Test drive BMW 5 Episode E39 1995 - 2000 sedan

BMW 525i

$15.000
Someone smart said that a man is interesting if he has a future, and a woman - if she has a past. If so, then the old five BMW can be attributed to the female sex. This lady has such a past! Well, very stormy. She walked in her youth to glory
Armored carrier of the criminal revolution
One of the gangster authorities of America from the Dilling Law - Dillinger, - being in prison, wrote no, not a petition for pardon, but a letter addressed to Henry Ford where he expressed great gratitude for the Ford A car, which for many years saved him, Dillinger, from police chases. Say, there would be any other brand, would fall into the clutches of cops much earlier.
If one of the Russian brothers had come to my mind to write something similar - at the call of the heart or just, it’s pure to joke - probably, BMW, the head of the company BMW, would be chosen as the addressee. And they would thank him for the legendary old five BMW with the E34 body, produced from 1988 to 1996. It was she who, in the time of the developed post -perestroika, was the best combat vehicle of the emerged Russian mafia.
Why is she, not the other? The reasons are simple. Powerful, strong, reliable. And at the same time cheap. As those who know a lot about steep cars recall, the cheapest of the decent stolen. In the 92nd year, a slightly used 525th with body numbers interrupted in Poland could be bought in Moscow for $ 10-15 thousand. Funny money, given its running qualities and that it was new in Germany, then cost about $ 39 thousand .
Times change. Cashmere coat has gone the past (sometimes, it happened, thrown over the tracksuits of Adidas). And the toilet chains with a massive cross on shaved necks - even they leave. And the park of combat vehicles is not the same. Now they go into the light on huge jeeps, and if they transport drugs and weapons, then on tattered Lada, so as not to stand out from the stream. The old five BMW is now on a well -deserved rest. Now nine cut it without fear of getting a baseball bat on the windshield. She is no longer terrible.
Flame motor
The car is good for everyone, and first of all - the engine. It was the 2.5-liter M50 gasoline engine, which, since the end of 1989, began to equip the five BMW, made this car of the same 525th both by passport (5th episode, 25 means 2.5 l) and in running qualities) And reliability.
The M50 is one of the few engines of that time that can fully work on very impoverished mixtures. Here for each cylinder of 4 valves, and each cylinder has its own ignition coil that can give out 40 thousand volts. This mainly ensures a good combustion of the mixture with a minimum, if not insignificant, the content of gasoline, hence the stable work in all modes, and an enviable efficiency for its class.
True, the owners of the 525s, released before 1992, complain that the car demonstrates the redness due to it only after 3-4 thousand about/min., Therefore, you have to constantly keep it in a slightly inflated state. No, this is not because of age, aging and wear have nothing to do with it. This is an innate feature of the first generation of M50 engines - a slight challenity of power characteristics and torque. Since 1992, the M50 began to be equipped with the Vanos control system, which opens the valve early, and everything has returned to normal: the Vanos machines have been developing a large torque at low speeds, somewhere around 2 thousand, and these machines are clearly more dynamic.
Gasoline engines owners of 525 do not create special problems. The only weak place M50 is a pump. She usually walks 30-40 thousand km, but, sometimes, breaks earlier. Replacing it at a good technical station costs about $ 65.
But the owners of turbodiesel machines have 525TD and 525TDS (with intercooler) - a more trouble with an engine. Quite often, high -pressure fuel pump (TNVD) breaks. It is not classic for most diesel engines, not plunger, but centrifugal, stuffed with electronics, which painfully reacts to low -quality fuel. Water in diesel fuel (and where is the guarantee at our gas station?) Quickly disables electronics. Repair flies into a solid penny: about $ 1.4 thousand per new TNVD plus $ 195 per replacement. This is not for you to change the pump
The cause of BMW diseases is two Russian troubles
Almost all characteristic of the 525th disease are due to our Russian specificity. Firstly, we have to drive quietly on this car simply indecent. Press all the money. Secondly, where are they crushing? On our, if I may say so, roads. Like, BMW will endure everything. She really endures. For the time being.
There are no problems with manual checkpoints. Everything is iron here. But with a machine gun - there are. Especially if in winter to slip in snowdrifts in Drive mode. The machine is burning. But this, as a rule, is one who does not know that the machine also has low modes. He punishes himself for $ 3.6-3.8 thousand per new (we take cars 1990-1992. Production as the most common with us) and $ 195 for replacement.
Particularly zealous riders sooner or later make problems with the suspension. No matter how strong the five is, our potholes are stronger.
Shock absorbers fly, and you have to change them for about $ 350 - in a circle. Then comes the turn of the front suspension levers. As a rule, the lower ones. The replacement is poured in $ 100.
A lot of things fly, say? No, this is not much. In addition, practically nothing flies. Well, for trifles. Other problems have more problems
The car is not cheap, as we see. She is expensive and the same that few of the garage craftsmen take her on the knee, and few of the owners trust her with the garage kulibin. And on an authorized technical station, be kind - $ 40-50 per hour for a high culture of service.
Nevertheless, this car, according to the owners, is worth it to spend money on it. By the way, at one time she was appreciated not only by the lads, but also by the police. The first 525th that appeared in Russia did not go to the mafia, but the traffic police special department as escort machines. Their brothers have already been deducted by retirement, but the police did not. They still go as it should and who needs to be accompanied. Interestingly, for so many years, at least one policeman thought of writing a letter of thanks to the BMW?
BMW 525i
Engine operating volume (cubic cub) 2494
Power (L.S. at about./Min.) 192 at 5900
Maximum speed (km/h) 230
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 8.6
Fuel consumption (l/100km)
90 km/h 6.8
120 km/h 8.2
city cycle 12.1

Prices for BMW 525i cars (E34 body) in Moscow
Year of release from ads by ads
1990-92 $ 20-24.6 thousand $ 12.5-19 thousand.
1993 $ 23.6-25.5 thousand $ 18-24 thousand.
1994 $ 25.5-26.5 thousand $ 22-24.5 thousand.
1995 $ 26-28 thousand $ 23-25.5 thousand.

Prices for spare parts and consumables
At the adversary dealers
Brake pads per./Ass. $ 110/90 $ 65-70/55-60
Oil filter $ 10-11 $ 9-10
Air filter $ 28-30 $ 22-25
Fuel filter $ 36 $ 22-25
Fuel pump $ 300 $ 200-250
Shock absorbers (new)
front $ 165-195 -
the rear $ 165 -
Suspension levers (apiece)
steel (until 1992) $ 130 $ 85-100
aluminum (after 1992) $ 195 $ 150-170
Pomp $ 78-84 $ 50-7
 
Andrey Bakuta, Sergey Sorokin, Alexey Ilyin (photo)
 

Source: "Autopilot"