Re: E34's FOREVER!

[John Edward Miller <jem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Joe Mazza wrote:
> ".....There is considerable discussion about whether the E39 is a worthy
> successor to the E34.  The jury is still out.  Many people, myself
> included, think the E39's styling is boring (at best) and the initial
> quality seems to be well below that of the bulletproof E34 standard..."
> 
> Joe- I beg to differ, respectfully.  My wife and I fully intended to
> purchase an E34 this past Fall, and we tested several '95s- 525i, 530i,
> 530iT.  They were great cars.  Then my wife and I tested an E39, and we
> couldn't believe the improvement.  We even went back to test another E34
> to verify what we had experienced.

For what it's worth, I could never bring myself to buy an E34.  I looked at
several - 535s, 540s, M5s, etc. but, as solid as they were, I found the
interior generally not to my taste and the back seat just too cramped.  The
first time I looked at a E39 540i 6-speed it was truly 'Eureka!'.  

The E39 is a very smooth shape - a little chunky in rear 3/4 view but
overall an improvement over the E34 - but looks matter not a lot to me and
IMO the best-looking BMW ever built (M1 aside) is still the E3
Bavaria/3.0/2500/2800.   

John.

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