Dont Say I never gave you guys anything good!!! Top Gear E34 Road Test video **link**

[bimmerd00d]

I stumbled across this and almost spit out my Big Red creme soda. In the replies, post how much you love me :p


http://www.bimmerd00d.com/images/bimmerdotinfo/E34TopGear1990.wmv



I'll post a slightly higher quality version later.

PS: This will be stickied until i feel everyone has seen it.

[632 Regal]

I think it's great, but! wheres the ending???

[Bimmer Nut Ed]

Very nice find d00d. I like!

Provides good visual evidence of the fun to drive factor of our bimmers.

[bimmerd00d]

I think it's great, but! wheres the ending???

Chopped it off, it's a full episode of top gear from 1990. I have the entire 1989 and 1990 seasons :)

[BigKriss]

i love the e34 in the video. I think it's an m5, is it? my car exhibits power understeer. where can i download other driver training videos?

[Torque]

Awesome vid.

Off topic: If I was a pedestrian, I'd prefer to be hit while the car is going through power-oversteer. It wouldn't hurt any less, but at least it would look cool killing me.

[bimmerd00d]

i love the e34 in the video. I think it's an m5, is it? my car exhibits power understeer. where can i download other driver training videos?

I believe it's a UK 535iSE, not an M5.

[ericbendler]

Great Video man. THANKS!!!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Nice. I've been downloading old Top Gear episodes hoping for an E34 review, no luck thus far though.

[bimmerd00d]

Nice. I've been downloading old Top Gear episodes hoping for an E34 review, no luck thus far though.

Yeah, it's mostly rally coverage. While that's pretty cool in its own, i want some old bmw stuff!!!!

[granit_silber]

Nice. I've been downloading old Top Gear episodes hoping for an E34 review, no luck thus far though.
How? I can't find it in stores and the BBC won't respond to my e-mails.
-ashley

[bimmerd00d]

How? I can't find it in stores and the BBC won't respond to my e-mails.
-ashley

www.finalgear.com

Get yourself a Bit Torrent client, and open ports 6881-6999 on your router. Hope you're good with computers :D If not, i can help you sometime, shoot me a PM.

[HDhandyman]

Sorry, but I'm a mac user--can't watch the video--can you convert it?

Thanks,

Stephen

[bimmerd00d]

Sorry, but I'm a mac user--can't watch the video--can you convert it?

Thanks,

Stephen

It's a Windows Media Video. I dont have any way of converting to quicktime or anything, sorry! Maybe one of the other guys on here can.

[romus]

haha thats what i thought! and that's how i wanna go...either inside a bmw or hit by one. I dont believe in peaceful death ;)

[SC David]

Cool video! I can't wait for winter now haha

[romus]

David, your picture there, was it taken of you driving? I like it :) I never really forced the my car to drift (i admit, im not a drifter at all) but enjoyed some fishtailing here and there in the wet...But always longed for a nice country place like in this pic of yours where there's no gravel to damage your paint...The craziest such situation i've been in was in germany on a closed wide icy road where my friend turned the car 90 degs at some 60km/h so we slid sideways, but it was like we were rolling, nice and very smooth...took several minutes to slide to a stop actually :)

[Torque]

Cool video! I can't wait for winter now hahaI can't either. Snow, open diff mmmm

lol I gotta get some pics similar to your sig - in snow. :D

[motuman]

Sorry, but I'm a mac user--can't watch the video--can you convert it?

Thanks,

Stephen


Go to the Microsoft site and download Windows Media Player for Mac. I did and it works fine on my Mac.

[SC David]

David, your picture there, was it taken of you driving? I like it :) I never really forced the my car to drift (i admit, im not a drifter at all) but enjoyed some fishtailing here and there in the wet...But always longed for a nice country place like in this pic of yours where there's no gravel to damage your paint...The craziest such situation i've been in was in germany on a closed wide icy road where my friend turned the car 90 degs at some 60km/h so we slid sideways, but it was like we were rolling, nice and very smooth...took several minutes to slide to a stop actually :)
Yeah this was between Santa Cruz and Monterey, I was exploring some of the coastline roads between the ocean and Highway 1, and there was this farming road that went out for miles and miles with no one around. So naturally I was doing my best to get the rear end sideways on the dusty pavement. Then I came to a huuuge opening where trucks turn around (I would assume) and told my friend to get outta the car and take a picture. After pulling that little slide my car was COVERED in dirt. Definitely a one time thing for me, especially since I had the drivers window open an inch. Every time I've ever broken the rear loose in the rain was on accident getting onto the freeway. We definitely don't get much ice around here.

[SC David]

I can't either. Snow, open diff mmmm

lol I gotta get some pics similar to your sig - in snow. :D
Do it! But be careful ;)

[DaCan23]

Sweet dood.... a young Tiff, much diff than the gray haired version on 5th Gear these days.

Top Gear is stripped down on Discovery, but 5th Gear is super stripped down on Speed... Maybe if enough people complain they'll start showing the full episodes.

A 5th Gear on last week, they bashed the new 5 appearance soooo much.

[Rob]

Sweet video. :)

[xphilter]

awesome video! can i download the 89-90 seasons from you? e-mail me if its possible amirmissaghi@gmail.com thanks.

