TripleVANOS
09-25-2014, 12:25 AM
"I've had the E34 for three days now, and it hasn't been at all like I expected it to be."
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/collage_20140924181356018_zps8b511213.jpg
I'd say it would be fair to call me a motor head. I think my wife would say I’m 'a car guy'. At work, I’m a fan. You’ll notice though, that people who love cars seem to also surround themselves by other people who love cars, so in my circle I don’t really stand out. A friend of mine owns five older BMWs, and is as passionate about the brand as anyone I know. I myself have been rolling Bavarian steel for eleven years now. Last Sunday evening I brought home one of my friends five cars; a double-black E34 5 Series that I’m taking on loan for a few months. Freeing up a spot in his driveway and adding an alternative to my daily commute I was both relieved to be putting fewer miles on my leased car, and excited to drive something that was new to me. A good arrangement for both, and who knows, I may end up wanting to buy it from him.
The next morning however, we did not get off to a good start, the car and I. It was low on electricity, low on coolant, and very low on oil. Only three of the four windows work, the tires don’t match, several of the interior/exterior lights don’t work properly, and the car is wrongly convinced that it needs more coolant after being filled. I guess those who know me well would say this is on par for me; forever a project-car owner. Covered with pine needles and dirt, full of old gas and smelling like dust and leather, I cleaned out the car and gave it a proper wash. After then refilling my electricity and fluids, I was finally able to drive it by the end of the day.
I've had the E34 for three days now, and it hasn't been at all like I expected it to be. Today was my wife’s birthday and my day off from work as well. Today it seemed, was the perfect opportunity for a day trip to test the E34s roadworthiness. We set off to Vancouver to have lunch and enjoy a few hours of Northwest highway in the old school Five.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_143851_zps63bac823.jpg
The first thing that struck me was just how different this car feels from any other BMW I’ve owned or driven. It’s not yet a classic car, but is certainly far from modern. It’s no show-car or garage queen, yet I’d say that I've seen many E34s in worse shape than this one. This ’94 525i has 233,000 original miles on it, and I'm reminded of that when driving it. It has a trunk-lid from a 540i due to being rear-ended at some point. It has enough other dents, scratches, and eyesores to make you realize that they’re probably not worth fixing, yet the body and paint are nice enough that I couldn’t imagine ever feeling embarrassed to be seen in it. The power-adjustable, heated leather seats are well worn in and comfortable. The doors are at the proper height to hang your arm out the window. The steering feels lazy, but drives straight and rolls around the slower corners very smoothly. To my amazement, the suspension even handled the washboard gravel roads near Perrydale without shaking my teeth loose.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_150503_zps525f0fba.jpg
If I had to pick a gripe, it would be the transmission. After nearly a quarter-million miles it just feels exhausted. It requires you to put your foot nearly all the way to the floor to get a proper “kick-down” if you want to pass someone. Cruising between 55-60mph, the transmission has a very difficult time deciding exactly which gear it wants to be in, which is more than annoying on Oregon roads where the limit is 55. Add on the fact that the engine isn’t what it used to be, and you very quickly throw away any ideas of overtaking on a two-way, two lane stretch of highway. Would this be better with a manual gear lever? Sure. But I'm not positive I'd like the trade-offs with this small-six quarter-million mile power plant. It's certainly not bad enough to keep me from driving it.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_164238_zpsc0154bc4.jpg
My new 2 Series makes so much more sense to drive than the E34. It’s quieter, safer, faster, more economical, more comfortable, more feature-filled, and would drive circles around the old Five on a track. But sometimes more is less. Or so I’ve heard. The E34 is a $2000 car that has already had a full life; it hasn’t slipped my mind that I should be grateful for every additional mile it gives me. My 2 Series feels like a precision instrument in the way my digital watch runs on batteries and keeps the time perfectly. The 2 Series is a smooth-driving performance car. The E34 on the other hand is like one of my mechanical watches. It requires me to wear it regularly or it dies, it runs a few seconds fast each day, and is admittedly on my wrist in part for aesthetics. My mechanical watch has a heartbeat though, and there’s a bit more to it than just telling the time. The Five is certainly going to end up costing me money and may not make sense from a practical standpoint, but at the end of the day I don’t care about any of that; it has character and a heartbeat. I enjoy looking at it, and I like the way it makes me feel when I’m driving it.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_172248_zps5ea0cfaa.jpg
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/collage_20140924181356018_zps8b511213.jpg
I'd say it would be fair to call me a motor head. I think my wife would say I’m 'a car guy'. At work, I’m a fan. You’ll notice though, that people who love cars seem to also surround themselves by other people who love cars, so in my circle I don’t really stand out. A friend of mine owns five older BMWs, and is as passionate about the brand as anyone I know. I myself have been rolling Bavarian steel for eleven years now. Last Sunday evening I brought home one of my friends five cars; a double-black E34 5 Series that I’m taking on loan for a few months. Freeing up a spot in his driveway and adding an alternative to my daily commute I was both relieved to be putting fewer miles on my leased car, and excited to drive something that was new to me. A good arrangement for both, and who knows, I may end up wanting to buy it from him.
