HD: BMW 540i 6-speed (E34 286 HP) vs BMW M5 3,8 (E34 340 HP) : M5BOARD.com

[TheProteusz]

Who is winner?

[jordonbeaven]

nice race!

i too would like to see an E39 540i vs E34 M5.

I have a 6 speed E39 540i with M-sport package. Black on black with tinted windows. a real demon!

[Arre00]

The final evolution of the E34 M5 entered production in May of 1994 and included the following upgrades:

-Getrag Type D six-speed manual gearbox

-Enlarged brake rotors with two-piece "floating" front calipers

-Thicker rear anti-roll bars (19mm on sedans, 20mm on Tourings) from the discontinued Nürburgring Package

-EDC mode switch from the discontinued Nürburgring Package

-Staggered 18-inch M Parallel Spoke wheels with 245/45ZR18 tires

-Widened front "kidney" grilles with revised hood to match

[FrozenBlaze]

So, in the end:

You can get a straight 6, 3.8 litre engine go faster than a V8 4.0 litre engine.

Just another proof that M-division knows what they were doing with the M5 E34.

3.8 litre, 340 horsepower, 400Nm.

4.0 litre, 286 horsepower, 400Nm.

In the end, it's always M-Power that rocks.

[hormigaZ]

@FrozenBlaze In the end, the M5 sacrificed a lot of power band through low revs to earn 60more BHP that make nearly no diference. You can skip that difference by simple drag in a race. Both of these cars are lovely and must be taken care of. More the 540i 6speed manual, because it is rarer than the M5 and even more to find a good one with someone that would let if off

[FrozenBlaze]

@hormigaZ

1995 BMW M5 E34, Nürburgring Edition (aka. "Nürburgring KDC pack") 6-speed manual gearbox, 354hp, adjustable suspension, 420Nm of torque. 2300 were made, 10 of them located here in Finland. Compare that to a 2002 MB C32 AMG: Supercharged V6, 354hp 450Nm.

Rarity value pretty much same (maybe more?) as the 540i, but in the end, as I said, real hand built M-cars were always ahead of the other powerfull BMW cars (even the plain M-sports), because those engineers knew what they were doing.

[MrHenryDT]

All you have to do is put a conforti ecu chip in it to get you near the M5. A few HP shy, but at least you would stand a chance.

[MrElmeromero2009]

me too i have a 540i m sport beautiful car gots the m logos and everything nice choice and none of these are m sport they dont have the mirors that my does

[MrElmeromero2009]

me too i have a 540i m sport beautiful car gots the m logos and everything nice choice

[m19921992]

Wow, I'm impressed. I wonder if my 540i6 e34 would be faster than a us spec e34 m5? Also I wonder how much a retune would help.

[viggoM35]

I prefer the E34 over any other 5 series chassis

[INeverDie99]

i have a E39 6speed..its my 5th E39...i can never get enough!

[chefinko]

@INeverDie99 Same here, got my third one :) Tried an E60 before but didn't like it so much.

[volvomanni]

yllättävän vähän jää vitoselle..

[mrhughes00]

wow. i'm a little surprised

[hormigaZ]

No its not true. the 540 had upgraded brakes and suspension but neither of those came from an m5.

They were developed just for the 540i. And the suspension was too smooth.

As an option you had what then it was called M handling package wich was nothing but m5 suspension and brakes.

[bmwtransporter]

not bad 4 the bme 540i

[norcalnorway]

The rare ones are the 540i with the m sport package and the six speed manual. Rare at least in the US that is

[hormigaZ]

only 1357 of the normal one manual were for the US according to Wikipedia. so if you are telling me that a a manual 540i isnt rare.. and still only 11000 units of this car were produced... isnt it rare?

