The Iconic BMW Roundel as photographed on my car.
In my previous installments, I spoke of my Miata and short co-ownership of a Corolla. While I had both cars, I was in search of another to be my daily driver. As someone who has no real automotive biases, I went into the market with an open mindset and the goal of a manual transmission. What I found however was something I believe to be bonafide classic by most standards, one that while spotted in some CC articles (links below) hasn’t been covered by an owner. As you can already tell by the title, what I ended up with was a BMW, but not just any standard crop of 3 series.
This was the final year of the E34, BMW’s 5 series that ran from 1988-1995 (or 1996 if you count the wagon). Mine in particular was a 525i with the 5 speed manual. This meant that it was a 2.5 liter inline 6, of the M50B25TU variety. Making 189 horsepower and 184 pound feet of twist, it wasn’t a rocketship, but rather was the reliable engine of the offerings.
Image I took of the car before I sold it. The later 6 cylinders are easy to tell apart from earlier ones due to the wider kidney grilles taken from the earlier V8 cars.
I purchased the car back in mid-2019 as a roughly 25-year-old car. At that age it makes the car a classic (per California), and something past the trough of depreciation. Well I wouldn’t consider it to be a car with huge appreciation potential, but it does make it much more rare now that the vast majority are off the roads. Compared to the E39 (the successor vehicle), I find the car to be more attractive with less electrical gremlins reflecting better long-term reliability.
My E34 next to an E39 (left) and G30 (right). The E39 lost the quad headlights (now housed together) and “L” tail lamps for a more aerodynamic look.
As with most German luxury sedans it was a solid machine. Fit and Finish were excellent with a smooth ride. The driving experience is unlike what can be found in cars today with incredible visibility and a loose sense of what the wheels are doing despite a somewhat heavy steering rack. It was a cruiser unlike what BMW started pushing in the later generations. Small wheels coupled with large sidewalls, a recirculating ball steering system, and an oversized steering wheel complete the setup. The gear shifter while smooth provided little fun with long throws that didn’t like to be rushed. With smooth slow driving upper 20’s were possible for fuel economy, but I averaged 21mpg.
E34 next to a contemporary W124
While these sound like negatives, it still made for a great commuter car all these years later. Here are some features that could be expected on even a base model car such as my own: 10 Speaker AM/FM/Cassette, Power Sunroof, Powered-Vinyl seating, Power windows, Powered-Heated mirrors, Glass Projector Headlights, Fog lights, Dual-zone climate control, and more. Now this might be expected of a car that was $41,000 in 1995 ($85,750 adjusted for inflation as of Dec 2024) but that’s assuming everything still works.
Interior of my E34 featuring the large airbag steering wheel and manual transmission. The headlight toggles left of the instrument cluster was the cool feature to me.
So what did work when I bought it? Well, just about everything. The only real problems I recall are the infamous seat-back failures, a slightly warped dash, fading paint, failed headliner, and another E34 special, the self-removing door cards. During my time with the car, I had it all sorted out. I really don’t have too much else to say about reliability issues or concerns. The drivetrain provided a good experience with a horsepower per liter ratio that would make some modern cars blush. Material quality on the interior is definitely far from what would be considered luxury now, but I don’t have high standards. The electronics only provided issues once when the gauge cluster failed and cost me nearly $2000 in replacement and diagnostic fees.
The rare OEM Alpine alarm system was one of the only options my car had. Pictured is the key fob. My understanding is the Honda also offered this system from Alpine on some of their cars as well.
