Ok i have a 1981 528i e12. the car is bone stock and has around 200,000 miles. About 4 years ago the cylinder rings were replaced and thats about it. My car is wickedly fast, and i have done nothing to it. The other night I beat an e34 540i from a standing start but he took me at a 35 mph start. A couple of other things that i think may contribute to it is the exhaust is completly cleared out and is almost a free flow but its still stock mind u infact the original. (Is it my ///M5 keychain?) ;)
If anyone out there has any info on the e12 i would like to gather as much info about it as possible. It isnt that light either. about 3500 lbs.
I love my car!! but what makes her tick?

Had I to hazard a guess, I'd venture to say the engine has been replaced with a 3.5 M30, rather than the 2.8L M30 that was originally in there. For more info about the E12, try
http://www.firstfives.org/

My car is wickedly fast, and i have done nothing to it. The other night I beat an e34 540i from a standing start but he took me at a 35 mph start.

E34 540s, especially automatics (like mine :cool ), are really slow off the line just to let you know. It sounds right that he took you from a 35mph roll.

auto vs. manual, plus a good driver bonus, plus the fact that the other car didnt know you were racing. How about tires too? Put bad tires on a viper and you pretty much got nothing.

no its got the stock motor the 2.8L inline 6. Idk i guess it was just alot of bad drivers!

This story sounds a bit suspect and as others have mentioned
there are a million factors to consider, i.e. drivers, bad equipment,
transmission, gearing, extenuating circumstances like a wet
road or bald tires. I would have guessed your car has a 3.3 or
a 3.5 liter M30 engine, probably chipped. But you said it has
the original 2.8, are you sure?

My E12 M535i fresh from an engine rebuild is pretty damned fast.
It's pushing perhaps a bit more than its stock 218 hp and 224 lb/ft
of torque in a 3050 lb euro body with crank windows and no a/c.
Even then I would think twice before taking on an E34 535i 5spd in
stock condition. An E34 540i? Fuggetaboudit. My E34 M5 3.8
is heavier at 3800 pounds, but will absolutely annihilate my E12
as much as I hate to say it. An E34 540i has as much torque as
my M5, but doesn't have the top-end power. And an E60 M5 will
destroy my E34 M5 3.8. Progress hurts I guess.

Adam Wilson
'80 E12 M535i
'94 E34 M5 3.8

e34 M5? how is that car in your opinion? i am looking into getting one but am not shure if the expenses of owning one are worth it.

E34 M5's are amazing, I've never driven another car that I felt so passionate about after stepping out of the driver's seat.

The intake manifold would be stamped with 3.5 unless he was able to use the original manifold.

no there is no stamp. my dads has the 3.5 litre engine and i saw the stamp on it. mine does not have it