E34 540 to the Nurburgring

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Hi guys, took my £1100 eBay bought 540 to the Nurburgring for the Easter weekend. Did a stack of work to it in the weeks leading up to the trip to make sure there were no problems,and I'm pleased to say it run real good. Normally I go in the E30 M3 , but as this is off the road, I thought I'd try a budget bought car that might be good on the track and can double as my daily transport. Looks like I picked a good 'un with the E34.

The trip started with a short drive to the ferry port of Dover in England for the short hop across the English Channel and arrival in France. Four hours later and I'm in the Eifel region of Germnay and at the Nurburgring just in time for the late track opening at 5pm for two and a half hours of track time.When I bought the car is had four new tyres,but all of the cheapest brand you've never heard off. I was worried how bad they would be on the track and wenrt out for the first lap with the traction control firmly switched on. After just the one lap it was clear it wasn't the problem I feared it would be ,so switched the t/c off and never used it again.

Lap 3 was going great and I was slowing the car down to exit the track, when a huge cloud of steam erupted from under the hood and had me in a panic fearing the engine was about to go bang on me. Having coasted into the car park area and having lifted the hood, it was very quickly clear one of the heater hoses from the heater valve had come free. After leaving it to cool a little, another look revealed it was the outlet to the aux pump that had broken along with the mounting tabs for the heater valve. A quick re-route of several of the pipes made the car good again for the next day.

The Friday was very busy for track use surprisinly warm for the time of year. Sadly these two things usually mean a lot of bad driving and crashes, and this day was no exception.The 540 was running real good and I was starting to gain confidence in the car and push a little harder. The rest of the weekend was much the same and the car run without fault,apart from being heavy on the pads which resulted in a much needed pad change on the Monday.

After 5 days of heavy track use it was time to head home and this year it made a change to have a car that could comfortably sit at 120 mph for large section of Motorway and enjoy a stack of CD's without to drone of the E30 M3. All in all, I was very pleased with a cheap stock car on its orginal suspension and the cheapest tyres known to man. All credit where its due, the do build a rather mean machine at BMW.

Here's some pics I got from various internet sites of the weekend. Enjoy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/25-20Touris20033620070401.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/28-20Touris20032920070409.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/08042007_257.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/IMG_5757.jpg

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/070406m30-img_5556.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/IMG_6246.jpg

[shimmo]

Wicked....
Lovely looking motor you got there mate...

Paul

[Macv]

omg how awesome. That would be my dream come true.

[leicesterboy15]

You managed to get a 540i 6 speed manual for £1100? That is a bargain! Whats the mileage? There are some autos about for that price but 6 speeders are rare as rocking horse shite especially in that price bracket!! Well done!

And after 5 days of track use it managed to drive home without a problem? Superb!

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Car has done around 135K now. It looks better in the pics than it does up close. Not that worried as it just had to be fast and cheap. even if it went bang now, I still got around forty 13 mile laps and home again ,so I'm happy. If you're quick, there is a 540/6 on UK eBay ending tonight and currently at £1000. Will be interesting what it sells for.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300099041061&rd=1&rd=1

[leicesterboy15]

Yeah I saw this one, it looks good for the money. Sadly not in a position to buy at the moment, first car I've see with electric and heated seats though, I would buy it just for them but I've just bought a house so B&Q is getting all my money for now!

[Kai@e34.de]

nice pics! is your rear left door damaged (picture taken on adenauer forst)?

[nizmainiac]

sound and looks like you had some real fun, maybe one day (money permitting) i'll get to go there, btw nice motor, real bargain you got there

[LunatiC]

Awesome pics, awesome buy, awesome story! Well done.

My favourite pic is the one on the Carousel :)

[525SEI BRIT]

Real nice, its a great day out, reminds my of last October! Were did you stay? Theirs some real interesting Pensions in the town. Me and a mate rocked up at this tiny house at 3am one morning after traipsing up and down the street, all we had was a key with the number 4 on it! Anyway long story short we ended up having to share a double bed in the owners bed room! (Not sure were they slept that night!) Good breakfast though... with the dogs and the parrot!!

Looks like you got a nice little motor there, were their many Brits over?

I was trawling the interweb looking for picys of me on track last year (8th October 2006) but couldn’t find anything. Did you come across a dark blue 540 during your search by any chance? Plate starts with M34.

