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Thread: Is E34 "old man" car?

  1. #1
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    Is E34 "old man" car?

    I know, title sound weird but here is why I'm asking
    I'm driving the same. I mean, not like asshole and not aggressive. If needed I will wait to make a turn, I usually keep decent distance, "stop" at stops.

    When I drive M3 (most of the time) - I never have any issue with other drivers. Whenever I driver E34 I'm noticing following things:
    1. People will honk if I don't make turn right infront of somebody (they feel like I don't drive because I forgot I need to drive)
    2. People will cut in front of me if I have more then 3-4 car lenght in front (they feel like I'm driving too slow)
    3. People will follow very close (maybe they not scared to rear-end old car?)

    It's not a single occurence, I just feel "impatience" that seem to be caused because it's an old car.

    Anyone noticed?

  2. #2
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    Nope.


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  3. #3
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    I feel like I have the complete opposite issues.

  4. #4
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    Sounds more like old man behind the wheel is the problem! Jk but just saying what everyone is thinking

  5. #5
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    E34 540i6 M Sport
    Depends on the car really. People typically want to race me for some stupid reason.

    95 540i6 M Sport - 95 525it S52/OBD2 - 433k E36 328i5 - X5D that hit a pothole - IG: @justinmurray95

  6. #6
    moroza's Avatar
    moroza is offline MORΩN ΛABIA BMW CCA Member
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    I feel like I come off as a crotchety old fart when I bitch and moan about modern cars and then hold up my 24-year old E34 as the poster child of how they used to get it right back in the good old days. Well, apart from the steering. At this rate, I'm going to end up like that lady I read about in a "oldest DD you've seen?" thread who apparently rocked a 1939? ...Hudson? well into the 90's because she didn't like anything made after. Given that it supposedly needed little more than regular maintenance for 50+ years of regular use, she was vindicated on some rational as well as irrational (styling) grounds.

    I hope, by the time I'm dead, to get out of at least one speeding ticket via a combination of "unable to identify vehicle; something left over from the 2nd millenium" and "it won't respond to our immobilization signal. Target lost."

    There's truth to the phenomenon that the things we grew up with tend to cement our image of how they should be, especially things with a meaningful esthetic component.

    When I first had my 534i in '06, it was already 17 years old and I noticed people behave more respectfully around it than around its predecessor, a 10 year old Accord. And that was before I had window tint, so it was clear that it wasn't some dignified older person behind the wheel (and maybe now that I do have tint, people assume it's a younger driver). These days I either notice no special treatment either way, or people gawk it up and down because it's unusual. That depends on whether I'm on the left coast or back in Montana. On the other hand, my '81 Hilux gets special treatment in that nobody dares to tailgate; besides the dents that say "this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it'll hurt me", they take one look at the 150# battering ram for a rear bumper and stay the hell away.
    Last edited by moroza; 06-18-2018 at 08:19 PM.

  7. #7
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    I live in a university town so plenty of 20-somethings around. What amazes me is the number of these "kids" who know and admire the E34, a model that was put on the road before most of them were born. Old man car? No way!

  8. #8
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    I find I drive my e34 more aggressively than my M3. Not in terms of speed but in terms of handling traffic.

  9. #9
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    92 M5
    For the majority of non-people the E34 is definitely an old-man car. My gf always says that of my M5, no matter how much I tell her about its pedigree, how amazing the Pfeba spoiler looks, the low-offset wheels. Another person I gave a ride in said my Civic was a lot nicer... nobody cares that my car has extended leather or even notices.

    Dudebros love my car though.

    With how you're treated on the road, I get treated the same. I follow the 2-3-second rule for following distance, people cut in front of me thinking I'm slow, only for me to zoom by them when traffic clears up. Heck I got tailgated real bad in the slow lane, of all lanes. Always use turn signals, am pretty civil. Go figure.

    Being mistreated maybe means they think you're a young punk. The best driving experience I had was driving a Toyota Venza. Nobody messed with me, and that's the epitome of old.

  10. #10
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    I know it’s also how car looks. Mine is not tinted on original suspension with high front, 15 inch wheels. Not red either

    I’ve seen maybe 3 e34 in a year in our area

    And no, I don’t drive slow by any means, just being on a safe side.

  11. #11
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    E34 540i 6sp 1995-03-28
    its an old Lady car..Attachment 631924
    Last edited by jehu; 06-19-2018 at 12:44 AM.

  12. #12
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    No way. I get more thumbs up or honks from people when I'm driving either the E34 M5 or E34 525i Touring than I do when I'm driving the E39 M5 or the Gen II F150 Lightning. The latter two still have near perfect paint and are much quicker vehicles. You'd figure the younger crowd would be more familiar with the shinier, newer ones. That is not the case by a long shot.
    Tommy L.

