Big Audio Dynamite: E34 530i V8 With Open Headers
The BMW E34 530i is a bit of a hidden jewel. Though smaller in displacement than the straight-6 engine found in the 535, the 530’s tiny engine actually had a decent bump of about 40 horsepower, thanks to a cylinder count of eight. Yep, this small V8 packs a punch, but it certainly isn’t a rocket by any means. 215 horsepower (when new) was about all it could manage.
So what happens when you add two decades of use and remove most of the exhaust system? Well, you lose power, that’s for sure, but you do gain some decibels. The video below gives you a short audio example of what life is like if you were to live inside the headers. It definitely makes a lot of noise, but I’m not sure if it’s all that sweet of a tone, as it seems to struggle toward the far end of the rev-range. Evidence of that is backed up by the speedometer moving lazily towards 60 mph. But hey, we’ve all thought about doing this to our cars at one time or another, and for what seems like a project car, it had to be fun for the moment.
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