The next morning however, we did not get off to a good start, the car and I. It was low on electricity, low on coolant, and very low on oil. Only three of the four windows work, the tires don’t match, several of the interior/exterior lights don’t work properly, and the car is wrongly convinced that it needs more coolant after being filled. I guess those who know me well would say this is on par for me; forever a project-car owner. Covered with pine needles and dirt, full of old gas and smelling like dust and leather, I cleaned out the car and gave it a proper wash. After then refilling my electricity and fluids, I was finally able to drive it by the end of the day.
I've had the E34 for three days now, and it hasn't been at all like I expected it to be. Today was my wife’s birthday and my day off from work as well. Today it seemed, was the perfect opportunity for a day trip to test the E34s roadworthiness. We set off to Vancouver to have lunch and enjoy a few hours of Northwest highway in the old school Five.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_143851_zps63bac823.jpg
The first thing that struck me was just how different this car feels from any other BMW I’ve owned or driven. It’s not yet a classic car, but is certainly far from modern. It’s no show-car or garage queen, yet I’d say that I've seen many E34s in worse shape than this one. This ’94 525i has 233,000 original miles on it, and I'm reminded of that when driving it. It has a trunk-lid from a 540i due to being rear-ended at some point. It has enough other dents, scratches, and eyesores to make you realize that they’re probably not worth fixing, yet the body and paint are nice enough that I couldn’t imagine ever feeling embarrassed to be seen in it. The power-adjustable, heated leather seats are well worn in and comfortable. The doors are at the proper height to hang your arm out the window. The steering feels lazy, but drives straight and rolls around the slower corners very smoothly. To my amazement, the suspension even handled the washboard gravel roads near Perrydale without shaking my teeth loose.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_150503_zps525f0fba.jpg
If I had to pick a gripe, it would be the transmission. After nearly a quarter-million miles it just feels exhausted. It requires you to put your foot nearly all the way to the floor to get a proper “kick-down” if you want to pass someone. Cruising between 55-60mph, the transmission has a very difficult time deciding exactly which gear it wants to be in, which is more than annoying on Oregon roads where the limit is 55. Add on the fact that the engine isn’t what it used to be, and you very quickly throw away any ideas of overtaking on a two-way, two lane stretch of highway. Would this be better with a manual gear lever? Sure. But I'm not positive I'd like the trade-offs with this small-six quarter-million mile power plant. It's certainly not bad enough to keep me from driving it.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_164238_zpsc0154bc4.jpg
My new 2 Series makes so much more sense to drive than the E34. It’s quieter, safer, faster, more economical, more comfortable, more feature-filled, and would drive circles around the old Five on a track. But sometimes more is less. Or so I’ve heard. The E34 is a $2000 car that has already had a full life; it hasn’t slipped my mind that I should be grateful for every additional mile it gives me. My 2 Series feels like a precision instrument in the way my digital watch runs on batteries and keeps the time perfectly. The 2 Series is a smooth-driving performance car. The E34 on the other hand is like one of my mechanical watches. It requires me to wear it regularly or it dies, it runs a few seconds fast each day, and is admittedly on my wrist in part for aesthetics. My mechanical watch has a heartbeat though, and there’s a bit more to it than just telling the time. The Five is certainly going to end up costing me money and may not make sense from a practical standpoint, but at the end of the day I don’t care about any of that; it has character and a heartbeat. I enjoy looking at it, and I like the way it makes me feel when I’m driving it.
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag424/jevansbmw/20140924_172248_zps5ea0cfaa.jpg