1998 BMW 540i V8 Manual

Hey Gang,

As a few of you may know I am hopefully collecting my new car on Saturday; A 1998 BMW 540i Manual V8.

Personally, I'm very excited, it will be my first venture into the world of not only V8 ownership but also RWD ownership!

The car has full BMW history, has 141,000 miles on the clock, and is MOT'd until December this year. No tax though. Oh well,

It's black with cream leather interior, comes with M-Tech suspension, a 6 speed manual gear box, 17" multi spoke BMW alloy wheels, and all the other gadgets big engined BMW's usually came with, like a gazillion cup holders,

I'm paying £2200 for the car which in my opinion is pretty decent considering that other similar mileage cars seemed to be asking prices of £3500+ They weren't selling for that, that's just what owners wanted for them,

Not got many pictures at the moment but hopefully I'll be uploading a bunch of them for your perusal on Saturday once I return home with the car.

I know what some of you may be thinking; 'But Darren! The 156, isn't it a keeper?!', and the answer to that is 'Sort of', I'm giving it to my other half Lisa so that she can be slung into the world of Alfa ownership for a while, but I'll still be insured on it and driving it alot, rest assured!!!

She's selling her car to her brother and if I'm lucky I might see some of that cash, or maybe I'll see it in the form of loads of handbags and shoes instead. And not for me!

So, shall we enter another chapter into my life with many cars? Yeah, might as well!

My turn to the dark side of BMW will probably have alot of people disinterested in this post, but then if that's the case you probably haven't read this far anyway,

Keep you updated!
Darren

Proper car, proper engine. No more to be said really, but best of luck with it

Thought you where getting a Merc??

Originally Posted by Damien_C

Thought you where getting a Merc??

That fell through (fortunately!)

Originally Posted by Pud237

That fell through (fortunately!)

I see.

Originally Posted by Damien_C

Thought you where getting a Merc??

Yeah, the bloke with the Merc said he didn't want to sell it at the price I won it for on eBay. I'm sure those aren't the rules of eBay, but whatever,

The Beemer is a great car you will love it.

Just remember that it Does have indicators though.

Nice buy Darren, I've personally been more of a fan of the 6 cylinder BMW's, so I'll be curious to hear your views on the V8.
When I have some spare cash, I'll be buying an Audi A8 for some weekend comfort - always liked them, and also cheap as chips nowadays.




Will it drift?

Originally Posted by symonh2000

The Beemer is a great car you will love it.

Just remember that it Does have indicators though.

Do they though? I thought indicators on BMW's came as an optional extra,

Cheers mate! Your 156 is going to a good home in the form of my missus, so it'll be in good hands. And I know I'll still drive it,

Originally Posted by Paddy2bsure

Nice buy Darren, I've personally been more of a fan of the 6 cylinder BMW's, so I'll be curious to hear your views on the V8.
When I have some spare cash, I'll be buying an Audi A8 for some weekend comfort - always liked them, and also cheap as chips nowadays.

Will it drift?

Just take a look on You Tube,


The Audi A8's are brilliant, I like the 90's 4.2 A8, nice engine in those.

Originally Posted by Darren156

Do they though? I thought indicators on BMW's came as an optional extra,

Cheers mate! Your 156 is going to a good home in the form of my missus, so it'll be in good hands. And I know I'll still drive it,



Just take a look on You Tube,


The Audi A8's are brilliant, I like the 90's 4.2 A8, nice engine in those.

A guy I used to work with owned a 4.2 A8, and the engine blew for no apparent reason at 60,000 miles. It cost him £8000 to get it fixed. Ouch!!!

Apparently Audi V8's are not exactly bullet proof.

Oh right, maybe they are crap after all then,

As long as my Beamer V8 stays alright I'm sorted!

BMW e34 or e39 540i? (older shape or newer looking?)

excellent engines though, you'll love it I'm sure. Fuel consumption is not its strong point though.

Nice one, let me know how it is and BE CAREFUL even in the 2.0 diesel Coupe I had for a weekend the back end stepped out under what I would have called 'normal driving' road was wet quite a tight steep right hand turn on a country road and took it at fairly normal speed but apply a bit too mucb right foot and the whole thing just went, luckily I caught it but imagine that with a dirty V8.

So, enjoy it but PLEASE BE CAREFUL.



Sean

Originally Posted by Darren156

Yeah, the bloke with the Merc said he didn't want to sell it at the price I won it for on eBay. I'm sure those aren't the rules of eBay, but whatever,

What a twit. Era the beemer is a better car and you'll be fine, it doesn't have an LSD so the inside wheel will be spining like a blomonge soaked in soggy fluid.

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

Nice one, let me know how it is and BE CAREFUL even in the 2.0 diesel Coupe I had for a weekend the back end stepped out under what I would have called 'normal driving' road was wet quite a tight steep right hand turn on a country road and took it at fairly normal speed but apply a bit too mucb right foot and the whole thing just went, luckily I caught it but imagine that with a dirty V8.

So, enjoy it but PLEASE BE CAREFUL.



Sean

Thanks mate. I will definitely have to be careful as this is my first RWD car, I'll have to take it damn steady else the sucker will end up in the nearest hedge,

Originally Posted by Damien_C

What a twit. Era the beemer is a better car and you'll be fine, it doesn't have an LSD so the inside wheel will be spining like a blomonge soaked in soggy fluid.

Promises, promises!!!

You will be fine with the RWD, just leave the traction control on for the time being..

My first RWD car was my TVR but I survived. I had a few scary moments on the way to learning RWD handling though.

Cheers Simon!

Just be careful coming off wet roundabouts, and turning into junctions. Its usually when you are concentrating on something else, such as other traffic it can catch you out.

The Beemers are pretty predictable in the way they let go though and you have to be quite deliberate to unstick the back end.

My Nissan was fun as well and a lot easier to control a slide with than the TVR.

Yeah I'll try to be Si, I am pretty careful in the wet at all times anyway, but will have to hone that in even more as from tomorrow.

Cheers mate.

Originally Posted by Darren156

Yeah I'll try to be Si, I am pretty careful in the wet at all times anyway, but will have to hone that in even more as from tomorrow.

Cheers mate.

I hope it all turns out ok for you and its a good un'..