On one of my lunch hour strolls through one of Berlin’s more bourgeois neighborhoods I came across this E34 wagon and I could not believe what I saw: A 518g! Easily the rarest (298 produced) and definitely the most obscure of all BMW E34s, it just sat by the curb like it wasn’t Easter, Christmas,New Year’s and a Total Eclipse of the Sun on a single day.
The 518 g could be powered by both natural gas and „normal“ gasoline. In addition to the regular fuel tank it had a natural gas tank holding 14 kilogram of natural gas which allowed for 250 miles of additional range. With European tax incentives for natural gas powered vehicles, this meant you could cut fuel cost in half when running the wagon-only 518g on natural gas. Doing so also took away 14 of the 115 not-many-to-begin-with horses from the heavy wagon – leaving all but 101 to power to propel 3000+ pounds of Bavarian steel. When running on natural gas, it could reach 62 miles in 16.2 seconds and go all the way up to 114 miles (13.6 and 120mph for gasoline).
The 518g was based on the already rare 518i – a non-US base model that was offered briefly with the M40, then with the M43. Take rates were low. I once rode in an example of a 518i sedan – with more than 250k miles on the clock – and was positively surprised. The 1.8 liter actually has more low rmp torque than the 520i. Which is like saying Iceland is a warm country – the weather there is so much better than in Antarctica.
Still, I find the idea of large cars with small engines intriguing – if only for their weirdness and rarity. Which are your favourite ones?
This example though may be the rarest big car small engine combination that I have seen on the roads over the past couple of years. It is in fact so rare, that I have considered that the owner put a fake model designation on the trunk lid. It would be a very funny sense of humor indeed, a joke that maybe fewer people get than 518g’s were produced.
Fun fact: A 1.6 liter version of the „g“ M43 engine was also offered in the E36/5 316g compact– the hatchback E-36 3-series that in the US was offered only in 318ti guise. In that chassis engine combination the “little G” was good for 0-62 miles in 15.6 seconds – when running on natural gas which reduced hp from 102 to 80. Only 468 were produced.
Thanks. I had no idea this existed. I am curious where was the natural gas container mounted? It would seem awkward to fit a cylinder anywhere in the wagon’s cargo compartment. Typically in sedans the NG cylinder is located up against the back of the rear seat, but in a wagon that would be in the way unless the rear seat does not fold down.
Usually, the natural gas tank are shaped like full-sized spare tyre and fitted in the storage space underneath the rear cargo floor.
Like the photo below…
This actually looks more like LPG toroidal tank, than CNG tank.
Those made to hold CNG have to withstand 250+ bar of internal pressure (LPG tank are rated up to 30 bars), so they are made of 5-7mm thick steel and almost always in a shape of long, thin, VERY HEAVY tube, with rounded ends. Kinda look like those CO2 tanks welders use…
Recently, new materials have been introduced in production of CNG tanks (composites / composite-metal combination), to decrease their wieght, but those are still quite expensive.
Parts catalog says something diffrent. It should look like this: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=HH11-EUR-12-1995-E34-BMW-518g&diagId=13_0426
When my family holidayed in Germany in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we often hired executive saloons (BMW 518, Mercedes-Benz 200, etc.) with carburetted four-cylinder motors. The car hire agencies preferred smallest engines (probably for avoiding the displacement tax). If you want S-Class, you’d get 280S (no fuel-injected 280SE) rather than 350SE/SEL or 450SE/SEL with V8 motors.
What surprised us was how competent those 1.8- and 2.0-litre motors were. With a family of four and accompanying luggage, we could easily cruise at 200km/h up and down Autobahn A5 as well as driving on the Route 31, 317, and 500 over the Black Forest.
From 2011 to 2013, Mercedes-Benz offers S 250 CDI (W221) with 2.1-litre four-cylinder diesel motor. It’s no slouch, though, hitting 100km/h in eight seconds and the top speed of 240km/h.
https://www.autoscout24.de/auto/mercedes-benz/mercedes-benz-s-klasse/mercedes-benz-s-250/technische-daten/
For more oompah, Mercedes-Benz reintroduced the four-cylinder S-Class with S 300 CDI (W222) using a new 2.2-litre mill and hybrid system.