[Nick.Hay]

Wow!! She looks incredibly clean and tidy for 1100 squid!!

It looks so at home on the ring too... so poised and precise!!

[632 Regal]

Looks like a great week, car looks great from the pictures too!

[The Bigfella]

Excellent. It sort of looks do-able for an Aussie tourist. Buy something, fly over flog the crap out of it and leave it with a mate to flog on ........

[BigKriss]

Great picture and great looking car. What was your best lap time?

[ILoveMPower]

omg how awesome. That would be my dream come true.

.

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

The car does have a shallow dent in the n/s rear door - part of the reason for the cheapish price, I guess. I was with a mate of mine who is an American Air Force Sargent based here in the UK. He brought his friend, who is an again Air Force based in the UK, with his Honda Integra, which I think is called Acura in the US ?
We stayed at a little place in the village of Nurburg,just behind the BMW test center where 3 new M5 ring Taxis are kept. Great place to stay and the owners are very helpful and the added bonus is the track is less than 200 yards away for viewing.
Another guy who was due to take his E30 M3, rented and basic track prepped E36 for the weekend, something you guys overseas might be tempted by.Another route is to rent something half decent at the Airport.

525sei Brit, I didn't see any pics of your car , but you need to search specific dates for pics. Here's a list of places that might be able to help.
This site has a list of photographers who cover tourist driving on the Ring.

www.nurburgring.org.uk/photos/photosites.html

Here's a list I found on a 'Ring site which might be able to help.




http://www.touristenfahrerforum.de/forum/f...isplay.php?f=47

http://www.eiskurve.de/

http://www.nordschleifenkumpel.de/

http://www.moto-pics.de/

http://www.racepicture.de/html/joomla/bild...is%2007.04.2007

http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/2007/touri/070407/index.html

http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/2007/touri/070406/index.html

http://www.nordschleifenbilder.de/go/thumbnails.php?album=23

http://www.boskoops-klaus.de/diashow/20070406diacarfriday/

http://touri.foto05.de/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13978

http://www.ringbilder.de/08.04.2007.html

http://www.motofoto.tv/galerie/thumbnails.php?album=27

http://www.best-of-booorn.de/thumbnails.php?album=132

[Rick L]

Very nice! I especially like the last picture. It looks like you were about to pass that Carrera GT! :D




Here's some pics I got from various internet sites of the weekend. Enjoy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/IMG_5757.jpg

[Kai@e34.de]

if i'm not mistaken, i saw you on the ring this weekend

[Sam-Son]

Keepin up with a Carrera GT. Not bad for an E34

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

if i'm not mistaken, i saw you on the ring this weekend

Hi, yes,I was there from Friday until late Monday. You should have come and said hello :)
Car ran well over the weekend apart from the the same damn problem with the aux water pump. Again this broke and resulted in a quick fix and a re-route of some of the coolant hoses on the heater block. I really need some better suspension on the car for track work, the standard stuff is far too worn and it would handle soo much better. One of the best things I love about using the 540 to visit Germany is its mile-munching ability. I did 180 miles travelling back hone across Belgium and France at mostly around 120 mph non stop and never dropping under 100 mph all the way. No trafffic and no cops at 2am in the morning, thankfully. Roll on the next Ring trip.

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Forgot to add this pic from the first trip - my fave of that weekend. This is the car just droping into the Karussell.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/bmgm3/IMG_6072.jpg

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

You turned into the K too late!! Next time Pm me,old TDS know how to get round in 9:56 without me, and can get to the pistonklause unaided. Save up and let abina do it for you, adrenalin is brown.......

[Ferret]

Forgot to add this pic from the first trip - my fave of that weekend. This is the car just droping into the Karussell.


Haha, want to swap? :P

Damn, I wish I'd got a 40 instead of the diesel.

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

You turned into the K too late!! Next time Pm me,old TDS know how to get round in 9:56 without me, and can get to the pistonklause unaided. Save up and let abina do it for you, adrenalin is brown.......

I'm not sure how you can tell from a static picture that I turned in too early when I'm already past that point,but I won't argue,but could you tell me what I need to PM you about please.
PS. What's an ' abina ' ?

