The E34-chassis BMW 5-Series exists in a strange place. It's not old enough to be a classic, but too old to be considered a used car. This 5er isn't as beloved as its successor, the E39, either, but none of this means the car is without its merits.

The E34 5-Series hit the market in 1988, making it the last car BMW launched during that decade, but you could easily mistake it for being a child of the 1990s. In German tradition, few expenses were spared in the E34's development, with over 120 prototypes and over 500 pre-production cars built. This generation brought a number of firsts to the 5-Series platform, including all-wheel-drive, V8 engines, and a glorious wagon variant, dubbed the touring.

Perhaps the problem with the E34 is that it's too similar to the E32-chassis 7-Series that came out a year before it. As this history video from BMW points out, the two cars were developed side-by-side, hence their near-identical styling and similar technology. You could say the same thing about the current 5- and 7-Series.

Now seems like a good time to buy this 5-Series, though. The E34 is not as beloved as other BMWs of the period, but find one with the right engine, and it's an excellent car. A 540i or an M5 should do nicely.

This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io