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Tag: 540i

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E34 Dilemma: M5 or 540i M Sport?

Published December 26, 2014 by Paul

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Usually, the M5 is the top dog of the BMW 5 series range. This model has been with us for almost a full three decades now, dazzling enthusiasts with supercar performance in a sedan package. When the E34 series debuted in 1988, the second car to wear the M5 badge would appear shortly thereafter, with a 3.5 liter inline-6 under the hood, good for 315 horsepower. The M5 would be pulled from the US market after the 1993 model year. Then, in the final year of E34 production, we would see a new model emerge for 1995: the 540i M Sport.

The 540i M Sport would be a sort of preview towards what BMW was planning for the M5 of the forthcoming E39 generation. With a new series of V8 engines in the BMW product portfolio, the company took it upon itself to create a sort of modified M5, with a 4.0 liter V8 under the hood mated to an available 6-speed manual gearbox with a few styling tweaks, firmer suspension and sports seats. Today we’ll look at two powerful E34s, beginning with this 1991 M5 for sale in Ontario, Canada.

Click for details: 1991 BMW M5 on eBay

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1998 BMW 540i Dinan

Published November 23, 2014 by Nate

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Tavarish’s recent Jalopnik post regarding the performance bargain available in the E39 540i solidified many of my car-brain’s transient thoughts. The 540i is a serious looker, with the E39’s grace and nearly all of the M5’s aggression. They are plentiful around the interwebs, but this example caught my eye with a host of Dinan upgrades, low mileage, and a 6-speed transmission. The Dinan supercharger pushes power slightly above the S62’s with plenty of drivetrain and chassis modifications to keep up. It may not quite trigger that special ///M response, but it will get you 99% of the way there while costing half of what a similar M5 would. At just over $10k, you’ll be hard pressed to find more performance per dollar, let alone in a car that looks this good.

Click for details: 1998 BMW 540i Dinan on Craigslist SF Bay Area

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2000 BMW 540i Touring with 26k miles

Published November 10, 2014 by Paul

When friends and associates come to me and ask for my advice on large SUVs, I can’t help think that if I’m going to have a utility oriented vehicle with a large engine, why not make it fun? This is exactly where the E39 BMW 540i Touring comes in. Sure, it doesn’t have all-wheel drive, but it does everything else a mid to large sized SUV can, and rather well. Under the hood is the familiar 4.4 liter V8, coupled to a 5-speed automatic gearbox. Add to that cornering abilities that no truck could match and you have a recipe for family fun. As BMW’s commercial for the E39 stated when it debuted “why float through life, when you can drive?”

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2000 BMW 540i Touring on eBay

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Feature Listing: 2003 BMW 540i M-Sport

Published November 8, 2014 by Paul

The E39 BMW 5 series. Few mid-sized luxury sedans have come as close to perfection as this car. Handsome styling and a great balance between performance and luxury were these cars’ hallmarks and to this day, you still see plenty of them on the road, racking up significant amounts of miles. There was a plethora of models available to even US customers in both sedan and Touring guise, but it was the V8 engined sedans, particularly the M5 that captured the attention of enthusiasts. While not an M5, this 540i M-sport that comes to us from our reader Jagjit carried a lot of the cues people loved about the M version of the E39.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2003 BMW 540i M-Sport on eBay

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Sacrilegious or Spectacular? 1999 BMW 540i 6-speed LS1

Published November 4, 2014 by Carter

Another week, and another opportunity to highlight a car that will tick off the purists; but this one is pretty unique! While most LSx swaps start with a car that didn’t originally come with a V8, today’s BMW 540i originally had just that; the M62 4.4 liter V8 with 280 horsepower is gone, replaced by a modified LS1/LS6 hybrid with a T56 transmission. Of course, you’d never know that unless you looked under the hood – or provoked the driver to hit the loud pedal:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1999 BMW 540i LS1 on eBay

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