Ownership Verified: Snow White grew old and fat

Polkky

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
757
Location
Finland
Car(s)
Eunos Roadster 1991, Renault Clio 2014
Due to personal economy crisis I had to sell the E81. It was a good time to sell it since it had only moderate mileage and was still worth something. In any case I was really sad to let it go as every drive in it was so much fun: it was like an overgrown go-kart.

I've been on the lookout for a cheaper car for a while now. First it was a Kia, then a Fiesta, then a Golf, but somehow none of them just felt right. They were too expensive for what they had to offer and worst of all, they were FWD.

Early on, frankiess and public tried talking me into this white E34 that most of the people on FG might be familiar with. At first I turned the offer down because the rear seats wouldn't fold and I tend to carry my snowboard or mountain bike with me, but soon a chain of events happened and all this was forgotten.

I dislocated my shoulder around New Year's which in turn led to a long sickleave and a long break from sports. This fact, RWD, the known history of the car, excellent overall condition and cheap asking price all added up to overrun the lack of folding seats. Before I noticed, I was sitting in a train heading up north to public's turf in the part of Finland where the sun doesn't shine, polar bears live and business transactions are dealt with squirrel skins.

I transferred a few of these skins to public's account and started my drive home in a massive 5-series without any sort of ESP whatsoever. It was exciting. Here she is all frozen after the first night at the new home:

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Some stickers were already there:

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And I also added my own touch:

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The hood opens the wrong way, because Germany. Also, both rear pillars have their own interior light, because Germany.

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Mug holders? Where were going, we don't need no mug holders.

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It's rolled 253 thousand kms now but feels mostly like new. There's a squeak here and a rattle there when driving, but everything works. The only thing I'm suspicious about is the steering. Can it really be that bad without anything to do for it? There's too much slack for my liking. At the moment I've got quite mixed feelings about things related to the car. Mostly because I miss my E81 so much and I'm pissed off at my work because it led to this.

Yes yes, it's mine.

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I would've preferred "Great White" :p

The steering, I've found, just takes its time to get used to. It's also a possibility it's loosened a bit after the tightening job performed on it a year ago in November, so if you know anybody who can tighten the rack you can experiment on it. Also, the squeaks are probably more related to the freezing weather.

Take good care of it, will you :)
 
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I would've preferred "Great White" :p

The steering, I've found, just takes its time to get used to. It's also a possibility it's loosened a bit after the tightening job performed on it a year ago in November, so if you know anybody who can tighten the rack you can experiment on it. Also, the squeaks are probably more related to the freezing weather.

Take good care of it, will you :)

I will, of course :) It's a nice car and it feels like it would be doing all it could to make me enjoy the ride. I respect that. I'll ask around about the steering, it's the first (and only at the moment) thing I want checked.
 
Nice to know it is in good hands. :thumbsup:
 
I will, of course :) It's a nice car and it feels like it would be doing all it could to make me enjoy the ride. I respect that. I'll ask around about the steering, it's the first (and only at the moment) thing I want checked.

replace all steering linkage components if public didn't already do that, loots of ball joint and bushing slack to be had there. then, and only then should you adjust the steering box. here is for example my idler arm bushing being completely loose.
 
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Having driven the car few times I've really grown to like it's solidness (current temperature might affect to that, but above zero celsius it feels like a one block of Bavarian car), and it's great to see the E34 continuing it's stay among FinalGear :)
 
Somehow this just looks so right in white. What better way to buy an older used car though when the whole forum knows exactly all the work that has gone into it and what it is like in general. Fantastic!
 
Another FG transfer. Starting to get quite a few of these. This is great.

This! It's interesting to see how different owners have different experiences with the same car.
 
It's hard to believe this car was intended to be a serious business machine, it's so tail happy :lol: Unlike the E81, this isn't trying to kill you immediately if you're not careful.
 
Well, it used to be that BMW were less serious about being serious.
 
How that car looks so good after that many kms and in a place that has lots of snow on the roads is beyond me. Nice buy, when are you going to let us know about all the stupid stuff that the previous owner did? :p
 
The car spent its early days way up north where they don't ruin the roads with salt. That's why there's only very little rust available anywhere and the mechanics work because of long commutes instead of start-stop traffic.

AFAIK the previous owner treated this admirably well :p
 
It's hard to believe this car was intended to be a serious business machine, it's so tail happy :lol: Unlike the E81, this isn't trying to kill you immediately if you're not careful.

BMW has long history of keeping the characteristics of the same model range similar. 3 series (as well as 1 series it seems) have always required good reflexes for maintaining control, while 5 series are much more wafty, even when drifting around. I'm one for the former, but I can't blame people for finding it a bit tiring for daily driver. :D
 
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