MyE28.com DEV

I came across some publications in my collection of old junk, and thought these two e28-centric items may be of interest. Links are to PDFs on my Google Drive.


• A test of the new 533i from the April 1983 issue of Roundel

• "Ultra Buy #5: BMW M5" from the October 1999 issue of European Car.

[EDIT: Fixed permissions issue. Should be accessible now].

Thanks for posting.

turbodan wrote: Jun 02, 2024 6:27 PM Thanks for posting.

No problem! I'm cleaning out the garage, so, there will probably be more. I'll edit the original post and bump the thread with anything new.

It's interesting how the 533i was the fastest sedan available at the time, but its 0-60 time can probably be beat by most minivans today.

stuartinmn wrote: Jun 02, 2024 11:58 PM It's interesting how the 533i was the fastest sedan available at the time, but its 0-60 time can probably be beat by most minivans today.

I saw HP numbers on a new Honda Civic, higher than the E28 M5...

stuartinmn wrote: Jun 02, 2024 11:58 PM It's interesting how the 533i was the fastest sedan available at the time, but its 0-60 time can probably be beat by most minivans today.

my M5 (now fairly stock) will absolutely be annihilated by any recent-ish minivan. ask me how i know. :/

I don't think too much about my car's lack of horsepower compared to today's cars - it feels quick, and that's more important than actually being quick.

All you guys whining about how slow your M30 rocketships are......I'm over here with a 524TD slushbox!

stuartinmn wrote: Jun 03, 2024 2:56 PM I don't think too much about my car's lack of horsepower compared to today's cars - it feels quick, and that's more important than actually being quick.

nope, me either. if i wanted fast, i'd go buy one of those new minivans... but i don't.

Looking over the notes on the 533 I'm struck by the MPG. Now the original of 19/31 is unreasonably high on the highway. But taking it down to the "new" listing of 15/22 is a bit low on the highway, but way low on city. Even on my newer stuff, like say the E36, it shows 17/26 and in ~135K miles I've never seen below 23, calculated, not OBC. I'm sure part of it is BMWs fault and how they spec testing procedures, but jeez, I really don't know how they get those numbers, well, unless maybe they don't shift until redline and never get out of third gear.

I've had 30mpg ratings on occasion with my car, but it has a 3.07 differential ratio plus it was when driving on I-35 across Iowa...cruise control set at a steady 70mph, on terrain flat as a pancake.

stuartinmn wrote: Jun 06, 2024 5:26 PM I've had 30mpg ratings on occasion with my car, but it has a 3.07 differential ratio plus it was when driving on I-35 across Iowa...cruise control set at a steady 70mph, on terrain flat as a pancake.

Would that be a Euro with a dogleg or you just like tall gears? High compression should get you better MPG but at the cost of premium gas.

Yes, it's an M535i with a high compression motor. It originally had a dogleg transmission (hence the 3.07 ratio) but the previous owner replaced it with a G265 w/overdrive when he had transmission issues. So, it is kind of optimized for highway cruising, but at the cost of having to use premium gas.

Thanks for sharing!