How fast in a M30???

[aston_jag_tech]

Engineered to perform and outlast, the E34 is the machine to express ones excitment for high speed driving. While applying throttle and forcing thrust you can not help to have the thirst for more and more from the vehicle you can not wait to drive every single day...

It starts slowly and calmly, I-15 northbound, cruising speed... Traffic is light and the motor way is open to the night drivers delight.
You find yourself not competing with the drivers next to you, no, you enjoy and thrive on the maneuverability control while driving. The speed is steady, 90mph...merely cruising baby...

Focused and intently concentrating on the next lane switch, planning the next two or three moves to avoid slowing to the surrounding traffic, you see yourself screaming past the other drivers... You impress yourself with you lane changes, the split second decision that decides accelerate or to decelerate.
Soon, one to two light beams are chasing you. You stay focused on your line, bobbin and weavin baby...

Gripping the leather bound wheel tightly, clenching your teeth, butterflys in the stomach, your eyes pupils dilating from the adrenaline from the extreme driving you have gotten yourself into...

The top of the hill is clear, no red lights, only white in the rear views, down hill stretch is wide open with a few reds in the view.

You reach 99mph...108...116... You want more, more! You know this machine is capable! 125...135mph!!!

The surrounding is a blur, time is shorten, the engine reving at over 4000 RPM! More, more, more!

The car has proven it has integrity...It slowly comes down to 80mph...

...One more gear would have been useful you think as you arrive to the destination 20 minutes earlier, 1/4 less of fuel than expected, and with a grin of pleasure. Satisfied your BMW is this much fun to drive.

[///Sniper535]

I got 150 outta my car, even though the manual says auto M30's top speed is 143 or something like that. I haven't felt like going past 120 lately for some reason.

My car is completely mechanically stock.

[Nick.Hay]

I pulled 230-ish Kmh out of mine one night, could have been more if it wasn't for the hill I had to tackle at the end of the section of road!!

Mines mechanically stock too, save for 18in rims.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Forget what specs BMW issue,they are extremely pessimistic! Even a 518 will cruise at 90,with a simple tweak my old 535d went to 172 and the present owner claims more.My TDS is claimed to do 127, will do that in fourth, and does 147 uphill, downhill, all day, photo of GPS to prove it!

[bmwrp8]

my m20 525i auto reached 220kph then i had to slow down due to traffic:D

[e34.535i.sport]

On paper the stock 535i should do 147mph... I've only took mine to the fun side of 120mph (just) before having to slow, but the needle was still surging forward at an impressive speed!

One day i'll get it to Germany and see what it can really do...

[Phatty5BMW]

2 weeks ago someone made me see about how fast the 535 rolls. 2007 Toyota avalon and a 3 mile wide open highway straightaway, me and him at 4am, no cars besides me and him. I beat him off the line, He passed me through mid first gear, i cought up in 2nd passed him beginning of 3rd. he quit at 130, I quit at 145mph at about 5200RPM. Stock besides chip.

BMW is wrong on paper, yes speedo might nota been completely accurate but come on now!!!

I don't think I will ever go that fast again, the 535 proved it can do it, pretty quickly and just the fact it kept on pulling like a mofo was enough for me to never go that fast again, especially at 198000 miles :) I know she can do it and thats all there is to it.

By the way im in the 200,000 mile club now!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm stoked!!!

Pat

[e34.535i.sport]

2 weeks ago someone made me see about how fast the 535 rolls. 2007 Toyota avalon and a 3 mile wide open highway straightaway, me and him at 4am, no cars besides me and him. I beat him off the line, He passed me through mid first gear, i cought up in 2nd passed him beginning of 3rd. he quit at 130, I quit at 145mph at about 5200RPM. Stock besides chip.

BMW is wrong on paper, yes speedo might nota been completely accurate but come on now!!!

I don't think I will ever go that fast again, the 535 proved it can do it, pretty quickly and just the fact it kept on pulling like a mofo was enough for me to never go that fast again, especially at 198000 miles :) I know she can do it and thats all there is to it.

By the way im in the 200,000 mile club now!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm stoked!!!

Pat

The 535i with stock chip is electronically limited to 147, but a new chip will remove the limiter... It'd be interesting/scary to see what it would get up to!!!

[Phatty5BMW]

The 535i with stock chip is electronically limited to 147, but a new chip will remove the limiter... It'd be interesting/scary to see what it would get up to!!!

Yep, I didn't have the balls to top it out. 145 is more than fast enough for me :) I got a quick question though. My buddy has a 91 525 m50. He got his to 135 and just would not go any faster, pegged right at 135 with plenty of RPM's. My question is why would a 525 stop at 135 and the 535 at 147? I have been 135 in my 535 before and she kept pulling, i wanted to see if mine would do it too. (boy was he pissed lol) I wonder why.....

