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.
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Wicked....
Lovely looking motor you got there mate...
Paul
omg how awesome. That would be my dream come true.
InDEuroz | e34 540i/6 '94 w/ bore/stroked m62 | e30 325iS '87 | Ducati 748R '00
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!
UK 1997 e34 540iA Touring, 1989 535i Sport - now sold, 1998 Mercedes CLK 200 Coupe
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.d...1061&rd=1&rd=1
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!
UK 1997 e34 540iA Touring, 1989 535i Sport - now sold, 1998 Mercedes CLK 200 Coupe
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
Awesome pics, awesome buy, awesome story! Well done.
My favourite pic is the one on the Carousel![]()