I have one of the early 540i's with the adaptive automatic tranny. It was one of the only 5 speed automatics around in 1994 when I purchased this car, and as it was my "work" car, and I had a Porsche 911 to play with, I went for the automatic.
8 years later, I still have this car, and I still love this car!! No real problems over the years, one water pump, some leaky hoses, brakes of course, 2 batteries!, and a currently dead lift motor for the driver's headrest (who needs it?)...
I have the alusil block, have had no troubles as yet (58K miles), and learned a week or so ago that the complete replacement long block kit ffom BMW for this car is only about $1950 US, so I have stopped worrying about that as well.
My car is black, with the grey leather, I have added 17" 5 spoke wheels by Chromodora, and am running Bridgestone PP S-02's all around, 235/45 ZR-17s, very happy with them, esp in the wet...
So drop a note in here and tell us a bit about your 540i (even if it has a stick shift, that's okay
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