[bimmerd00d]

awesome video! can i download the 89-90 seasons from you? e-mail me if its possible amirmissaghi@gmail.com thanks.

I dont have the bandwidth for that. go to google and find yourself a Bit Torrent client, then head over to www.mininova.org and search Top Gear. you'll find the 1989-1990 seasons, plus the newer ones as well.

[zuzuk212]

Thanks for the vid! Now I can show off the E34 even more at work ... before I leave! :D

Do you have the clip of the crash Top Gear did ... I remember someone saying that they crashed an E34 into another car.

Thanks again!
Ken

[pyro]

how do you open up those ports on your router... i could never get bit tourent to work before thats probly why.

[Alexlind123]

i love the e34 in the video. I think it's an m5, is it? my car exhibits power understeer. where can i download other driver training videos?

Thats extremely odd that your car would exhibit power understeer, very rare for a rear wheel drive car. My car, which is the same as yours exhibits power oversteer at will. I think you said something to me about having adjustable anti-roll bars, this could probably cause understeer or oversteer if they wer adjusted differently than normal. Still, your car should oversteer under power.

[bimmerd00d]

Thats extremely odd that your car would exhibit power understeer, very rare for a rear wheel drive car. My car, which is the same as yours exhibits power oversteer at will. I think you said something to me about having adjustable anti-roll bars, this could probably cause understeer or oversteer if they wer adjusted differently than normal. Still, your car should oversteer under power.


This could be a function of low-grip tires on the front. The e34 is designed (along with almost every other non ///M BMW) to understeer as a safety design. I suppose it's better to hit the tree dead on than hit it sideways or backwards :D

[Alexlind123]

Youre saying that the tires on front are different somehow from those on the rear? My tires are the same on the front as the rear, my brothers e28 535im also has power oversteer. I believe that that was a 535im in the video. I can understand how it would be possible for just plain understeer to be present in a rear-drive car but, as the video explains, there is really no way for application of power to the rear wheels can cause the front to break traction more readily than the rear. Perhaps the e34 is designed to understeer with power oversteer...however i personally dont think this to be the case, the e34 in the video oversteer even when not under what might appear to be full throttle. Also, any "true drivers car" such as a BMW, i would think, would be made to oversteer more readily than understeer. Like tiff said, something like "oversteer is much more fun."

I am very interested to find out some of the more subtle handling characteristics of a typical BMW. I dont push my car to the limit very often, the only time my car breaks traction is at low speeds and around corners at low speeds. I remember riding in my brothers BMW for the first time after he got it and it was really the first rear-drive car with a sufficient amount of power that i had ridden in, thus it was able to power-oversteer on dry pavement at moderate speeds. Quite a new experience for me. Personally, i would think oversteer would be more controllable for the experienced driver. Although i dont profess to hold great skill in high speed driving, i think i would feel rather helpless in a car whose front tires were plowing off an embankment or into a tree.



This could be a function of low-grip tires on the front. The e34 is designed (along with almost every other non ///M BMW) to understeer as a safety design. I suppose it's better to hit the tree dead on than hit it sideways or backwards :D

[Robin-535im]

The next part (chopped off) is a great piece of info for people to know:

Don't lift in a high speed turn!

If you're under even moderate power in a turn and you lift off the gas, the rear unweights, the front has all the traction, and the rear can spin out real easy.

It's rather counter-intuituve to keep your foot on the gas as you start to slide, but if you give a wee bit more throttle you can pull the rear end back in line. Natural tendency is often to lift off the gas and even brake when the wheels start to slide, but that makes it spin out of control faster than you can pee your pants.

- obin

[BigKriss]

Alex, my car power understeers when entering a high speed corner, when exising a corner, under WOT and a low gear, it will power oversteer, but on my car I lose a lot more grip at the front of the car. If you have poor front tires, or the front of the car is stiff, with a looser rear, power understeer is not difficult. On my car, the first signs of the car losing control, it understeers. Brandon is right, these cars are made to understeer.


Youre saying that the tires on front are different somehow from those on the rear? My tires are the same on the front as the rear, my brothers e28 535im also has power oversteer. I believe that that was a 535im in the video. I can understand how it would be possible for just plain understeer to be present in a rear-drive car but, as the video explains, there is really no way for application of power to the rear wheels can cause the front to break traction more readily than the rear. Perhaps the e34 is designed to understeer with power oversteer...however i personally dont think this to be the case, the e34 in the video oversteer even when not under what might appear to be full throttle. Also, any "true drivers car" such as a BMW, i would think, would be made to oversteer more readily than understeer. Like tiff said, something like "oversteer is much more fun."

I am very interested to find out some of the more subtle handling characteristics of a typical BMW. I dont push my car to the limit very often, the only time my car breaks traction is at low speeds and around corners at low speeds. I remember riding in my brothers BMW for the first time after he got it and it was really the first rear-drive car with a sufficient amount of power that i had ridden in, thus it was able to power-oversteer on dry pavement at moderate speeds. Quite a new experience for me. Personally, i would think oversteer would be more controllable for the experienced driver. Although i dont profess to hold great skill in high speed driving, i think i would feel rather helpless in a car whose front tires were plowing off an embankment or into a tree.

[Alexlind123]

I disagree, these cars were made to oversteer. Your car perhaps has custom suspension that causes it to behave in this way.