My new 1995 540i 6sp....questions...

[wmann]

The background is: I used to own a 1991 535i that I loved, I sold it and bought a e39 540i that I drove for about 2 years after I missed out in a M540i purchase, and just traded it for a 2001 e39 525it wagon for my wife after I discovered I liked driving her e34 525it much better.

So after much sole searching and a little research I bought my e34 dream car combination, and paid top dollar for it, a 1995 540i 6sp, artic grey w/ black, 66K miles, traction and sport seats.

What, if any differences, are there in a 1995 540i that has a 6sp and sport seats in regards to suspension?

It also has the original Nikasil block, which I wanted to avoid, but it seemed until the last 2 days, that the issues has diminished....

Even so I had the leakdown test run, with these results:

The leak down test.

Cylinder#1: 6%
Cylinder#2: 5%
Cylinder#3: 6%
Cylinder#4: 7%
Cylinder#5: 7%
Cylinder#6: 8%
Cylinder#7: 5%
Cylinder#8: 7%

Car was in Ny & NJ its whole life w/ the last 25K miles put in since Mar 1998.....

Any ideas what the odd's are that I will experience an engine replacement issue?

Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks! Bill Mann

Ps. If any one is looking for a e34 525it let me know!

[Derek A.]

Does it have a trailer hitch ?

[DueyT]

Bill, saw you on uberhahn's post as well.

Welcome to the 540i/6 Nikasil Survivor's Club (we sometimes also let Jeff (632 Regal, 530i guy) talk with us, more out of pity for him and building his sense of belonging... :p j/k)

Back on-topic, if my research with (a.k.a. asking) BMW was correct, your 540i/6 (a.k.a. 540i w/ Sports Package) should have the same M-Technic suspension that my car came from the factory with. Do you also have composite, 2-pc #5 (BBS as OEM for BMW) wheels?

I believe this is it for a 540i Sports Package:
- Getrag 6S6 420, 6-speed transmission,
- Recaro sports seats,
- BBS 'RG' composite spoked 17" wheels, and
- M-Technic lowered suspension.
I think autos also came with ASC+T, not sure on that one.

Look at my gallery, does your car "sit" teh same as mine...if so, you have the M-Technic suspension from the factory.

Cheers,
Duey

[Kamil]

Interested in the wagon.
Please post here pics and/or description.... or mail me kamil_13ATyahoo.com.

I'm local near NYC and very intereted.

read here about 540i Sport's and M540's.
http://www.kindel.com/bmw/m540_info.htm

Read my thread about a 540i Sport I've found north of NYC:
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=6484

-Kamil

[wmann]

The car is green w/ a tan interior, amd is in very good shape inside and out, although there is some normal wear as you would expect on a car with 194000 miles.

We bought the car about 2 1/2 years ago wth between 95-100K miles.

We had about 4000.00 in work done this summer, including brakes, air conditioning and a rebuilt transmission.

My wife puts about 1000 mile a week on the car, so I would guess that the car has been about 12000 mile since the work was done.

Just replaced the heater fan motor last week, and it need an O2 sensor.

The only other issue with the car that I am aware of is that there is an occasional stutter that seems to be coming from the driveline, mostly from a rolling stop on a slight up hill incline. (happens once every other week or so).

Car has the dual sunroof, heated front seats, traction control, cargo cover, roof rack (although its not on the car) and cd player for options.

The car gets an average of 26 mpg when my wife drives it, when she drives
all highway she gets 28-30 mpg. When I drive the car the average mpg is
about 24.

The car is in exceptional condition as you will see in the pictures that I will be happy to email.

The car has had a chip upgrade and does use premium fuel now. I think I
still have the orig chip somewhere that can be replaced if you want to use
mid grade fuel.


Here is the vin and a carfax history....

Report Summary
1. ACCIDENT CHECK

Total Loss Check No Severe Accidents Reported to DMV - Buyback
Guarantee!
Other Accident Indicators No Accident Indicators Reported
2. MILEAGE ACCURACY CHECK

Truth-In-Mileage Check No Odometer Problems Reported to DMV -
Buyback Guarantee!
Odometer Rollback Check No Potential Odometer Rollback Found
Mileage Consistency Check No Inconsistent Odometer Reading Found
3. LEMON CHECK®
No Mfr. Buyback Reported to DMV - Buyback Guarantee!
4. OWNERSHIP CHECK

Number of Owners 2 Estimated Owner(s)
Type of Owners Checked 8 Types of Vehicle Registrations
5. RECALL CHECK
BMW Does Not Report Recalls to CARFAX
6. WARRANTY CHECK
No Data Reported to CARFAX
DETAILED VEHICLE HISTORY 11 HISTORY RECORDS REPORTED

[wengenstein]

Is there some other method for detrmining the presence of the M-Tech suspension? I'm curious now.

My 540i/6 has the sports seats, the transmission (of course), and ASC+T (eventhough its a manual) but I've got the boring 15"(or is it 16") basketweaves. So I'm wondering if I actually do have the Sports Package but the previous owner pawned the wheels :) The car does have a stance like yours but I never met the previous owner so I don't know a whole lot about the cars history...I rescued it from a shady used car dealer who really knew nothing about the car or e34s in general apparently.

And oh yea, welcome to the nik club bill! :)

Dennis


Back on-topic, if my research with (a.k.a. asking) BMW was correct, your 540i/6 (a.k.a. 540i w/ Sports Package) should have the same M-Technic suspension that my car came from the factory with. Do you also have composite, 2-pc #5 (BBS as OEM for BMW) wheels?

I believe this is it for a 540i Sports Package:
- Getrag 6S6 420, 6-speed transmission,
- Recaro sports seats,
- BBS 'RG' composite spoked 17" wheels, and
- M-Technic lowered suspension.
I think autos also came with ASC+T, not sure on that one.

[DueyT]

Dennis, sad to say but I think that you were buggered out of the original 17" #5's that came with the car. :(

Duey

[wengenstein]

Dangit! oh well.. at least I'll have some decent winter wheels when I get around to buying some new ones :)

The wheels on your 540i in those first few picutres in your gallery are the 17" #5s right? What are the wheel/tire sizes?


Dennis, sad to say but I think that you were buggered out of the original 17" #5's that came with the car. :(

[DueyT]

Dennis, yes they are...Style #5 in BMW-speak, RG in BBS-speak.

Specs:

Front: 8Jx17H2 wheel - 235/45-ZR17 92Y ContiSportContact2 tire
Rear: 9Jx17H2 wheel - 255/45-ZR17 94Y ContiSportContact2 tire

The car is stable to Z-speeds, haven't attained Y....W yes, but not Y.

Cheers,
Duey