Here’s another hot BMW I’d like to own; a 1995 BMW 540i. And this one is not your run-o’-the-mill 540… This one’s got a 6-speed manual transmission!
The E34 — also known as the 5-series — was built from 1987 to 1996. I actually like body style of the 533 (of the E28 variety) I wrote about last week better than the E34, but I could live with this one. The E28 has truly classic lines — it screams BMW with a front end that mimics the 6-series coupes — but the E34 is a fine looking car in its own way, sporting classic lines that belie its age. The 6-speed makes it very desirable, and a bit rare. According to Wikipedia, “Only 1357 examples of the 95 540i 6spd were produced” and sold in North America. I don’t know if it’d be considered a collector item, but it is one rare bird. That combined with the 286 hp/295 ft·lb 4.4L V8 would make this a fun ride.
As appealing as buying an older BMW is to me, another attractive feature of this one is that it was built after 1994; prior to that date vehicle air conditioning systems used R12 refrigerant, which can be expensive to return to working order after things go wrong. I’ve converted two vehicles to R134, neither conversion yielded wonderful results, and I’d really rather not go that route again.
This particular 540i is located in Colorado Springs; a mere 12 hour drive for me. But for a 13 year old car with 112,000 miles and an engine/transmission combination like this… All for under $6,000? I dunno. If it weren’t for that little obstacle in the shape of a dollar sign, as in I don’t have it, I’d be there. Unfortunately, it’s probably already sold. Or it ought to be.