Absolutely LOVE these E34 Tourings. So few of them are left in the U.S. but I’d kill to own one. Such class and road presence, and very good to drive too!
Brendan,
Many of E34 qualifies as exemption for 25-year-old or older. You can find many 525i or 525ix Tourings in Europe for dirt cheap price and import it to the United States.
Even more awesome is the not-available-in-the-US M5 Touring! Like this blue one…
https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=259044730&categories=EstateCar&damageUnrepaired=NO_DAMAGE_UNREPAIRED&isSearchRequest=true&makeModelVariant1.makeId=3500&makeModelVariant1.modelId=46&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1993&pageNumber=1&scopeId=C&fnai=next&searchId=480a4186-e5ac-6854-319c-077c693d0d86
Lookie! A M Power engine tossed in!
+1
I photograph every E34 Touring I come across. Classic shape from the day it was born. Nice find Hannes, didn’t know engines went this small in them.
Hey, I spent a year in Iceland and the temperature rarely drops below the low 30s…..HOWEVER, add in the CONSTANT windchill and a winter night is unbelievably cold.
It seems like these 518g ‘s would have made great commercial vehicles, the sedans as taxis and the wagons for (slightly) upscale delivery of largish packages.
A new one on me, I suspect never sold in the UK.
Still my favourite BMW, visually.
Talk about finding a unicorn for us! I had no idea these gas versions even existed.
Id love a M5 Touring (naturally the updated model with the 3.8 litre). Sadly never available where I live.
BM fours of that time have a uniquely “stout” feeling output, for lack of a better term. They pull firmly from low down, and wind out unblinkingly to the redline. They’re a bit raucous and not super smooth, but they’re highly functional. They don’t have a point where they feel weak in the chest. The two-litre six, by contrast, is silken but has nothing, almost literally nothing, below 3,000rpm. You’d need a driver concentrating hard for there to be a big difference in town traffic between a 520i and a 518i.
I wonder why the CNG option wasn’t fitted to bigger sixes? Seems to make more sense. LPG, very common in Australia, is never fitted to small engines.
My favourite small-engine large car is the Peugeot 505 with ye olde pushrod 1.9 litre four, something like 3,000 pounds and perhaps 90bhp. Around town, a bit of a pain, but on the open road (and strictly as a 5 manual) cruising in this airy, elegant, long-travel suspended, perfectly damped and steered car could be surprisingly fast. Real world 0-60 time about 16 seconds, but once up to 75-80 mph, you could sit in comfort for hours, undisturbed and unslowed by any sort of road.
I looked at a 2.2 Camry at a car yard in Australia years ago and it was LPG converted – the salesman was baffled as to why it was done. To my British perspective a Camry was a “gas guzzler”.
Gas (as opposed to liquid) options make more sense financially in Australia due to tax, subsidies etc. This BMW was probably done from more of a green perspective.
I know in the UK you tend see LPG on American (and sometimes Aussie) V8s imported used or on old Range Rovers. It’s almost unheard of on newish or genuinely prestigious cars, although there was a brief spell when Volvo and Vauxhall offered dual fuel options.
What an oddity!
Here’s a weird one for you, that I’ve certainly never seen but have heard of: the Mazda Roadpacer AP of the late 70’s. A Mazda 13B rotary engine, all of 1.3 liters, residing in a rebadged Holden HJ Premier. 1.3 liters for a car 191″ long and weighing 3400+ lbs, about the size of a ’55 Chevy or a G-body Malibu.
They managed to sell about 800 of them, evidently…
You can read all about it here Chris M: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/obscure-rebadges-from-around-the-world-part-2/ I’ve seen a Roadpacer in the metal a few times, there’s a lotttttttttttttt of empty space under the bonnet, which Mazda creatively filled with the world’s untidiest wiring loom(s).