E34 535i sport performance figures ?

oh dont get me wrong !! im sure its still a fast car !!! i just wouldnt put it in the same category as the above mentioned cars !!!

 if the discussion was about brisk luxury cruisers i would'v put it up there with the big engined best  . but this started as a question of performance !!

 and even tho as you say a 528  will hit 60 in les than 8 seconds (which is very respectable) ! the other cars do it in 2 seconds less which in quarter mile times is long enough to wind down the window and turn the radio on .

ok ladies

 not to seem offish about this topic BUT 

1- there is no way in this WORLD a 535i will keep up with a scooby turbo to anywhere near 100 mph  nor an escos

2-people often go on about how fast their cars are and never really back up their claims

3- a 528i is a SLOW luxury cruiser , it was never meant to be a quick car and it never will be , let alone get anywhere near the sports saloons or hatches mentioned in earlier posts !

4- big respect to the guys with the 3.5 lumps in their 3 series , they will be quick simply because of the power to weight ratio

 IF i can be proved wrong on any of the above comments "I WILL EAT MY LAPTOP" , dont post up magazine articles to try and prove me wrong just take the suposedly "quick" cars to a run what ya brung day and show the timing slip !!

 please dont take this post as a diss to anyones cars ! take it as a personal reference from someone that has owned all of the above mentioned vehicles including -

1995 scooby turbo

1999 scooby wrx sti

1993 escos (standard at 1st)

1989 535i sport

a modded e28 m535i and my standard m535i that i still have

 IF any1 wants to organise a trip to a run wot ya brung day at the pod or north weald i will be the 1st person  on the line to cheer and clap the 1st person that beats a scooby up the quarter (whilst chewing on my laptop)

I owned a 1988 ALPINA b10 3.5, which was based on the e34 535is, the straight six.

The power was 262bhp, not sure on the torque but the 0-60mph was 6.3 secs and I had it off the clock at 265kmh (165mph) 5700rpm. This was uphill and the car was still pulling, my pants wew beggining to fill so i eased off!

I have just purchased a new ecu chip from germany (one of the msport companies out there) which although the changes it says is not great it does have the advantage of de-limiting the engine to get what the germans call Vmax or terminal velocity aka as fast as the engine will go not just what the manufacturers want the car to go (only about another 10-20 mph if that.

It adds about 16-20hp to the current 211 pushing it to 227-231 bhp it also adds about 20-25 Nm Torque which is what im after more than the extra bhp, it is also meant to smoothen up the range to make it more response lower down the revs (all though i dont really notice this issue) the figures above are based on 4000 rpm so taking it up to its new rev limit of 6500 would probably push more than the stated figures. Due to having an auto box im sceptical as to whether it would affect performance but i am looking out for a gearbox chip at present so ill try the engine one first if theres any issues ill take it out til i can get a matched gearbox chip to compliment the new power.

Im away for 3 weeks from tomorrow so i will book the car in to the local rolling road station when i get back and let you know the figures, if its not at least what the stated amounts are meant to be or unless i see a dramatic improvement i will probably remove the chip as theres not much point having it in there.

I will keep you all posted though (535i owners that is) and lets hope i can squeeze a little more juice out of it.

Russ

I still think that a standard impreza will be quicker to 100 than a standard 535 sport. According to EVO magazine the impreza will do 0-60 in 5.4 s and 0-100 in 14.6 and top out at 144mph. BHP per ton is 177. The impreza will have a traction advantage due to 4wd but don't forget until the turbo spools up it is in effect a detuned 2 litre so generally speaking naturally aspirated cars are quicker of the mark than turbo cars.

To be honest TJ, you are right about performance figues being fairly irrelevant. When all is said and done so much of it is down to the skill of the driver.

I was checking out figures for a manual 528i I was was toying with getting there last week. Autocar got one to 60 in 6.8 sec back in the day, which you'll all agree is pretty impressive. Now they got a standard 97 Scooby Turbo to 60 in 5.8 sec (they were around 204bhp back then), but the 0-100 time was 18.8 seconds. They 528i continued on to post a 0-100 of 18 sec dead, only 1/10th sec slower than what was obtained in an Escort Cosworth!

These are particularly good times, but even EVO got a 7.3 to 60 & 18.8 to 100 in a manual 528i around the same time, so you can see that whilst the 4wd confers a huge advantage off the line over the rwd(at what cost to transmissions?) once you get running at bigger speeds the gearing, power characteristics they are matched to, and aerodynamics of the car have a bigger and bigger contribution. The 528i managed to regain the 1.5sec lost to the Scooby in EVOs figures; in Autocars it not only regained the second lost to 60, but added another 0.8!

In my honest opinion, it goes to show the irrelevance of some of these figures. Alot of the figures are down purely to testers skill, or lack of mechanical sympathy. The 30-70 & 50-70 in 5th gives a good idea of speed without traction issues, & ease of driving respectively. That's why a buddies well driven 90bhp Golf TDI will require a nice bit of effort by me in my E34 24v 525i to keep with on give & take 2nd gear / top of 3rd gear roads.. I'll keep with him, but he won't be too far off my pace unless I use the last 750rpm and am heel / toeing at 5 grand into tight 2nd gear corners to get the bang out of em that he takes for granted with the diesel. Still, I'm having alot more craic!