1998 BMW 540i V8 Manual

I'd have the BM in manual any day over the big Audi. Sorry Paddy

Darren congrats on a great car ,I had the E34 4 litre 6 speed manual good cars all round, bit heavy for the twistys but stil a good perfromer none the less.

I did this to pep her up & it did make the car a goer, 1st of all you can buy a diff from a 1991 750iL BMW, you will have to change the Prop flange & thats it ,it will then bolt straight up in there.
Its a LSD Diff but the beauty of it is the ratio is 3.15 instead of the 2.94 that is in yours, this just gets you off the line that tad bit quicker , as far as the revs goes it will rev approx 600rpm more so instead of say 2100rpm at 80 you'll be 2700rpm so MPG is not to affected . people reading this may think Pah why worry about MPG in a 4.4 litre well these will give you just over 30mpg at 80 all day long!!

After the diff you then open up the front of the standard airbox, if you take the box out you can actually dismantle the front secrion which will give you roughly a oblong air entry of 2.5" high x 5" long & then fit a K&N panel filter & listen to that V8 burble. Then the exhaust, a nice stainless system can be bought & fitted for about £300, I think you have to change the gear lever for a short throw one as well,as the throw on these boxs are a joke for quick changes , do this when the diff is being fitted as you have to take the prop off to get to the gear lever to fit. After this contact E Maps to re map the car & then you have something that not only sounds as good as any Alfa ever has but will take off like cat with its balls on fire! I have a M3 evo ehich goes quite well ,the 540 obviously will not stay with it from standstil at all but I know that if I was in my M3 next to you at 80mph & we both dropped from 6th gear to 4the gear & nailed it that the M3 would lose up to 120ish , the mid range on a sorted 540 maual will embaress most cars except the V8 M5 ofcourse but then look at the money a 540 has set you back against say my 98 M3 Evo will almost double well done Darren here's my old 540
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k6...ch-1/side4.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k6.../NewImage6.jpg

Originally Posted by bobster

Darren congrats on a great car...

Bobster, the sale went belly-up - i.e. no new car for Darren yet....

What the Irishman said,

Darren - I was thinking about slapping a bid down on this mofo

But I'm not anymore, so here's the link, its reasonably local to you and might not go for megabucks:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=002

Yeah I saw that one mate, looks like a tatty old sack of hammers to me,



There is however a nice blue one for sale that I'm currently the high bidder on. It's a 1997 Manual with FBMWSH and only 86K on the clock, he's asking £3000, which for the mileage and condition is fantastic.

But if you buy it, there'll be no Chimaera in January..

£3k is a good price, if you can knock him down to £2500 then go and get it. Where in the country is it (promise I won't buy it from under your nose this time )

My max bid is only £2500 Dan anyway so I won't get it, I'm after a Chim in Jan as you say so won't be looking for cars until around December / January.

Here's the link in case you wanted to smack a bid down:
1997 BMW 540I BLUE - eBay (item 160232050813 end time Apr-27-08 05:04:47 PDT)

It looks great.

Apparently the phone doesn't work though, oh well,

Can't say I'm keen, with the colour, the leather, the trim, it doesn't look sporty or cool in the slightest. I really think you'd have to get one in black or one with the M-Sport bodykit on for it to look cool.

You aint wrong kid, It'll still be quick, but it looks like something my grandad would drive.

Looks like blancmange mould, oi darren whats wrong with Grandads cheeky sod
chimeras will keep you awake OK as they dont handle at all,Ok they sound great but most of the time the electrics on them make a Maserati's Elecs look futuristic!!

Get a nice Ghibli, they sound great , they go well ,OK not as quick off the mark as the TVR but at least you'll make around the 1st few twisty bits ,so it'll be quicker & they are rare. OK my proof how rare Darren ,true story : I went into one of those Mota man shops some Spark plugs ,I asked the young fella behind the counter for 6 NGK spark plugs for a Maserati Ghibli GT ,after leafing through his parts catalogue he asked in an all knowing manner "Is the Maserati made by Nissan or Toyota" Lol I managed to stop myself from falling over (quite an achievement darren when your a grandad you know) & smiled at him & said I'll leave it I think.

