A beautiful dark green E34 BMW 525i sedan, seen in the far outer reaches of the Chinese capital Beijing. The Bimmer stood on a sandy and dusty parking lot in front of a residential building, between all kinds of normal cars, and yet somehow it didn’t look that much out of place. The 525i seemed in a good shape and well-maintained, with a smooth body and without too big dents or bruises.
The interior looked utterly brilliant and perfectly old school. With the original black leather seats, the original door trim, and all the original wood! A true time machine. The whole place was clearly in need of some work but it was great for its age. Only dissonant is the modern after-market radio, but I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that.
The E34 BMW 5-Series was manufactured from 1987 until 1996, it was never officially exported to China so seeing one on the road is a very rare pleasure, and especially one in this condition.
The BMW 525i sat straight in the middle of the E34 line-up, with the 518i far below and the M5 far on top. The 5252i is powered by a 2.5 liter straight-six engine with an output of 192hp and 245nm. The engine is indestructible and won’t need much maintenance, which is very convenient in China where parts for, and expertise on, the E34 are very limited.
Happily, in recent years, more Chinese car fanatics started caring for these older cars, and there are some specialized shops now that know how to order parts from abroad on eBay and such. So actually, an E34 has a better chance to survive now than it did only 5 years ago. Let’s hope this 525i is still alive somewhere.
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