While many BMW fanatics will crow that the later V8-powered E39-generation M5 is the best sedan of all time, I prefer the early 1990s simplicity and weirdness of the E34 M5. It’s a better looking car with an impressive grand touring driving style that I thoroughly enjoy. Now if only someone could do something about the mediocre German inline-six under the hood. Some intrepid soul set out to rectify the E34’s relatively low power and hucked the original 3.5-liter S38 engine in the bin, upgrading to a far superior Toyota 2JZ-GTE engine with a huge turbo, allegedly good for 480 horsepower of intercontinental highway hauling.
Buying someone else’s project is always a risky move, but this car seems to have been sorted really well and the swap looks clean enough. Judging by the parts list, this build cost a pretty penny, and you can get it for a lot less than it would take to recreate one of your own.
The best part of this whole thing is that the uninitiated wouldn’t even know anything is different. Someone might notice the front mount intercooler poking out of the bumper, but aside from that the car looks largely like a stock E34 M5. Hell, even from the driver’s seat it looks pretty standard. The extra 150-ish horsepower might be noticeable, once you crack the throttle, however.
If you ask me, the only way this car could be any cooler is if it were a Touring wagon instead of the standard sedan. If you want to add this car to your collection you can head over to Bring A Trailer and start bidding. Normal driver-grade E34s seem to be trading hands for around 20 grand, and I have to believe you could buy this one for under 30, so go get bidding.