There are more golfs GTI in my street than that

Though mine is the european 540i manual with M package (M suspension, brakes, etc.. )

[hormigaZ]

actually: Only 3203 examples of the 540i 6spd were produced, in the following versions;

HE51 LHD European Limousine; 797 Examples HE52 RHD European Limousine; 249 Examples HE53 LHD North American Limousine; 1524 Examples HK31 LHD European Touring; 499 Examples HK32 RHD European Touring; 62 Examples HE98 RHD South African Limousine; 72 Examples

The HE98 was made in Rosslyn South Africa for the local market.

Source: Wikipedia.

[ferncortes1]

@norcalnorway

I own a 2000 540i M sport with the 6 speed manual transmission and man I LOVE IT. It is very rear in USA. I got lucky I was looking for 6 months .

[scondore]

Yeah man! I noticed that.. I just got the

540i, and I don't see ANY of them.. Mine has the M5 Kit on it, so all the side/rear emblems say M5 or ///M plus the body.. But it's to the point, where I almost wish the guy before me kept the 540i on there just cuz of how uncommon they are..

[2568316]

@ferncortes1 same! except i got a 2002, but my lookout stretched 9 months....well worth it!

[hormigaZ]

My 540i is now fifteen years old and all of them owned by me. still run like hell. Bet the higher rev M5 engine isnt so damn relieable.

Just love those cars though.

[phas3rrr]

sigh in my country there are only 520i and 525i e34..... no 518i either.

[94meriks]

540 is faster then 286hp, I have one with chip and no catalyst, it runs like a damn sportscar :D

[MikeHuntIsItchy]

540 is 286hp, it feels quicker because the tq on the beast is like 320 or something, very nice TQ output but yeah chipping it will bring it up to like 350hp lol good stuff.

[blackonblackseven]

old m5's are the sickest

[olliespike2]

I just sold a mint 540i Touring in Artic Silver.1995 model.

A fantastic car.I bought an AUDI S6 avant in Nogaro blue.

Its also an incredible car.

[paneksshops]

wotta hell ? 540 i 286 km ? i see some 300hp stock 540

[LaCrosseE34]

I think a race between the US 3.6 M5 and the 540i would be a good race..

[YIMIGUITARM5]

brother N1K1YOYO the BMW 540i(e34) is a 6spd manual 4.0L and the BMW 540i(e39) is a 6spd manual 4.4L and both are between 286 and 290 hp probably in dreams they are gonna be close(i don"t thing so) to the 1995 BMW M5(e34)6spd 3.8L 340hp

[N1K1yoyo]

hp isnt everything. the (e39) has higher torque than the (e34) the e39 also gets its maximum torque at lower rpm's

[moternm5]

I used to own a 95 e34 M5. Green with champagne leather. I was in Germany in the service, bought it in 01 with 68k for 15,000 US Dollars. Fun car, the only one I've ever owned that could spin the wheels in 2nd gear on a corner. Top end speed was fun, gears were really close between 5 and 6. Oil changes were expensive!

[hormigaZ]

I am a proud owner of a rare 6 speed bmw 540i e34.

I cannot explain the way I love that car. That is pure bmw...

[88polaris88]

not that rare. we have sevaral! they do run good though.

[broadbent48]

@hormigaZ ,

E39, 540i M-Sport / 6-Speed here and I love it too.

Jet Black & Ebony Hide to boot!

Holla!!

[THEREALLILNEIL]

@hormigaZ i hear ya my dad as a black 6 speed 540i also. The is car awesome!!!!!!!!i Its one of my favs that my dad has of his bmw collection lol

[jacun80]

@hormigaZ

I also got e34 540 and I love it too.answer for that is 400Nm which is more then m5 :D

[alkke1]

@jacun80 It's the same......

[Arre00]

@hormigaZ

Of the 3,910 3.8-liter E34 M5s produced, how many were the later six-speed manual version?

