Hi allJI just joined in to this discussion group and wanted to introduce myself.Ian, 49 years old, lawyer and business operator.I have an E34 540iLE - #64 of the 70 made for Australia in 1995. Silver, full black leather interior, 4.0V8, chipped to 242kW (210kW standard), cat-back twin 3" exhaust (it is noisy!), sunroof, and with the 6-speed manual gearbox typical of these models and other unusual BMW offerings. The wheels are 17" throwing stars on 255/35 Continental rubber. I enjoy driving it and the kilometres get higher every day. Of the 70 delivered in Australia, there are about 58 (at last count!) still alive - the others have been destroyed by crashes on the roads or the racetracks! Owners here are pretty fanatical and there is a website specific to the model. If anyone is interested, http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/BMW540iLE/messages . There are pics of every surviving 540iLE, there are some links worth reading, and some chat between members that shows the good, the bad, and the ugly of E34 ownership here.I was referred to your site by miaw (thank you miaw!). I look forward to reading and participating more in the future - there is a wealth of information here, and some friendly help. I pass on a big hello to my fellow enthusiasts on the site! Hope to see you one day.Cheers! Ian
Newbie from Western Australia
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Hi iceman
Nice avatar!
I am happy to answer any questions you guys might have about the car. I can pass on a scan of the original sales brochure if you would like to see it... the admin team can then choose to post it if it is acceptable.
There are many clubs in Australia - marque and model-specific. The social side is a bit lacking, though. There are more clubs in the east than here in the West.
Happy to help if I can!
540LE
Nice avatar!
I am happy to answer any questions you guys might have about the car. I can pass on a scan of the original sales brochure if you would like to see it... the admin team can then choose to post it if it is acceptable.
There are many clubs in Australia - marque and model-specific. The social side is a bit lacking, though. There are more clubs in the east than here in the West.
Happy to help if I can!
540LE
Hi 535I
Thanks for the welcome!
Yes - the 6-speed is a bit of an interesting thing. BMW seem to make this gearbox available on some interesting models - like the M62 (4.4V8 engined) 840 CSi (another one of my favourite cars and the V12 850CSi that they made back in about 1993 to 1995. Monster cars - great gearboxes. You could retrofit the gearboxes at any time to a V8 E34, but there is a problem with the bell-housing for any 6 cylinder cars.
My LE has a short shift kit, reducing the throw between changes to less than half of standard. It is sweet! Clutch (twin plate racing) is a bit of a leg-exercise-machine, but with time it is as easy as any normal road car.
Come on down and I will take you for a ride - or just ask miaw what it is like!
Cheers! Ian
Thanks for the welcome!
Yes - the 6-speed is a bit of an interesting thing. BMW seem to make this gearbox available on some interesting models - like the M62 (4.4V8 engined) 840 CSi (another one of my favourite cars and the V12 850CSi that they made back in about 1993 to 1995. Monster cars - great gearboxes. You could retrofit the gearboxes at any time to a V8 E34, but there is a problem with the bell-housing for any 6 cylinder cars.
My LE has a short shift kit, reducing the throw between changes to less than half of standard. It is sweet! Clutch (twin plate racing) is a bit of a leg-exercise-machine, but with time it is as easy as any normal road car.
Come on down and I will take you for a ride - or just ask miaw what it is like!
Cheers! Ian
535i
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540LE;264408 said:
My current ride is a Manual (E34 3.5). My other ride is an E34 V8 - sadly, auto ..
Now looking to convert this baby to a Manual but it's a bit hard to find the gearbox.
I might take ur offer - was down there couple of months back.
mini_jeff67
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Welcome aboard, Ian!
meanguy
Thank you!
Our machines are only as fierce as we want them to be! And with the vast number of Police we have here, that means only being fierce when no-one's watching...
It doesn't matter how much power my car has - often it can only do 60kph like every car in the queue - but when I get the chance - yep, I enjoy it very much!
You have a good day, too and I look forward to chatting again soon.
540LE
Thank you!
Our machines are only as fierce as we want them to be! And with the vast number of Police we have here, that means only being fierce when no-one's watching...
It doesn't matter how much power my car has - often it can only do 60kph like every car in the queue - but when I get the chance - yep, I enjoy it very much!
You have a good day, too and I look forward to chatting again soon.
540LE
535i - you would be most welcome!
And I hope to catch up with the club when I am in Malaysia next time - that should only be a couple of months away at most!
