I have managed to acquire another over-engineered car, this time it is a E34 1995 BMW 525i. Now, the story behind this is a little different from the Rolla. It had never crossed my mind to get this car, until a few colleagues started relating stories of how this car easily touched 200kmh; how it stayed with a certain Jap turbocharged car with ease on the highway; and how it managed to leave the rear passenger sleeping soundly while blasting past unsuspecting drivers at 230kmh.
And so, the story goes, I should consider replacing the rolla with one of these German tanks, a kind of 'upgrade', if you will. After all, resale values of these specimens are nothing much to shout at, and it wont be much of an outlay to get one, assuming I dispose of the Rolla for a fair price.
However, at that time, which is somewhere around June 2006, I was already contemplating selling off my wife's car, a 95 Civic sedan, with a brand new one, the FD1, that was just launched a couple of months prior to June 2006. In fact, I had already placed a booking for one, and was already looking forward to getting it in August.
What got me thinking was this - if I was to get the new car, I'd be paying a tidy sum every month for the next 5 years. Why don't I keep the Rolla, after all, it is already paid up, and then get one of these beemers for less than half the price of the new Civic? That thought struck a chord with the accountant within me, and so, by August 2006, i had already found myself a unit, a dark blue 95 525i single vanos automatic, with a nicely maintained interior and drivetrain. It had a grey interior, 3-spoke steering, and 15"BBS basket weave rims.
Being my first BM, I had done some research as to the likely maintenance costs, especially the major items. It turns out I decided to spend a little more on preventive maintenance, just to avoid any embarrassing breakdowns, particularly when my other half would be using it more frequently.