BMW M GmbH produced 752 examples of the later E34 M5 3.8 six-speed, divided among the following configurations:

ECE 3.8 sedan six-speed (LHD): 404 produced

ECE 3.8 Touring six-speed (LHD): 209 produced

ECE 3.8 sedan six-speed (RHD): 139 produced

[m19921992]

@hormigaZ I'm a proud owner of a 1995 540i m sport 6 speed. I love mine too.

[MPowerS62]

i bealived some1 asked if there is a difference between 3.6l and 3.8.

same thing as a 95 M3 vs 99 M3

too bad bmw never import enough M5's in to us.cant find a clean one after 15 years

[josur]

E34 M5 is really a good looking sedan ,i think :)

[dosentttmattter]

I have nothing against corvettes, chill, I was just saying, that these cars, even if they are old, they still can hold up to many cars from our time.. these cars are still beautiful and fast, and you don't have to call them loads of ....

[SuperleggeraVW]

The Viper ACR beet the ZR1 by a bit round the ring.

[sheharyarirfan]

wait till the v-spec nur comes up, that'll eat the ZR1 alive so badly xD

[ArmaDino22]

Keep dreaming ricer boy, keep dreming...

[bnm5015]

Inside Line did a test on the Vspec recently... it beat all of the ZR-1's numbers. Keep in mind the V-spec also costs nearly 40k more than the ZR-1 and won't be sold in the US.

[bnm5015]

We can only wait and see, personally I hope it does. I love AWD turbo 6 imports.

[dosentttmattter]

haha, you`re funny... NOT

old loads of shit? think again "mate".. these are the true CARS.

"corvette"... hahahah.. yea right!

[brynner2]

i would like to see the e34 m5 race a e39 540i 6 speed..that would be a closer race i think...nice run gustav.

[N1K1yoyo]

wow r so right i would love to see that race with a e39 6 speed 540i

i think its gonna be really close between the m5 and e39 540i

[BMWM5S62]

Thank you for this race!:o) I always been a E34 540 6speed fan! I always wondered also how it would do racing the E34 M5!

[112namrepus]

I'm thinking of getting a BMW 550i. Does that model exist in Europe? Does anyone on M5Brd have one?

[Technoboy1000]

Yes it exists

[112namrepus]

Well what is the opinion on it? 360HP should be nice.

[FletchCSL]

Love the E34 M5, sound so crisp. Legendary engine

E39 V8 540 is suprisingly rapid, i had once for a short while once whilst my E36 evo was being worked on, would definately give it a run for its money!

[motor86obsessed]

5999cc is a KnobGoblin. Thats a couple of sexy BMWs right there.

[m5boarddotcom]

It is called enthusiasm about cars regardless of age.

We have some 599 GTB F1 races coming up, don't you worry.

And buy the DVD if you want to support BTW :)

[911gt333]

Love e34. Pure BMW.

[yomonstruo]

im with gladki,it would be nice to see it,but i also think the e36 would win.they are very quick

[Gladki007]

Would be intresting to see E34 M5 vs E36 m3 perhaps? Wonder which one would actually win, I think m3 but you never know...

[edo888LT]

It would be nice if Gustav wrote wich car is the camera in. Especially when almost identical cars race.

[m5boarddotcom]

Isnt it obvious here :)´ä

[izzanino456]

@m5boarddotcom jeg elsker at biler i sverige er så billig ....hvor mye er det for en M6 ? takk for svar :)

[codenamecordon]

@m5boarddotcom the camera is in the... 540?

[herbelcerbel]

The camera is in the BMW ;-)

(540)

[Gurjaaneli]

@edo888LT 540 is cameraman. m5 has silverish sideskirts as i recall

[NaturallyAspiratedHP]

5th

[NaturallyAspiratedHP]

4th

[NaturallyAspiratedHP]

3rd

[TargetRender]

wow, those old e34 M5's are pretty damn quick.  50 hp advantage, but are both cars close in weight?

[novan3]

Yes, they're the exact same weight and the drivers of both are identical twins, so it's hard to get a closer comparison anywhere.