So why did I end up getting rid of it? Much like the Miata it had done its time with 4 years and 50,000+ miles. I was ready for a new car, it was getting harder to find mechanics who worked on pre-OBDII cars, and I felt bad letting it sit while driving company cars. The BMW gets a happier ending however. I reached out to the owner from whom I purchased it to see if he was interested. The next day he drove up and had the car flat-bedded down to his place. Just like that it was sold and in good hands. I just hope he keeps the car and avoids selling it as it had been in their family prior to my ownership. I would also like to see it on the M Parallel rims I never mounted too 🙂
Despite the generous looking trunk, it was rather small. Folding seats were an option. I suppose slack will be given as it’s the size of a current generation 3 series (G20)
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1992 BMW 525i (E34) – The Young Professional
Curbside Classic: 1992 BMW 525i (E34) – The Red Bimmer Of My Childhood Dreams
CC Outtake: 1993 BMW 525i (E34) – Reflections At Twenty-Five
I always thought these had a lot going for them. My favorite part was their clean lines, with the rare (by then) combination of a smooth inline 6 and a manual transmission. I will confess that I would probably be drawn a bit more to the prior series, I still found these appealing.
The E34 and the E 39 are “peak BMW” for me (even though I’m not a big BMW fan). And only the sedans (although I’m otherwise a big fan of station wagons).
What has always bothered me with the E34 and still bothers me even after decades are the high-mounted indicator lights at the rear. A simple, elongated taillight cluster might not have been particularly original. In any case, stylistically cleaner. Well, to my eyes anyway.
Something like this:
With these taillights it looks too much like a Mercedes 190 (W201) from behind.
I love BMWs from the 80s and 90s, for me the best cars of the brand, the same I say about Mercedes.
I am currently the owner of two of the best 5ers ever built.. An 02 530i auto msport sedan I got last spring.. Got rid of a 99 528 I had for 5 years and missed it desperately.. Had to have another e39. Sold an e36 328 a friend had built into an msport, liked it but it rode like it was on rocks.. He really built it. Found a 93 525 auto sedan and just loving it… Got it from the 2nd owner of the last 24 years.. It is actually now my 5th e34 I’ve owned… So nice to be back in an old 5 series again. Kind of like a bigger smoother e30, of which I’ve owned 7. Loved your article and very cool that yours went back to its original owner.. Black on black is a nice combo on the e34. Seldom seen, my new one is The 2nd beige I’ve had. Not my best fave but the car itself makes up for the color. I put some 5 spoke Borbets on it to change it up a bit, m parallels are a great rim also, too bad you never mounted them…
Nice barn!
Its an old cider mill a short distance from my house… Great pic background. Have pics of my 530i and my mercury comet in front of it also.. Went in it as a teen, now I’m 73. It opens up very occasionally.
The comet
Tom, I wanted to add that those are great photos! That barn really pops in color and texture in your pics. And of course, the cars are cool too.
I also really like the Respect Your Elders graphic on your 530i. I should get one of those. (I’ll start with the sticker…although I’ve always harbored a desire for the car as well.)
Congratuliations Tom!.
You have a real beauty.
There’s a strong case for this being an excellent commuter car if your commute includes goodly stretches of highway. On the other hand, nowadays (which I guess includes when you owned yours as that seems from my perspective to be “now”) there are probably better options that would return much better fuel economy. Nevertheless, getting the same level of comfort and arguably performance with better fuel economy would likely put you into a vehicle that is orders of magnitude more expensive than a 30 year old 5 series.
I probably would have kept it. But with your need for a new car every so often regardless of whether the existing car still works (an affliction I work hard to avoid), it sounds like an excellent ending for the car to go back to its previous owner. I suspect that the reason why this car was in as good a shape as it was when you got it was that it was one of those “family owned” cars (I read about these all of the time in the BMW club magazine) and probably fabulously well maintained. It’s nice that it can return to its flock. Not to mention that that guy has one of those ultra-rare stories about getting back a car that he let get away. 🙂
Nice to read about a happy Bimmer owner I wish you’d gone into more details about the knows issues, door cards, gauge binnacle etc……
-Nate
Foam applied to headliner and door trim panels and then adhered to inner roof and door trim boards.Then the foam degrades over time, like foam does, and then you have adhesion issues or lack of adhesion. Re-gluing apparently troublesome given the compound curved surfaces the vinyl is glued to. However, they were probably vacuumed sealed to the trim boards which means impossible to duplicate. Gluing, using a spray adhesive, pretty much never works well.
Thanks Nick and Jeff…