Gill's BMW E34
Photography & Words By Wynn
1995 BMW 540i
There's no question that todays' automotive community is vast and diverse. With increased usage of social platforms such as Instagram, it's become easier than ever to discover and connect with other automotive enthusiasts around the globe. Yet, there's something about developing friendships and bonds with like-minded individuals that are local. In fact, meeting locals that have cars you admire is probably more special than the ones we drool over on our phone screens. It's one of the reasons Oaties was created. Having the opportunity to see these local cars in person and meeting their owners is beyond special. Gill is one of these local owners. I met him through the automotive community and have known of his E34 for quite some time. Yet, the opportunities to shoot his car kept getting postponed (entirely my fault) to a later date. Finally, the opportunity to feature his car arose once again and I was eager to grab my camera and get snapping. This is his 1995 540i and as you can see, it was well worth the wait.
As I said before, the automotive community is vast and diverse. Yet, within this community are little groups or pockets of people who share a particular interest. These interests can vary but tend to cover almost every possible automotive topic out there. Personally, I've found myself surrounded by the affection for older BMW's. Of course I'm not the only one as you can tell from the site. Here in Canada we have a forum called maXbimmer that focuses in on this passion. maXbimmer has it's own community of knowledgeable members who share the same passion for bimmers. So it's no wonder why Gill found himself browsing through the maXbimmer classified section, during one of our Canadian winter storms.
This was when Gill stumbled upon the ad for the 540i. The ad itself was one that would scare away most visitors. With terrible blurry photographs showcasing the 540i completely covered in ice, it was hard to tell the actual condition of the car. The photographs did show that the car looked to have had a full AC Schnitzer bodykit on it but the rear bumper was missing as was the bottom half of the front bumper. It also looked as though the previous owner decided on installing a Cherry Bomb Glasspack muffler. Now as I said, many visitors would scroll to the next ad and not think twice about their decision. Gill, on the other hand, decided to investigate, I mean we're talking about a V8 here. So the trek was made to go see it with a friend. With a quick cruise around the block, Gill immediately realized the car was a beater but it did sound amazing. It was also quite a bit faster then the Subaru Legacy Wagon he was dailying at the time. So the purchase was made and the car was now on it's way to a friend's garage for the time being.
With the car now in his possession and awaiting attention, Gill planned on bringing it out only occasionally in the Spring. However, as faith would have it, the Legacy Wagon decided to blow two gears and Gill decided to get rid of it and transition to the 540i that was patiently waiting. With the urgency of needing a car, the 540i had to be driven without the bumpers temporarily, while a fresh set was sourced. As luck would have it, a buddy of his was able to find a replicate kit at the scrapyard and held it for him. Hastily, Gill cleaned the kit up and threw on the parts needed to complete the ACS bodykit on the car, leaving him with a half real and half replica combination. The next step was to get the car sitting right. A set of Broadway Static Coilovers were ordered, the first or second set Broadway Static ever made for the E34 chassis. Gill also decided to go with the infamous BBS RS's spec'd 17x9.5 up front and 17x10.5 in the rear. The results are pretty obvious, as the car looks and sits perfectly. For vocals, Gill went with straight pipes from the catalytic converter back with an X-Pipe, leaving the V8 sounding even throatier but not obnoxious and raspy.
Future plans have this 540i getting some steering maintenance attention. Gill would also like to get new fog lamps plus smoke the headlights and corners for a meaner look. He's also planning on finally installing the Momo steering wheel he's had laying around for months. Other than these little things, Gill is happy with the current state it's in. Sure there are a couple of scratches and dings, but Gill embraces these minute imperfections. For him, respraying the car is something he would love to do but isn't pressing at the moment. Like I said, it's local cars like these that inspire me most, it's not so much about the "number matching perfection" but more about the character a car has and what it brings to not only it's owner but onlookers such as myself when lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it on the local roads. Instead of trying to chase absolute perfection, Gill just enjoys having it and driving it.
