E30 Zone

anyone ever owned one of these , if so what did you think of it

I told you earlier

If they'd made a 525 tds ix then I'd have one but a standard 525 can do a good job with less things to go wrong and cheaper to run!

Quite thirsty

I've seen the odd one about and always wanted one - ideal compromise between e34 and 4x4 for winter... but I guess they are pricey if they go wrong - mind you how often does a BMW gb or diff blow up? guessing the transfer box is equally as robust?

Would prefer an e30 325ix mind you!

525ix touring LPG on winter tyres would be a wicked continental muncher.

I love E34 wheel trims.

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Wow! That's a lot more capable in the snow that I would have expected! Who needs quattro?!

Blitz wrote:525ix touring LPG on winter tyres would be a wicked continental muncher.

I love E34 wheel trims.

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Bloody hell that's brilliant, who cares about the MPG if it's capable of that

Wasn't expecting that

I know where there's one of these in Calypso red, dirt cheap too.

Cool vid

e30ata wrote:

Blitz wrote:525ix touring LPG on winter tyres would be a wicked continental muncher.

I love E34 wheel trims.

Bloody hell that's brilliant, who cares about the MPG if it's capable of that

I used to have one...a 525ix SE Manual touring...

They are a bit thirsty...around 22mpg on a normal drive and they aren't exactly fast as the 4wd soaks up a lot of the M50 power...

Other than that, though, they aren't a bad steer...and if you do encounter a lot of snow or mud then they do keep plugging on when a 2wd car would have got stuck...but they aren't an off-road vehicle...

The transfer box is strong enough, but only holds 0.5litre of oil so must be checked regularly...
There are a lot of non-standard bits, too...the steering rack (not a box) is unique along with most of the front subframe, front drive components and suspension bits, the engine sump (the offside/right side driveshaft goes through it) and also the rear diff...The wheels are also unique (ET54 offset)...

Can be expensive if things go wrong...

Other than that, usual E34 issues...wiper mechanism wear, front ball joints, rear SLS on tourings and the twin sunroofs can be a PITA...dodgy dealer-fit aircon, etc...

ive still got a fully specced 525ix saloon i keep gettin tempted to get rid of it but for some reason always tend to forget to sell it think it may be the look off other drivers when you follow them up steep hills covered in snow and ice

not sure if thats the silver one I sold you ages ago but I have to say I did enjoy it... Just made no sense to me at the time to spend the money on it to get it through the MOT.

I'll find the video some place of when it snowed and we had a lot of fun in it!

nope not same one mate that went straight through the mot suprisingly no advisories nothing

Only reason we don't get iX bm's in the UK is the front drive gets in the way of a righthand steering column. I would have thought they'd fix something so straightforward, though maybe that's how they sell so many X5s here

i heard the ix's are on their way to brit showrooms soon.....not going to help any of us saddo's for 20 years though.

whipsey wrote:nope not same one mate that went straight through the mot suprisingly no advisories nothing

You must have a much more lenient mot chap than the place I went to then. Decided against my usual place where I turn up, they ask if it should pass and it does I wanted a proper check as I hadn't been underneath it!

winx wrote:

whipsey wrote:nope not same one mate that went straight through the mot suprisingly no advisories nothing

You must have a much more lenient mot chap than the place I went to then. Decided against my usual place where I turn up, they ask if it should pass and it does I wanted a proper check as I hadn't been underneath it!

i only ever use people i trust to mot my cars not worth endagering lives if they are not right

Blitz wrote:Quite thirsty

If automatic they are SLOW and thirsty


a manual is a must IMO

S38B38 wrote:

Blitz wrote:Quite thirsty

If automatic they are SLOW and thirsty


a manual is a must IMO

Mines a manual ,i was getting 28mpg around town which aint to bad, IMO

e30ata wrote:

S38B38 wrote:

Blitz wrote:Quite thirsty

If automatic they are SLOW and thirsty


a manual is a must IMO

Mines a manual ,i was getting 28mpg around town which aint to bad, IMO

Thats very good. M50's must have much better MPG compared to M20's

They do...an M50 2.5 is approx 25% more efficient than an M20 2.5...

But to get 28mpg from an E34 iX you must drive like Miss Daisys' chauffeur!

Around town I was getting <20mpg and the very best I saw on a 60-70mph motorway cruise 2-up was 27-28mpg!!

Fushion_Julz wrote:They do...an M50 2.5 is approx 25% more efficient than an M20 2.5...

But to get 28mpg from an E34 iX you must drive like Miss Daisys' chauffeur!

Around town I was getting <20mpg and the very best I saw on a 60-70mph motorway cruise 2-up was 27-28mpg!!

I bet you have a t-shirt with the slogan "drive it like you stole it" !!

I drove my 525ix manual touring from teddington to hackney with appauling traffic and got 24 mpg.
Mine likes the cold morning / evening air - drove to hampshire (75mph max) and got 29.1 mpg there but 28.4 coming back.

Alpina used e36 wheels on there 3.0 allrad 525ix.

Driveshafts seem to be the most expensive specific item - nothing ebay.de can't sort out though!