car less the engine, box and diff (good set of konis and springs must be worth something) then I'm most of the way there to a decent E30 shell (only want a base spec 3 door), and that could build something very fun.

Its not a rotten shell really It just has a couple of bad bits and the rear end of the sills and subframe pick ups is one of those areas. the rest would probably blast and underseal fine, but it would be a lot of work and paint to get it really smart and honestly its not a car I'm in love with.

[The Flying Banana]

well if you do break it up for an E30 and want to sell wheels , ping me a PM

[HCP]

Such a shame, your touring looks lovely, however an E30 transplant would be a lot of fun!

[Leon-e28]

Bill_B - I have just bought an e34 525tds touring unfortunately it has a cloth interior so if you do decide to break yours I would be interested in the leather interior, what colour is it? I may also be interested in the shocks and springs. As already has been said unfortunately its probably worth more in bits than as a whole, especially that V8 manual box. Thanks Leon

[Bill_B]

The V8 and manual box are the bits I'd hang onto though, the engine was refreshed 40k ago new timing chains, tensioners and pumps etc. The interior is black and showing signs of wear but not 280ks work IMHO. The chassis is showing signs of age, I have no worries about transplanting the guts of it into a newer shell, I just don't really need something as big as a 5 series, I manage to get pushchairs and shopping into the integra (alarmingly practical car tbh) and the mrs prefers driving smaller cars. I also have an E30 340i itch I'd quite like to scratch, the research I've done suggests this running gear to be about perfect, the engine fits the box requires no tunnel mods and my only issue is fitting the large case diff.

I think it may be a case of a 'breaking thread' in a month or so once I've finished moving house (its a very practical car for that mind )

[Carl-e34]

Needs must but i hope someone buys it it was well liked, in total bmw

[The Flying Banana]

Thread ressurection !

 

Is it still on the road or are you breaking it ?

[Carl-e34]

Fingers crossed   its still touring 

[Bumbaclut]

sounds like a good car to just run and run

[luton e34 man]

is this really nice touring still going strong i hope so