Pat

[e34.535i.sport]

Yep, I didn't have the balls to top it out. 145 is more than fast enough for me :) I got a quick question though. My buddy has a 91 525 m50. He got his to 135 and just would not go any faster, pegged right at 135 with plenty of RPM's. My question is why would a 525 stop at 135 and the 535 at 147? I have been 135 in my 535 before and she kept pulling, i wanted to see if mine would do it too. (boy was he pissed lol) I wonder why.....

Pat

I wouldn't even have the balls to get to that! (Mainly due to high police presence where i am!)...

As for your question... I would say there's no replacement for displacement. :p I would assume they increase the top speed limit as well as improve the 0-60times as the engine sizes increase so they can justify each cars place in the market...

What makes me wonder is why can Honda produce 240BHP out of a 2Litre engine when BMW needed a 3.5Litre engine to get 211BHP?! Even the NEW 530i doesn't get 240BHP!

I still wouldn't change my m30 for anything though! :D

[bahnstormer]

140mph indicated in not a real 140 tho...

the speedo is very optimistic at those speeds

[winfred]

but that 240 hp 2.0 don't make dick for torque and ya gotta rev the **** outta it to get that 240 hp, that doesn't make got a easy driving car, take for example the e30 m3, around town a 325i would stomp it with it's better torque curve, i wasn't impressed with daily driving a e30 m3, catch it out of it's narrow power band in the wrong gear and you get left in traffic



What makes me wonder is why can Honda produce 240BHP out of a 2Litre engine when BMW needed a 3.5Litre engine to get 211BHP?!

[///Sniper535]

how's that??

[e34.535i.sport]

but that 240 hp 2.0 don't make dick for torque and ya gotta rev the **** outta it to get that 240 hp, that doesn't make got a easy driving car

Totally agree on the torque situation, but if you have a S2000 or Civic Type-R or the likes i guess you'll want to rev the t*ts off it!


catch it out of it's narrow power band in the wrong gear and you get left in traffic

I find this with my car at times, ts really frustrating!

[bsell]

On paper the stock 535i should do 147mph... I've only took mine to the fun side of 120mph (just) before having to slow, but the needle was still surging forward at an impressive speed!

One day i'll get it to Germany and see what it can really do...

Being in Germany :D I did see what she could do. I stopped at an indicated 240 kph due to the cheapo rear wing trying to take off from the decklid (severe flutter).

This is a stock 525 (M50) with auto trans (five speed) and 17" rims (235 wide). I wonder if she would go faster with my stock snow tires and without the body kit (front air dam is larger than stock valance and the rear wing is crap)?

What we all really need is a 540/six speed but that goes without saying!;)

Brian

[leicesterboy15]

Mine has a superchip chip and I have hit 135 in it and there was still some left. I find it pulls best between 90 and 120 and then it starts to drop off a bit, you feel like you're not doing it any favours beyond this! I still think it defies belief that an 18 year old car with 186k that has not been massively pampered through its life is still capable of this kind of performance - easily. And so are others judging by their faces when they are passed by a G reg (means a 1989 car for our non-UK cousins!) !!!

Have got my 540i up to 140 though and it really felt like it wanted to keep going, the surge in the back was still there and that was 4 up with luggage, but that was fast enough for me and I wimped out!

The engines in these cars are less highly engineered than the smaller ones with the same power which generally means a longer life expectancy and more tolerance to abnormal conditions, I'm sure the m30 engine goes back to the 70's - and largely unchanged as well. Oh yes and the extra torque of course , and the larger engines generally allow for a better top end.

[Robin-535im]

how's that??
The speedometers overindicate on purpose, so when mine is going 80, it reads 84... at 140 I'd guess on average the speedo is reading 5 - 9 MPH high.

[///Sniper535]

stock? I know this would happen with a different size wheel/tire

[Robin-535im]

stock? I know this would happen with a different size wheel/tire
Yeah - most speedometers do... according to all I've ever heard / "tested"

IIRC the OBC has a more accurate reading - hold her steady at a constant speed, select "ave MPH" on the OBC, clear the reading and watch. It will be a few MPH lower and I've read somewhere that the OBC is more accurate.

Also you can drive on a nice straight highway and time how long it takes to go from mile marker to mile marker with the cruise steady. Chances are good (and you have to take multiple readings and use the mean value to reduce the measurement error) that you will find you're going slower than indicated.

Accoring to lore, Fiats would under indicate, so it would read 60 and you'd be going 63. Could be due to measurement uncertainty that they just scale it back 5% to be conservative... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedometer)

And you're exactly right, a different tire size will change the reading too!

[E34turbo]

Engineered to perform and outlast, the E34 is the machine to express ones excitment for high speed driving. While applying throttle and forcing thrust you can not help to have the thirst for more and more from the vehicle you can not wait to drive every single day...

It starts slowly and calmly, I-15 northbound, cruising speed... Traffic is light and the motor way is open to the night drivers delight.
You find yourself not competing with the drivers next to you, no, you enjoy and thrive on the maneuverability control while driving. The speed is steady, 90mph...merely cruising baby...

