E39 540i, or E36 M3 Evo?

[Cannondale99]

Hi all,

Still trying to decide what to buy in around June.

I suppose my maximum budget is 10K, absolutely no more I'm afraid!

I'm mainly looking at E39 540i Sports, and E36 M3 Evo's, but which out of the two would you pick?

E39 = a bit slower, and slightly less exciting to drive, but I get loads and loads of toys, leather, possibly sat-nav if I can find one. Huge presence on the road thanks to the Sport kit, and a lovely V8 growl.

E36 M3 = slightly faster and exciting to drive, but I don't get any toys really, bar leather and possibly electric seats/sunroof. E36 is starting to look a bit dated thanks to the E46.

Which would you all have?

Also, has anybody got any pictures of E39's in Estoril Blue?

Cheers,

Chris

[Dirty Black]

Ima go with the E39 for the space plus mad speed aint really that important to me, a V8 is plenty :)

If you've got a family or may soon be starting one that would be an important factor I guess?

[Cannondale99]

No, I'm 21 in June and I've just been accepted into the RAF, hence new car time, so no families yet :D

[Dirty Black]

Damn! Still Ima go with my 1st choice... I've heard that they can sound pretty rude with a good exhaust. Don't Andy, the sponser, have one ?

[JazzMan]

Hmm hard choice, the V8 sounds stunning, but then so does the straigh six - it just a bit more civil about it ;) . The E39 will be a stunning cruiser, where as the M3 will give you more B road fun. I'm basing this on having driven an 840Ci Sport several times recently, I should think the handling on the E39 will be much better than the 840 tank!

[Chaos]

OK, I've had 2 E36 M3s and know/have driven Andy's 540i.

If you want to go bonkers, get the M3. If you like track days, get the M3. If you like your cars raw and hardcore, get the M3. If you want a machine which will eat the miles without complaint, carry you in the lap of luxury, and when coupled with a quality exhaust will drop your pants and leave you breathless at the sheer noise of it, the 540 is the only way to go.

You can guess which way I'd go. ;)

http://www.beastpower.com/products/acschnitzer/beastpower-acs1.jpg

[Icecold]

OK, I've had 2 E36 M3s and know/have driven Andy's 540i.

If you want to go bonkers, get the M3. If you like track days, get the M3. If you like your cars raw and hardcore, get the M3. If you want a machine which will eat the miles without complaint, carry you in the lap of luxury, and when coupled with a quality exhaust will drop your pants and leave you breathless at the sheer noise of it, the 540 is the only way to go.

You can guess which way I'd go. ;)

http://www.beastpower.com/products/acschnitzer/beastpower-acs1.jpgyeah mate,

i have the 540 with the eissenman exhaust and custom sound pipes and it sounds awesome! it still makes me smile when i drop the throttle!!

nothing will beat the v8 for sound and it is really comfortable aswell. and as you said, they usually come fully loaded...

[M5 SC]

E39 540i without a doubt!
If you want it for the track all you gotta do is sort the suspension and the brakes and supercharge it!!! then there is no contest with the M3.

Good luck on your choice, both awesome cars in there own right.

[Cannondale99]

Andy, is yours a manual or an auto'?

It looks great from the pictures in your sig :)

Cheers for all your advice guys!

I don't think I'd take the power of a supercharger yet, but I'd love an Eisenmann exhaust system :D

[Chaos]

It's an auto. That's the beauty of the 540 though, it's a lot of car from the off, so you don't need to do anything to it SC-wise for a kick-off, then later on when you get a bit stagnant you can wake youself up by developing it like that. The sound of that car is insane enough to warrant buying one alone!

[peppernick]

Different class of car Kris, E39 540i Sport is a league above the E36 coupe. The E36 Evo is going to cost an arm and leg to run, especially when the vanos goes pop. And the insurance at 21! :eek: 540 is virtually bullet proof.

Knowing your background in quality ICE, I would thought a quality car would do [jam

E39 540i Sport :)

[Dirty Black]

So thats E39 6-0 E36

[M5 SC]

Looks like the choice is mad mate!!! now get on autotrader!

[Cannondale99]

Yes, it certainly does.

Time to go and look at some tomorrow. :cool:

Nick, do you have any pictures of Estoril Blue E39's in your Huuuuuge collection? :confused:

I don't know what colour I'll go for, I know Estoril isn't really available, I'm just curious what it looks like on an E39. I'll probably go for silver, Imola red, or Black :)

[peppernick]

You'll be very hard pressed to find a 540 Sport in Estoril. They are more common (still very rare) among the M5 fraternity. There was a post on here recently on one for sale in Autotrader but don't think the pics are there anymore.

I've got some amazing Imola pics. Alternatively, try www.ruji.net. He took some smashing shots of a modded Imola E39 M5 for his website.