Originally Posted by bobster

Looks like blancmange mould, oi darren whats wrong with Grandads cheeky sod
chimeras will keep you awake OK as they dont handle at all,Ok they sound great but most of the time the electrics on them make a Maserati's Elecs look futuristic!!

Get a nice Ghibli, they sound great , they go well ,OK not as quick off the mark as the TVR but at least you'll make around the 1st few twisty bits ,so it'll be quicker & they are rare. OK my proof how rare Darren ,true story : I went into one of those Mota man shops some Spark plugs ,I asked the young fella behind the counter for 6 NGK spark plugs for a Maserati Ghibli GT ,after leafing through his parts catalogue he asked in an all knowing manner "Is the Maserati made by Nissan or Toyota" Lol I managed to stop myself from falling over (quite an achievement darren when your a grandad you know) & smiled at him & said I'll leave it I think.

I actually thought my TVR handled very well. As long as you don't do something silly like nail the throttle on a wet roundabout they do handle. Remember the Chassis was derived from the Tuscan race car, and have double wishbone suspension with coilovers all round. They are also light..

Originally Posted by Darren156

You aint wrong kid, It'll still be quick, but it looks like something my grandad would drive.

Your Grandad's a motorhead as well as you ?

When MY grandad was born there weren't any cars.....
Well almost none -1898 you see

Originally Posted by bobster

Looks like blancmange mould, oi darren whats wrong with Grandads cheeky sod
chimeras will keep you awake OK as they dont handle at all,Ok they sound great but most of the time the electrics on them make a Maserati's Elecs look futuristic!!

Get a nice Ghibli, they sound great , they go well ,OK not as quick off the mark as the TVR but at least you'll make around the 1st few twisty bits ,so it'll be quicker & they are rare. OK my proof how rare Darren ,true story : I went into one of those Mota man shops some Spark plugs ,I asked the young fella behind the counter for 6 NGK spark plugs for a Maserati Ghibli GT ,after leafing through his parts catalogue he asked in an all knowing manner "Is the Maserati made by Nissan or Toyota" Lol I managed to stop myself from falling over (quite an achievement darren when your a grandad you know) & smiled at him & said I'll leave it I think.

Problem with rare cars is that, as you mentioned, no one knows what parts are required should anything go wrong,

I think I'll stick with the Chimaera, but thank you for the advice.

Originally Posted by symonh2000

I actually thought my TVR handled very well. As long as you don't do something silly like nail the throttle on a wet roundabout they do handle. Remember the Chassis was derived from the Tuscan race car, and have double wishbone suspension with coilovers all round. They are also light..

I thought both the Chim and the Griff were supposed to be pretty good at handling, comparable with the Fiat Coupe even, which I found great

Originally Posted by jason156

Your Grandad's a motorhead as well as you ?

When MY grandad was born there weren't any cars.....
Well almost none -1898 you see

My Grandads have sadly both passed on, but I don't think either of them were into cars as much as me and my Dad.

1898?! Crikey, thats a while back...

Originally Posted by Darren156

My Grandads have sadly both passed on, but I don't think either of them were into cars as much as me and my Dad.

1898?! Crikey, thats a while back...

1898 was a long time ago......
He didn't get married 'till he was 40, then had 5 kids.....
He died when I was 13, and I'm nearly 39
Its strange to think of all he saw happen, 2 wars, the titanic sinking, aeroplanes, cars, trains, all developed (not invented) during his lifetime, and he never drove a car, so a 4.0 BMW can't be a grandads car

Originally Posted by Darren156

I thought both the Chim and the Griff were supposed to be pretty good at handling, comparable with the Fiat Coupe even, which I found great :confused

They handle much better than the Fiat Coupe.

They are lighter, lower, have bigger tyres, all round double wishbones and have better weight distribution. As well as RWD.

Just watch it in the wet. Even with new Bridgestones mine would spin the rear wheels at 120 leptons in the wet.

But thats more to do with the torque than the chassis.

Well OK it handles a lot beter than ANY front wheel drive car granted , I'm not a fan of F/d coming out of fast bends etc. I am putting the TVR against a Ghibli GT, a maserati 430 ,a Twinturbo jag chasseur ,that was a heavy car but the suspension & geometry was sorted out by Baileys ,that car was superb & for its weight on par with the others IMO.