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  13. #13
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    I enjoy the sleeper nature of my grey 540i. There's jerks occasionally in newer Euros who think they're superior but who cares what jerks think?

    I find it funny to watch people who've ragged on it, did your gramps leave it in his will, German taxi blah blah, they shut up quickly when drowned out by the roar as I pull the throttle plate with the bonnet up.

    Most people respect the 5's a lot more than they do the 3's

    1993 BMW 540i

  14. #14
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    They turn a lot of heads here. Most of the owners I've seen are guys in their 40s or guys in their late 20s, I never seen anyone really young or really old behind the wheel. I assume the guys in their 40s restored them or loved them from the start since they're usually in really good condition while guys in their 20s are a mixed bag. On the whole though I haven't seen any trashed E34s on the road.

    The only thing that annoys me is some "car people but not quite car people" think it's an E30.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kingpin025 View Post
    No way. I get more thumbs up or honks from people when I'm driving either the E34 M5 or E34 525i Touring than I do when I'm driving the E39 M5 or the Gen II F150 Lightning. The latter two still have near perfect paint and are much quicker vehicles. You'd figure the younger crowd would be more familiar with the shinier, newer ones. That is not the case by a long shot.
    I'd assume the E39 M5 gets all the glory, wow.

  16. #16
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    E34 525i
    mines beige on beige from the factory, it has been de-old man'ed

  17. #17
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    1995 BMW E34 525TDS
    Mine E34 is all stock,but I don't think its an old man car...
    It is an real car for men,not some plastic crap like modern cars,I enjoy driving it every day.

  18. #18
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    You think that's bad try driving a 1 ton dually in DC traffic. I would swear my truck has a stealth mode half the time when I'm driving it. People cut me off, etc. Guess they think a big truck like that can't move. It is even worse if I'm towing the big (16,000 lb) trailer. I notice it some with the M5 and not as much with the Solstice. Everything is inverse to the size.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by CarterH View Post
    On the whole though I haven't seen any trashed E34s on the road.
    Funny story, leaving work one day I saw an older man driving an absolutely rotted beige e34. Not just lower doors were rusty but I mean paint failure and rust all around. Funny because he was at an age where he could have very well been original owner, but maybe not necessarily a car guy. I felt bad being decades younger in my far cleaner calypso lol

  20. #20
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    hiss by my window
    Define old man.

    If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

  21. #21
    Join Date
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    09/90 E34 525i (M50)
    My beards gone grey and I think a stock 525 is an old man's car.
    I don't mind that at all, because it's an 80s design car, very classic in BMW's design - actually in any measure. A refresh of the Claus Luthe design of the e30 with some classic 80s wedge shape and tail lights for a larger car done by Ercole Spada (ex Zagato).

    Only old men like me care about design pedigree though...
    Sedan with the BMW Hofmeister kink, yeah

    E: After every repair job I do friends and family ask why I bother. Every time I have parked my car in an average parking lot and gone back through looking at other cars while walking back to mine, at first sight I know why I bother.
    E2: Needs much more power than a 525 has though 150hp/1000kg is fun, 170hp/1500kg is not. But at least if I own the car now, power can come later. Harder to find a rust free ~25+ y/o car than it is to have spare cash around building a motor later.
    Last edited by fo3; 06-19-2018 at 10:24 AM.

  22. #22
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    are slow
    Quote Originally Posted by jmile46 View Post
    Funny story, leaving work one day I saw an older man driving an absolutely rotted beige e34. Not just lower doors were rusty but I mean paint failure and rust all around. Funny because he was at an age where he could have very well been original owner, but maybe not necessarily a car guy. I felt bad being decades younger in my far cleaner calypso lol
    Absolutely beautiful, that means the car did its job. Just like all the E28s that are finally being put to rest self-service yards across the country.

  23. #23
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    '91 525i (5sp)
    Old man's car? I wouldn't think so... Just watch Ronin if you're not sure

    Now if we talk about 7-series'... Couple of months ago, I saw a light metallic blue E32 750iL, in pristine condition with AR plates. The driver was a very old Uncle Jesse lookalike with a brown ivy cap and suit

  24. #24
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    The problems described have more to do with where you live than your car.

    Impatience, honking and aggressive driving tend to disappear once you leave the big city, no matter what you drive.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by XAlt View Post
    Absolutely beautiful, that means the car did its job. Just like all the E28s that are finally being put to rest self-service yards across the country.
    Theres those ones, and then theres this beauty I saw last week. Mint condition, all original. Owner likely owns the shop behind it, which explains it.

    V



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