530 v 540

[mattyb]

I have seen a very vey nice 530 for sale at a very good price albeit 4000kms away. I have only ever had 540i ( twice and spoilt ) and I am curious as to the difference between the two, apart from the obvious displacement 3lt v4lt, what are others thoughts/experiences on the 530?

regards Mattyb

[shogun]

I can give you the data from the German E34 forum

Technische Daten V8-Motor M60

Model..................l 530i............................ 540i
Kennzeichnung...... M60B30.................... M60B40
Ventile/Zylinder........... 4........................... 4
Nockenwellenantrieb..Steuerkette......... Steuerkette
Kraftstoffart............. Super.................... Super
Bohrung [mm].......... 84............................ 89
Hub [mm]............... 67,6.......................... 80
Hubraum [ccm]......... 2997....................... 3982
Verdichtung [x:1].........10,5.......................10,0
Leistung [kW/PS].......... 160/218............. 210/286
bei Drehzahl [1/min]......... 5800................. 5800
Drehmoment [Nm]............. 290.................. 400
bei Drehzahl [1/min]...........4500................ 4500
Kompressionsdruck [bar].... 12-14.............. 12-14

You can see the difference in HP 218<>286 and the torque 290<>400.
Then the 530 has a 5HP18 ZF auto trans and the 540 a 5HP30.
530i M60B30 8-Zylinder, v-max 235 km/h, 0-100kmh 7.7 sec.
540i M60B48 8-Zilinder , v-mx 240 kmh (with limiter), 0-100 kmh 6.8 seconds.

final drive
530, manual gear 3.07, automatic 3.15, Touring 3.23
540 2.93

[632 Regal]

540s seem to have lots of power at lower rpm's than the 530. You can put a lower gear ratio in there to compensate. I did this and it made a big difference in city driving. Highway mileage stayed about the same even at the higher rpm's. I put (I believe) a 3:64 LSD in there which I think was a bit high, a 3:43 would be about perfect.