Words and Photography: Ross Delaney | Owner: Gary Downey
It’s crazy how things come full circle.
A few years ago I was strolling around the stadium in Wroclaw at Ultrace (formerly Raciesm Event) and spotted this beautiful E34. Quickly realising it was on coilovers made the car all the more impressive. Its then owner, Sebastien Polit is a pretty well-known guy in Polish stance circles, having sold this car to build a ludicrous Dodge Viper GTS. If you haven’t seen that car, you should probably google it sooner rather than later.
The E34 then made its way to Scotland where it lived for a few years before it was, once again, listed for sale. That’s where the trail ends, until about two months ago, when it popped up on Instagram with Irish registration plates and the unmistakable backdrop of Cork City. In disbelief, I DM’d its current owner, Gary, and setup a shoot.
The car is a 1995 520i Touring finished in Orient Blue over a beautiful Dove Grey leather interior. It’s quite a high spec too with factory heated seats, air conditioning and a factory wired telephone nestled in the centre console.
In its previous Eastern European life, the E34 had been massaged in the bodyshop with radiused and widened arches gracing all four corners. As a result, it sits perched on top of 19” AC Schnitzer Type II’s measuring out at 10” wide up front and 12” at the rear. E60 M5 calipers and rotors are tucked in behind the classic 5-spoke design and take care of the stopping duties the car requires as it now boasts a 2.5L six cylinder powerplant.
As a fully subscribed BMW nerd, this one was a joy to shoot. It’s pretty rare for us on this side of the pond to find a car of this significance lands on the narrow lanes of rural Ireland. It just looked hilarious and completely out of place rolling through the sleepy, agricultural town where I met Gary to shoot it.
The story for the E34 isn’t over either, as Gary has recently teased some for-sale ads, so if you’re interested in it, you might just be in luck!