I will ask around and see what the local BMW guys think about the prospect of getting a 6-speed attached to your E34V8 - can you tell me the engine series code please? I think my 4 litre is the M60, that was then replaced by the M62 4.4litre. We got 3 litre, 3.5 litre and 4 litre V8s here, but I would like to find out the sengine series number so that I can ask some specific questions of the locals. One other alternative is a guy in Sydney, www.bromspecbmw.com . He does awesome things to poor little BMWs.
Just let me know!
Cheers - 540LE
And I hope to catch up with the club when I am in Malaysia next time - that should only be a couple of months away at most!
I will ask around and see what the local BMW guys think about the prospect of getting a 6-speed attached to your E34V8 - can you tell me the engine series code please? I think my 4 litre is the M60, that was then replaced by the M62 4.4litre. We got 3 litre, 3.5 litre and 4 litre V8s here, but I would like to find out the sengine series number so that I can ask some specific questions of the locals. One other alternative is a guy in Sydney, www.bromspecbmw.com . He does awesome things to poor little BMWs.
Just let me know!
Cheers - 540LE
Daredevil
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Hi Ian,
here's an official welcome on behalf of the committee of BMW Club Malaysia. It's always good to have someone from a few thousand kms away sharing their experience on immaculate and rare beauties.
Hmmm...540LE 6 speed manual...wasted on Australian roads. Hahahaha..... can imagine the 60kmh speed limit and 40kmh during school hours. I've seen M cars on Australian soil hitting the pedal like there's no tomorrow only having to slam on the brakes when it hits 59.99kmh. Hahahaha....i did the same when i was driving an E36 328 cabrio manual there. The speed limit was 60kmh, got fined for doing 63kmh. Damn it! Where's the fun in that?
Are there any Racing Tracks in Perth? I heard BMW Australia brings their customers down the track to do their test drives. Well at least in Melbourne that's how it works. :top:
DD
here's an official welcome on behalf of the committee of BMW Club Malaysia. It's always good to have someone from a few thousand kms away sharing their experience on immaculate and rare beauties.
Hmmm...540LE 6 speed manual...wasted on Australian roads. Hahahaha..... can imagine the 60kmh speed limit and 40kmh during school hours. I've seen M cars on Australian soil hitting the pedal like there's no tomorrow only having to slam on the brakes when it hits 59.99kmh. Hahahaha....i did the same when i was driving an E36 328 cabrio manual there. The speed limit was 60kmh, got fined for doing 63kmh. Damn it! Where's the fun in that?
Are there any Racing Tracks in Perth? I heard BMW Australia brings their customers down the track to do their test drives. Well at least in Melbourne that's how it works. :top:
DD
Hi blackcat!
Thanks for the message!
I am not so much into Mil-type watches. My uncle is, though - I think he has about 4 or 5 of them - ORSA Military, ZENO mil, and a few others.
Mine are a bit more the usual ones - a few Rolexes, a couple of Panerai, an Orsa Monstrum, a new Ocean7 LM-7 on order (which is an homage to the Omega Ploprof - check the thread on watchuseek.com under the Ocean7 section) a couple of ORIS Link watches, some Seikos, a Universal Geneve and a Vacheron Constantin. I used to like chrono style watches for the detailing and intricacy - but these days I just like to be able to read the time without needing my glasses! So the 44mm style of non-chrono is more "me" now. Have you seen www.watchuseek.com, or www.pmwf.com, or www.timetechtalk.com ? All of these are US sites, but they are good way to chat with people who have similar taste. www.timezone.com is another one. I am a member of them all - and I happily surf their sites looking to catch the odd bargain - because their forumers offer to members before they get to the ebay site - and every now and then there is an item too good to pass up.
Enjoy the passion!
540LE
Thanks for the message!
I am not so much into Mil-type watches. My uncle is, though - I think he has about 4 or 5 of them - ORSA Military, ZENO mil, and a few others.
Mine are a bit more the usual ones - a few Rolexes, a couple of Panerai, an Orsa Monstrum, a new Ocean7 LM-7 on order (which is an homage to the Omega Ploprof - check the thread on watchuseek.com under the Ocean7 section) a couple of ORIS Link watches, some Seikos, a Universal Geneve and a Vacheron Constantin. I used to like chrono style watches for the detailing and intricacy - but these days I just like to be able to read the time without needing my glasses! So the 44mm style of non-chrono is more "me" now. Have you seen www.watchuseek.com, or www.pmwf.com, or www.timetechtalk.com ? All of these are US sites, but they are good way to chat with people who have similar taste. www.timezone.com is another one. I am a member of them all - and I happily surf their sites looking to catch the odd bargain - because their forumers offer to members before they get to the ebay site - and every now and then there is an item too good to pass up.
Enjoy the passion!
540LE
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