Discussion
They are different cars, but it depends what you want. The e35 5 is a great car in any engine guise. I would not get a 530 which has two engine variants one a 6 and the other an v8. The reason being the 6 cylinder is more jucy then a 525, but offers no better performance and the v8 has the same running cost as a 540 without the performance. If you can get it get a 525isport which are difficult to find, but come with leather a/c and full M5 body kit and the 192BHP engine is frugal and you will get up to 30MPG or a 540. They are becoming very cheap now and offer m5 performance with 286BHP and will give you 22MPG. These cars never brake and we have had a 530 for 10 years that has gone to the moon and back and it still is as reliable as ever even if it is getting a little tired. The 325i touring is again a good car, but is difficult to drive in the wet due to it's rear end. The e34 5 is solid unless you are completly gungho with the loud pedal
Being biased, I know, but I'd agree that a 540i is a lot of fun for the money. Even the auto's not bad, and the first three ratios in that are quite close making the 0-60 and 0-100 times pretty respectable for such a barge. 0-60 in less than 7s and a top end of 155 isn't bad. Paid three grand for mine, although it needs a few bits sorting now I've put 7000 miles on it in three months. I'm getting around 24mpg out of mine too.
Personally I'd go for the E30 M3 - you can find a clean one with full service history and one that hasn't been tracked for around 8-9K.. and if you look after it you won't loose much on it when you come to sell. From experience it is one the most enjoyable and balanced cars I have ever driven.
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