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Should have said Sabina. Pm me when you want to go next time,garage and facilities available nearby.Sabina Schmitz owns the pisonklause which helps, and if you dont know who she is, go back to sleep.

[Macv]

Omg that pic is gorgeous! Please tell me you have a high-res shot of that!

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Yep, I found that pic on a site and e-mailed the guy saying it was by far the best pic of that weekend. He was kind enough to send me a higher res version for free !

Barney - Thanks for your offer of some facilities for next time. We usually travel as a group and stay in a local place just behind the BMW Test Center. There is no garage but the owner is a real nice guy and is always happy to help.The few times any of us have needed anything doing, Ring Racing have usually been able to sort things,but I'm sure we'd be interested in the facilities you mention.
Ahhhh, Sabine. I guessed you were talking about her. Yep, I know her and that she works in the Pistenklause of a week day evening. Bought her a beer last year and she came and sat down with our group and talked E30 M3's and Ring Taxis. You'll be pleased to know her fave M5 Ring Taxi is not the current V10 monster, but a E34 M5....the Lady has taste.

Roll on August and the next planned Ring trip. maybe see you there ?

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/autohabit/Ringtrip17_04_063.jpg

[Kai@e34.de]

Hi, yes,I was there from Friday until late Monday. You should have come and said hello :)
we guys from e34.de had a meeting that weekend... i saw your car passing by in hatzenbach and adenauer forst a few times, would have been a bad idea to jump on the track to say hello ;)

http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/2007/touri/070617a/images/20070617touri10609.jpg

http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/2007/touri/070617a/images/20070617touri11669.jpg

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Sounds like you are preety well sorted! Did`nt know she prefered E34 M5`s,did not dare ask as she went past me like I was towing a caravan,the fact that I was sideways did not trouble her at all. trying to summon up courage to take Smartuki to ring but will need all the help I can beg,and shares in Armco.

[SC David]

Man, that sounds like fun. Those are some gorgeous pictures, too.

[Macv]

Yep, I found that pic on a site and e-mailed the guy saying it was by far the best pic of that weekend. He was kind enough to send me a higher res version for free !

Anyway you can host it/email it to me? mmrozelle@bsu.edu

Its by far my most favorite shot of any e34.

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Thanks for the pictures, Kai ! The car wasn't that great thru the Hatzenbach - the suspension is too soft and the car just too heavy next to the stripped Golfs and the like. From Flugplatz to Adenauer - Forst was just awesome though. Having the V8 power to pull up Kesselchen was also fun.

Macv : have sent you an e-mail with the picture. I'm next to useless with computers, so please let me know if there is a problem. It's 1.4mb, and I had no idea how to compact it for e-mailing...

Noticed a few american accents at the Ring last weekend. Quite a few were on holiday and some had flown in just to drive the Ring. Most were in rental race cars, some just had what they could hire at the airport. www.rent-racecar.de/gb/

[Macv]

Thank you thank you, it transfered just fine!

[Kai@e34.de]

Thanks for the pictures, Kai ! The car wasn't that great thru the Hatzenbach - the suspension is too soft and the car just too heavy next to the stripped Golfs and the like. From Flugplatz to Adenauer - Forst was just awesome though. Having the V8 power to pull up Kesselchen was also fun.
indeed - an e34 is not the perfect ring toy. i still remember a lap in 2003: M5 3.6 with a very skilled nürburgring driver, me on the passenger side, and we had really big problems to overtake an opel kadett gsi 16v with ~170hp.
i want to prepare an e34 for the ring within the next 2 years, perhaps a 525i M50 or 535i without sunroof, want to part out everything what is not needed (whole interieur, noise-absorbent mats and so on), powerflex suspension and hope to reach the 1200 kg.
but an e34 is still noticeable on the ring, between the whole 3-series and porsches. i did a lap in a smart on sunday, was really funny at all ;)
http://www.e34.de/pics/kai/temp/PICT0368.JPG



Noticed a few american accents at the Ring last weekend. Quite a few were on holiday and some had flown in just to drive the Ring. Most were in rental race cars, some just had what they could hire at the airport. www.rent-racecar.de/gb/
yes, the were a lot of accidents this weekend. 3 bikers in hospital with major injuries is that what i heard... and one who fell out of a sidecar.