Against these a TVR is (I feel)is a bit twitchy, especially into a fast sweeping bend at over 100mph.

I had this exact experience with a freind a few years back ,he was in a tuscan( lovely violet & what a sound when its being gunned )& I was in my 430 (Tuned Masser) we were hittng over 140 & I was right behind him as safe as poss on an empty road in S\France, he had dropped 2 gears & basically tried everything to get away from me but he could not ,having said that I could not have actually passed him either , up comes this long sweeping bend & we are down to about 110mph & he just went from one lane to the next ,i thought it was the start of a fishtail so i backed off as quick as poss .
Pulled over & asked what had happened & he said " the steering was so direct that he had a job to correct it" he was pretty shaken up .

As far as parts go for maserati's darren ,not a problem at all .......apart from they cost 3-4 times more than they are worth

Anyway I am biased , I hope you find a nice TVR & enjoy it darren

Bob, a few points to post I'd like to comment on:

Firstly, as much as you may like the car, the Ghibli has nothing on looks over the Chimaera, in my personal opinion the Ghibli looks quite boxy and not dissimilar to an old 164 . Sorry

Also, as much as I enjoy a 'spirited' drive, I doubt very much on my commutes to work and jaunts at the weekend I'll be taking any 'sweeping bends' at 100MPH, although maybe it's something I'll start doing for a laugh in the Chim perhaps?

Driving through the south of France and racing against my mate in an equally quick sports car is not being foresaw in my future plans, although, once again, maybe it's something I can work on?

I understand you like Massers, but I've always been a TVR man, ever since my dad taught me about them many moons ago, they are cracking performance sports cars that'll keep up with the best of 'em, at a fraction of the cost. Although, maybe there is a reason for that? I guess I'll find out when I get the chim.

I have heard quite a few tales of woe in regards to TVR's losing control, but like from your story above, I think if you are going at 110MPH on a public road (No matter what country) then there's a higher chance of losing control.

Also, the guy with the Tuscan was doing everything to get away from you? He doesn't sound like the safest of drivers to me.

Then again, he who lives in a glass house,

But thanks for your advice and all anyway Bob.

Originally Posted by Darren156

Bob, a few points to post I'd like to comment on:
Darren dont know how I missed this

Firstly, as much as you may like the car, the Ghibli has nothing on looks over the Chimaera, in my personal opinion the Ghibli looks quite boxy and not dissimilar to an old 164 . Sorry

No, your right the looks of a ghibli are an "aquired taste" in fact they are almost odd ,but you sort of forget that when they get going

Also, as much as I enjoy a 'spirited' drive, I doubt very much on my commutes to work and jaunts at the weekend I'll be taking any 'sweeping bends' at 100MPH, although maybe it's something I'll start doing for a laugh in the Chim perhaps?

Lol you may well darren it can be a bit addictive with that glorious V8 barking at you

Driving through the south of France and racing against my mate in an equally quick sports car is not being foresaw in my future plans, although, once again, maybe it's something I can work on?

I understand you like Massers, but I've always been a TVR man, ever since my dad taught me about them many moons ago, they are cracking performance sports cars that'll keep up with the best of 'em, at a fraction of the cost. Although, maybe there is a reason for that? I guess I'll find out when I get the chim.

Well both the TVR & Masser( older ones as mine) are just above a kit car regading the parts LOL

I have heard quite a few tales of woe in regards to TVR's losing control, but like from your story above, I think if you are going at 110MPH on a public road (No matter what country) then there's a higher chance of losing control.

Mmmm well they can give you a surprise coming out of a wet bend at lowish speeds as the M3 can so it takes some precision use of the throttle in these circumstances, all good fun though.

Also, the guy with the Tuscan was doing everything to get away from you? He doesn't sound like the safest of drivers to me.

Well I do think that he was a bit irked at how he just could not make any impact on the distance at all that & the fact that he paid about three times as much I did for the ghibli GT.......

Then again, he who lives in a glass house,

All of us

But thanks for your advice and all anyway Bob.

Darren hope you get the car you want & its a good un