Cool Bavaria!

As a young school boy i remember almost all my friends would say that they wanted a Mercedes Benz, almost always. But me on the other hand always lusted after BMW's. Why you may ask, well i had a brochure from BMW and on the back of it, it said 'BMW, The Ultimate Driving Machine'. And to a petrol head that's all that matters! 

The E36 3 Series was my favorite BMW at the time. But since my good friend Sam Smith bought an E34 5 Series i have developed a great fondness for them! 

Octane Heads too has a bit of history with the E34, as we started things off here with Yuhaan's car. So whats so special about this one? What you see here is the very car owned by Doctor E34 (Sanjay Gunaratne).There is nothing he does not know about the E34. Trust me on that. So obviously it is expected that his car is the best you can get. His car is so good, that it has set the bar for the E34 community in Sri Lanka.

I will let my friend Sam explain. ''There are many E34s in Sri Lanka which can be considered in good condition, well maintained and tastefully modified. There is one however, that stands above the rest in all these regards. That car is the black beast you see here today. Being the owner of an E34 myself, I feel rightly disposed to say that this car is probably the pinnacle of the BMW E34 culture in Sri Lanka (bar perhaps the illusive M5 that is hidden away somewhere)......

.....the attention to detail that Sanjay has put into this car is mind boggling, and the estimated price list he composed for me even more so. Its been a true labor of love over many years, and the fruits of his work can be seen here. Almost every conceivable extra can be found on his car, whether it be a simple set of map lights to the amazingly powerful M5 brakes, you'll find it on this ride. I won't go into detail about the various mods on his car, but its safe to say that this car is without a shadow of a doubt, the best example of an E34 in the country''

So now on to the car itself. What you see here is a BMW E34 525i which has been upgraded to look and feel like a M5. The side skirts and rear bumper are the original M Tech items. The aftermarket spoiler is from Zender. 

Keen eyes will also notice the M5 number plate housing. The looks have also been up lifted by the modern LED tail lights. And that there is a performance exhaust by Super Sprint. 

The noise this car makes is to die for! Six cylinders have never sounded so good! 

The wheels can make or break a car, and on this car its just perfect. Sanjay stuck to the very rare 17' M5 wheels known as Throwing Stars.

Its in a staggered size helping the rear end get more grip thanks to wider tyres. These wheels are actually a 2 piece set, and the outer turbine like plate actually helps to funnel air into the brakes to aid in cooling. So its not  all cosmetic. 

Loving those wheels! And sitting behind them are the massive M5 brakes! 

AC SCHNITZER rear windscreen spoiler....

The all important M badge!

And the very photogenic BMW badge! 

At the front we have the Rieger front bumper that has been modeled off the E39 M5. It totally changes the appearance of the car giving it a more menacing and purposeful look.

Probably my favorite part of the car are the original Smoked Hella Headlights with the Angel eyes.

They are just so cool! You can also see the LED Indicators. Cool fact about the headlamps is that 2 metal plates forming a 'cross hair' is used to smoke the head beam! 

This is where the attention to detail comes in. Even the side mirrors are aftermarket items modeled off the E39 M5. They truly do make a big difference to the looks of the car. 

The same attention to detail is seen in the interior of the car. It felt brand new in here! 

The steering wheel is the original smaller diameter M Tech version found in the M5. Sanjay has also included steering mounted controls for the audio system.

The audio system alone deserves a post on its own. A high end competition range Pioneer head unit powers a range of speakers to provide high quality in car entertainment. 

This car also has the On Board Computer which was a rare optional extra.

The meter panel has been given its fair share of bling too. Garnished in carbon fiber and M Tech decals. 

M badges on the scuff panels too!

The M Tech motif has been taken everywhere. Oh did i mention about that lovely gear knob?

It illuminates itself! I found that a very neat feature, oh its got a M badge too! 

You may call it obsessive but its little details like this make a car stand out from the rest. Door locks with the M Tech motif. 

Electric Recaro Bucket seats! Very rare and very comfortable! 

And yes it had the 3 colours from BMW's M Division.

And now the best bit of the car. This 5 series got a fully rebuilt 2.5 liter Inline 6 M50 Vanos engine. Its blinding quick. Very very quick. And the addition of the Super sprint exhaust helps it breathe out and sound better too. Plus the big M5 brakes help this big brute slow down as quickly as possible. 

I have been wanting to shoot this car for a long time. And its inspiration enough for me for when i buy an E34 someday. And a big Thank you to Sanjay for been the all round nice guy he is, whenever we wanted to know something one phone call and he would share his vast knowledge with anyone. Thanks also to Sam Smith for introducing me to the BMW scene! 

Hope you guys enjoyed this

A link to Yuhaans car

http://octaneheads.blogspot.com/2012/01/black-knight.html

By Charith Kulasiri