[Cannondale99]

Oooh, post up your Imola pics :D

I remember that site, the pictures on there are stunning, like you say :)

[peppernick]

Will do tonight. They are all on my HD at home.

[donut]

If I were you I'd go for the E39 540... Oh wait, I did already! ;)

Get a nice zorst, a Gruppe M replica CAI and see low MPG ;)

http://gallery.spod.net/d/30726-2/40013.JPG

[Cannondale99]

Nice car, Donut. Nice colour and the wheels suit it too. :)

[Nickleback]

E39 540i with zorst, wheels & decent ice - nuff said !! :D
Finding an Estoril one - now that could be very rare :eek:

[peppernick]

Imola Red

http://photos.e46fanatics.com/data/500/7677DSC01120.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/peppernick/Image-B162E114D3C011D8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/peppernick/HK9P9037_edit1bcrop.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/peppernick/HK9P8775_edit1crop.jpg


Titanium Silver

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/peppernick/111284.jpg


Avus Blue

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/peppernick/Meet_15Oct2005_19.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/peppernick/Meet_15Oct2005_20_resize.jpg

[Moe]

Wow at that red e39 that looks amazing loving the rims and drop!!!

Nick you certainly have a good collection of pics!!!

Also andy's car sounds awesome!!! i heard the other day while down at his shop!! really does sound great [bow

[Nickleback]

Here you go mate, found an old pic of an American 1998 one to give you an idea ! :D needs a set of wheels Lol !! :rolleyes:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/Clubsport/EstorilBlueE39540i98.jpg

[Cannondale99]

Some awesome pictures there, thanks Nick

Found this picture too on my travels, I think I may well be looking round for one in Imola Red :D

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/ImolaredM5.jpg

Stunning!

[peppernick]

You first mod has to be an Eisenmann exhaust. V8 + Eisenmann = BLISS

Have a listen (http://www.beastpower.com/products/eisenmann/eisenmann2.mpeg) :D

[Cannondale99]

Mmmm, that sounds just how I want it to sound :D

Roll on June [cool

[JazzMan]

:droool: that sounds awesome! :D

[Ali]

The 540i Sport would be my choice.

Quick, comfortable and seems "newer" since the E36 is now 2 whole generations old...

[SJD]

Another nod to the E39 from me but I am biased. You can see more of Donut's car (and a couple of other E39's) in Total BMW, May issue with the photoshoot from http://forum.bmw5.co.uk

Hope you find what your looking for.

[JazzMan]

Hmm I would have to say 540 as well now. I drove my dad's 840Ci to work today and it superb. So much power for overtaking (compared to my M54 powered 320Ci). With the cruise control on you just sit back and enjoy the ride! :)

[Dirty Black]

Thats e39 10-NIL e36

[read Looks like it's CASE CLOSED!

[Juber]

E39 - I love the E39! My first car & i had no problems at all. They handle well, abit heavy, but pure luxury and you can make them look like beast's. IE Tin's M5

[phat///M3]

The Imola one with the black rub strips and ACS wheels looks so hot...I dont like the one with colour coded strips for some reason...

[Cannondale99]

Just to add something here:

I went to look at another 523i SE today, it was a 98' year, and has done 83,000 miles, which is almost 110,000 miles less than mine. Full BMWSH, too.

BORING you're probably all shouting, however, there was a reason I went to look at it.....

It was for sale at my local Audi garage (Streben, if anybodies' familiar with it, in Stoke), taken in for part ex on some Audi.

First off, it has had a full respray by BMW themselves (or so Audi say) in Estoril Blue. It has had the M sport bumpers fitted, front and rear, and the interior has been retrimmed in Estoril Blue leather. It also has 19" Schnitzer Type 3's on, which ARE genuine, too. It looked absolutely stunning. The only complaint I have with it really, is:

a) The owner has had a custom quad exit back box made up (i.e., not a genuine M5 or similar back box).

b) It's an Auto.

If it was a 535/540i, then I would have taken it home with me at that time and purchased an Eisenmann on the same day to make up on that exhaust!

It's on at £6,000

http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=315169229

http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=315169234


However, time to forget about it. It's no quicker than what I have now, if anything, I'm going sideways, not upwards :D

[peppernick]

Dude, look for the right 540 Sport. There plenty about [cool Don't get swayed ;)

I would also forget about the V8 535. It's slower than the newer 6-Pot 530. At least with the 4.4L V8, you can justify with the added torque and BHP the 'not so connected' recirculating ball steering compared to the more responsive rack and pinion set up on 6-Pot cars, with the 535 you get the worst of both, slower engine and sluggish steering.

[Cannondale99]

I was actually going to look at a 535i Sport in the next couple of days. Silver with black leather, but I might give that one a miss now, afterall, the list of E39's I have in front of me to go and look at is quite large anyway!