A Grand Monday: BMW 518i

The E34 generation of BMW 5-Series was a wonderful car - handsome, great to drive and beautifully made.

But in a range full of high spec and super-smooth six-cylinder models, the four-cylinder 518i was the poor relation. With 113bhp, it was hardly powerful, nor was it especially refined, with a gruff engine note at high revs not helped by the fact it needed to be worked hard to make progress.

But that doesn’t mean it was a bad car. Far from it, in fact, and compared to other four-cylinder execs on the market at the time, it was still a very nice thing indeed - only the Alfa 164 Twin Spark could give it a run for its money in the enthusiast stakes.

The 518i also appealed to the private buyer, meaning there are still a few low-mileage and unmolested examples out there. And that’s what we’ve got here - a late example from the final year of production, with options including four electric windows and wood trim. It comes with a full service history, no MoT horrors in the past and has been with its current owner since 1998. 

With that kind of provenance, we reckon £750 is an utter bargain…

• Read our BMW 5-series (E34) review and buyer's guide
• How many BMW 5-series survived? Find out
• Find a BMW 5-series for sale