Focused and intently concentrating on the next lane switch, planning the next two or three moves to avoid slowing to the surrounding traffic, you see yourself screaming past the other drivers... You impress yourself with you lane changes, the split second decision that decides accelerate or to decelerate.
Soon, one to two light beams are chasing you. You stay focused on your line, bobbin and weavin baby...

Gripping the leather bound wheel tightly, clenching your teeth, butterflys in the stomach, your eyes pupils dilating from the adrenaline from the extreme driving you have gotten yourself into...

The top of the hill is clear, no red lights, only white in the rear views, down hill stretch is wide open with a few reds in the view.

You reach 99mph...108...116... You want more, more! You know this machine is capable! 125...135mph!!!

The surrounding is a blur, time is shorten, the engine reving at over 4000 RPM! More, more, more!

The car has proven it has integrity...It slowly comes down to 80mph...

...One more gear would have been useful you think as you arrive to the destination 20 minutes earlier, 1/4 less of fuel than expected, and with a grin of pleasure. Satisfied your BMW is this much fun to drive.


I went 189-190 mph in Big Red up against a busa 2 times since then I kept her at 175 mph.

[winfred]

most german speedos read high because it's illegal to sell a car in certain areas that read low, so they are a little generous, i find e34s to be fairly close averaging around 2 high at 60 and e30s run 5 high, some are better and others are worse, the autometer i just put in my e24 is cool, it's a electronic movement and it tracks perfectly with my gps, i calibrated it using the gps and it's dead on pretty much everywhere, the one in my truck is weird, below 70 it reads high and above it's high, not sure how far off it can get as it runs out of gear at around 95 and this ****er has a serious overdrive, it's like a .73

[E34turbo]

most german speedos read high because it's illegal to sell a car in certain areas that read low, so they are a little generous, i find e34s to be fairly close averaging around 2 high at 60 and e30s run 5 high, some are better and others are worse, the autometer i just put in my e24 is cool, it's a electronic movement and it tracks perfectly with my gps, i calibrated it using the gps and it's dead on pretty much everywhere, the one in my truck is weird, below 70 it reads high and above it's high, not sure how far off it can get as it runs out of gear at around 95 and this ****er has a serious overdrive, it's like a .73

Hmmmmm...... ok I dont know what the above means.......but....

considering I have a euro 3.8 M5 speedo cluster that goes to 300km and I had it pegged and the bikes were backing off after 180-185mph acording to the pilots.....I am safe in saying I was well over 185.....

[winfred]

if da speeo makes you go over the limit while indicating you are going the limit the car company gets into trouble, so they error slightly the other way so you are going slower then the reading, with manufacturing tolerances getting better the speedos are getting closer to true on the new cars


Hmmmmm...... ok I dont know what the above means

[Nick.Hay]

I've also noticed that the OBC has the 'warning gong' for a certain speed. Press the LIMIT button, and you can set a speed, so it gongs and flashes if you are over that speed.

My speedo on the dash always reaches the speed before the OBC gongs...

Although, that could be the 18in rims too.

[///Sniper535]

No, i get this to.

example, i have 80mph for my limit. The gong goes of about 84mph.

[Nick.Hay]

I guess it just has to do with the 'over-reading' thing mentioned earlier.

[TC535i]

I saw 150 on the speedo in my 535i with 245/40-18's (VERY close to accurate according to those "your speed is signs).

160 verified in the girlfriend's track car M3 on the way out to Arizona.

[Robin-535im]

(VERY close to accurate according to those "your speed is signs).
Whenever I see those signs I floor it to see how high the number can go.

If you practice you can get it to flash red.

That's how you play, right? Aren't those signs a game designed to make driving more fun?

They should spit skee-ball (http://www.skeeball.com/) tickets out the other side...

[Torque]

I've been 20 into the triple digits in the 535 ... I don't plan on pursuing faster until I wear through this set of tires (which, thanks to the PO are T-rated ... ugh).

[Ross]

In an '89 735i, indicated 155 MPH, no sign of a limiter about to intervene but it was straining mightily near redline.
It managed to build enough crankcase pressure to pop the oil pan gasket. I won't be doing that again soon.

[winfred]

it was on the way out anyway, those op gaskets on m30s suck, i check the front oil pan bolts every oil change and usually find loose ones, when changing a op gasket on a e32/34 get the fiber gasket for a e28 535, it you look it up for a e34/32 it's piece of **** cork gasket



It managed to build enough crankcase pressure to pop the oil pan gasket. I won't be doing that again soon.

[e34.535i.sport]

When you say oil pan bolts do you mean the sump bolts? Where you drain the oil out of? Sorry for my ignorance but heard about this a few times and its captured my interest now... does anyone have a picture of these bolts that tend to come loose or a description of where they are? If i find some loose should i just tighten them up or does it have to be to a specific torque? Apologies for the Spanish Inquisition!

[winfred]

the 10mm bolts that hold the oil pan to the block, i am sure they have a inch pound torque spec (probably in the 80-90 range, 6-8#) but i just use my calibrated wrist

[e34.535i.sport]

... i just use my calibrated wrist

Gotcha! Ha ha ha, thanks! :)