518i informaton req

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:23 am

fuel consumption? are the later m40 engines better? also what diff could i put on it to get more fuel economy? had a 525i,535i, sport

, so no most of common probs with rest of the car etc. would a 525i diff bolt strait on? would it be drivable with this in mind, sold the sport because i have ahouse and can no longer afford the juice bills! so am after aa nice tidy 518i that i can modify to better on the pocket than a tds as not confident with all the pump faults etc i think the 4pot would be a sensible more reliable buy.

thanks.

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 12:58 pm

Do not know if it is any use to you but I have a diff out of an E34 525i sat on my garage floor....

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:02 pm

would it fit in a 518i if so interested.

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:34 pm

I get the impression the 518's are grossly underpowered.

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:42 pm

more than likely true! after it as a mpg cruser. lol

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 1:44 pm

Well I guess if your not after thrashing it. I would like an e34 at some time, been getting more and more taken by them.

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:21 pm

go for a sport 25 or 35 (535 is the better has torque comming out of its ears!) great cars and when set up right handle like an e30 only bigger!

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:24 pm

meh its a long way off at the moment anyway, would like a 535 but justifying it to the doris might be a bit hard, 525 would be easier to talk her round to.....

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:30 pm

change the 535 badge for a 518 badge. she wont know the difference.

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:39 pm

fuzzy wrote:change the 535 badge for a 518 badge. she wont know the difference.

I like your thinking there fuzzy, but even she might when she notices that in the 15 mile drive to her mums I use 1/4 of a tank and spend 20% of my life in the petrol station though

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 3:04 pm

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:04 pm

the e34 only came with an m40 the e28 had an m10 unit and e12 had a carb m10 which has 0.02 bhp

mind you there is a T reg (1979???) with 40k on the clock for sale about a mile away from me for 2.5k its as new, if i only had the money

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:51 am

Alex wrote:the e34 only came with an m40

No it didn't! Later E34's had the vastly better chain driven M43 (L Plate onwards).

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:40 am

which is the one to have out of the 518s. A 525 is the best real world E34. A late one with single vanos and a bit more torque would be my choice

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:45 am

The 518i is unbelievably slow!

As Simon says the 525i is probably the best all rounder.

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:30 pm

darkchild wrote:
Alex wrote:the e34 only came with an m40
No it didn't! Later E34's had the vastly better chain driven M43 (L Plate onwards).

never knew that

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:59 pm

Simon13 wrote:which is the one to have out of the 518s. A 525 is the best real world E34. A late one with single vanos and a bit more torque would be my choice

+1,
I had the single vanos 24v 525i, was surprisingly good on fuel,reasonable performance and a well built car,they were available up until an 'N' plate,so look for a late one,later cars have the wide kidney grills like the V8's too.

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:17 pm

I have had a 518i and the extra fuel economy isn't worth the frustration of the lack of acceleration.

i drove a 535i Sport for a while which is great fun but a pig on fuel.

Currently drive a 94 520i which is not bad but due to the fact that it doesn't have much torque you need to rev it a lot to get anywhere. At motorway speeds it sits at 3500rpm which is a bit high for a six cylinder. Roughly get around 25 mpg which is the same as my friend gets in his 525i sport which is vastly better car in my opinion.

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:41 pm

i want to get 40mpg and dont care about pickup speed as am gonna get some kind of track toy. could i achive 40mpg with a diff change on the motorway?

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:25 pm

40mpg may be pushing it. For comparison I get 35mpg from a M43 engined 316i in mixed driving and 40mpg on a long run.

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:31 pm

what about a 318i? are they better than a 316? no offence but i think they may be underpowerd to pull that heavy car about. (same with 518i i guess too)

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:25 pm

525i m50 will be just perfect

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:30 pm

Maybe look for an E34 525TDS???

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:34 pm

just sold a miny 525i sport because 30mpg was the best i could get driving at 56 on motorway! gutted i loved it but mortgage payments mean 25 tops for fuel and 175 miles to be achived! got a fiesta 1.4 mk3 and that does the job but i hate the lack of refinment!

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:05 pm

jamie323i wrote: I had the single vanos 24v 525i, was surprisingly good on fuel,reasonable performance and a well built car,they were available up until an 'N' plate

Mines on a P

Ive got a 525tds that will be for sale shortly, 40mpg is achievable unlike any petrol engine in an E34

Post Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:04 pm

darkchild wrote:40mpg may be pushing it. For comparison I get 35mpg from a M43 engined 316i in mixed driving and 40mpg on a long run.

My M40 316i does the same

Has anyone driven a 24v 520 auto? Now a 316i is slow but its not embarassing one of these are!

Post Tue Nov 11, 2008 4:34 pm

Simon13 wrote:Has anyone driven a 24v 520 auto? Now a 316i is slow but its not embarassing one of these are!

My Dad has a manual 520i Touring and that's painful to drive. An auto must be horrific.

The 518i is down on bhp but I'd take one over a 520i everyday of the week. The 4 cylinder has far better low down torque. A late M43 engined 518i is not a bad car by any means. Bulletproof engine, decent economy and cheap to run.