Limited Budget? Here's a way to enjoy two fast German-made cars without selling the house!!
Our first candidate is a 1976 BMW 53Oi, a Fast, comfortable and spacious sports sedan. This was the first car that BMW designed specifically fow the U.S. market. The weak point in these cars is the thermal reactors: BMW installed them in the 530s, in conjunction with an air injection pump, so they could use leaded gasoline and still meet the pollution standards of the time. Unfortunately, they generated so much heat that cylinder heads had a tendency to crack. Once the reactors and air pump are made inoperative, the engine heat level returns to normal. Our 530i also has a later style head with improved water passages, compliments of the previous owner.
Throughout the years, gradual, sensible (and affordable) improvements have been made in and out: a JVC stereo system with Kenwood speakers was one of the first; a Momo/Alpina steering wheel; extra gauges with matching illumination. On the outside, the original steel wheels were substituted with a set of Rikens shod with Dunlop D60 A2s. A Ronal spoiler and Lucas fog lights were also added. In 1994 the four speed transmission was swapped with a five speed from a 1980 528i. At 60 mph, the
n this day and age of constant sticker shock, ever-increasing automobile prices and roads filled with indistinct econoboxes, What is an auto enthusiast of modest means to do? A
second mortgage or dipping into the kids' college Fund readily come to mind, but that is not exactly the approach we want to take.
Through the power of depreciation, it is possible for a person of moderate means to drive and enjoy some of Germany's best offerings. Granted, these cars are not showroom-new, but given their timeless lines, most people on the street won't know the difference.
Since our prospects will be daily drivers, and not collectibles sitting in a heated garage, the word reliability immediately moves to the top of the list. Before putting these cars on the road, however, a full service was performed. Any part that was deemed questionable was replaced. From that point on, a strict maintenance schedule has been followed. To this, date a total of almost 300,000 miles of trouble-free service has been logged by our vehicles.
ROUNDEL, FEBRUARY 1998
