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      05-04-2014, 12:21 AM   #1
Desert_Fox
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Village idiot decision: E38 7 series

So... I've wanted an E38 7 series (96-01)since I was a little boy. It's in the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and Jason Statham's The Transporter. I think it is one of BMW's most timeless designs. I'm currently looking at late model year 740i's, examples in 40-70k mile range are around $12-17k. I'm in a position where I can afford to buy one of these as a 2nd car (I have a 2013 335is). I'm just really nervous about catastrophic failures that will make purchase price look insignificant in the long run. This wouldn't really be a daily driver, just an alternate car. I'm not even looking at the V12 750's because I've heard nightmares with that engine. So my fellow bimmer-philes.... Give me some car enthusiast but rational pointers and opinions.
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      05-04-2014, 12:30 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Desert_Fox View Post
So... I've wanted an E38 7 series (96-01)since I was a little boy. It's in the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and Jason Statham's The Transporter. I think it is one of BMW's most timeless designs. I'm currently looking at late model year 740i's, examples in 40-70k mile range are around $12-17k. I'm in a position where I can afford to buy one of these as a 2nd car (I have a 2013 335is). I'm just really nervous about catastrophic failures that will make purchase price look insignificant in the long run. This wouldn't really be a daily driver, just an alternate car. I'm not even looking at the V12 750's because I've heard nightmares with that engine. So my fellow bimmer-philes.... Give me some car enthusiast but rational pointers and opinions.
You are nuts and die poor and lonely.

I get to say that, cause I have lost more sleep over my hunt for the old model M3 that I care to admit. Go for it, dreams need to come true!
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      05-04-2014, 12:47 AM   #3
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Expect to spend a couple thousand dollars in repairs a year in addition to regular maintenance. My parents did not have catastrophic failures with their E38 or E66 when they had them. However, expensive plastic/rubber parts fail regularly on older 7's. Valve cover gasket, power steering hose, radiator upper/lower hose, transmission pan, alternator, etc. are some of the non-regular maintenance items that failed on our cars (we drove them from new to about 120K miles each).
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      05-04-2014, 12:52 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by smmmurf View Post
Expect to spend a couple thousand dollars in repairs a year in addition to regular maintenance. My parents did not have catastrophic failures with their E38 or E66 when they had them. However, expensive plastic/rubber parts fail regularly on older 7's. Valve cover gasket, power steering hose, radiator upper/lower hose, transmission pan, alternator, etc. are some of the non-regular maintenance items that failed on our cars (we drove them from new to about 120K miles each).
You have a great sticker next to the badge! =D I'm going to have to come up with one of my own too, just to mess with the Prius people on my street.

Last edited by Lups; 05-04-2014 at 12:53 AM.. Reason: Cant write.
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