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ddccaa 
Groupie 
Joined: 02-October-2003 Location: Turkey Status: Offline Points: 78 |
 Topic: e34 525 vs e34 520Posted: 29-December-2003 at 07:50 |
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dear friends could you help me tp compare those two cars. 94 'e34 520i is my car and the 525 is the other car that can be intrested in. could you tell me what you know about 525?. that car is 91 make. what about fuel consumption?. also if you can tell me values in metric I will be happy. also possible problems which are especially 525 originated. I know common ones on m50 engine,is it is equipped with that one?If not please tell those problems also. thank you in advance. |
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Deathace
Really Senior Member I 
Don’t stick keys in electrical sockets. Joined: 27-December-2003 Location: Norfolk Status: Offline Points: 333 |
Posted: 29-December-2003 at 12:55 |
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There is a pretty good rough idea on the E34 for all models here http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/bmw.html on that page it says that early 525i use the M20 engine and later ones use the M50 and that on the M50 its essential to keep the cooling system in tip top condition. It covers a few known problems but not a great deal its probably better to look over some of the archives on bimmernut forums or google for "known problems with bmw e34" this should yeild a few results to go on. Russ |
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II 
The Last of the Few Joined: 21-August-2003 Location: 55 � North Status: Offline Points: 1365 |
Posted: 02-January-2004 at 10:53 |
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From '91 onwards both the 520 (150bhp) & 525 (192bhp) had the 24 valve M50 motor. After '92 they gained Vanos variable valve timing which improved torque but gave no more power. The earlier 525 had the 170bhp 12 valve engine. Your 525 could be either. Having owned a '92 (pre-vanos) 520 manual I would recommend a 525. The 520 needs to driven a bit harder so uses more fuel than a 525 in most situations. I got 22mpg around town with 30mpg on a long motorway run. Some 525 owners claim to better those figures but of course traffic conditions play a big part in fuel consumption - I only get 16mpg from my 635! |
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AndyS
Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be. 
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Deathace
Really Senior Member I
Don’t stick keys in electrical sockets. Joined: 27-December-2003 Location: Norfolk Status: Offline Points: 333 |
Posted: 02-January-2004 at 19:14 |
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Andy that seems a tad low is that constant town traffic? I do a 50 mile journey and a 300 mile journey pretty regular and going by what was spent and depending on traffic and my lead foot playing up i get about 40mpg on the 50 mile journey and 36mpg on the 300 mile journey follow that with local town driving of about 23-27mpg and excited moments of about 10-18mpg this is on a 1990 535i. The car only has 85k miles on it regularly serviced by bmw so maybe im lucky at the moment. my e34 does better mpg than my rover 623 gsi but i put that down to rover not having a clue about servicing cars (car just runs too rich). Russ |
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e34m5
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 26-June-2003 Location: Near Rugby, Warwickshire Status: Offline Points: 1344 |
Posted: 03-January-2004 at 13:05 |
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My 91 525 Sport uses the M50 engine and my average fuel consumption (according to the OBC) is currently 21.9mpg but that is mostly town driving (I need to take it for a good run!!).
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1991 525i Sport Manual 
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few Joined: 21-August-2003 Location: 55 � North Status: Offline Points: 1365 |
Posted: 05-January-2004 at 22:25 |
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Deathace, I used my 520 to do about 5 miles through the Tyne Tunnel which is as bad as traffic gets up here. Started using my bike as it was quicker! Averaged 25mpg over 2 years. Then got an Audi A6 2.4 auto which did 22mpg town, 33mpg motorway. My 635 does about 6/7 miles up a dual carriage way. Only had the 6 for a couple of months, so far averaging 16mpg. Cars always cost more than you think. I guess I should get my bike out again! |
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AndyS
Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be.
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Old shape!
Really Senior Member I
Joined: 08-January-2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 497 |
Posted: 09-January-2004 at 14:49 |
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I concurr with AndS with respect to the MPG of the 520 E34. Mine is a 1989 F plate, and I have been monitoring the mpg very closely since purchase last October. (Miles per litre x 4.56 is formula used) 22 to 23mpg round town with runs of no longer than 11 miles each way. This is based on 9 tank "Fill ups". Long runs, 29.6mpg. That was from Preston to Nottingham, Notingham to Torquay and Torquay to Preston. At <ahem> Motorway speeds. If I had stuck to <ahem> Mr Average Volvo driver The above is pretty much or better than the handbook says, and for a 14 year old car, it's superb. The dashboard (Analogue) mpg indicator seems to be pretty good, it was certainly reading 30 all the way back from Torquay. What should my Oil consumption be? The handbook says a max. of 1 pint per 100 miles, which seems a very high expectation, even at maximum. |
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Paul DH
1994 E38 "Proud owner of a "3/4 engined E37.9 that's almost a real car with real paint...WITH 6 WASHER JETS!" 1989 520i (E34) Gone 1988 320i Coupe (E30) Gone 1995 520 Estate (E34) (Wife) 1992 320i SE OBC (E36) (Wife) Gone 1988 320i Saloon (E30) (Wife) Gone |
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e34 525 vs e34 520
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speeds, I reckon it would hit the mid 30's mpg for certain.