E38 BMW - Still Acceptable? (and where have they all gone?)

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Jez

Jez

Jez

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A decent looking example of the subject so we know what we are dealing with:
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I have been working in Mayfair today, and as usual whenever i work there i had a good walk around to look at the car porn. I didnt see a *single* E38 BMW which i found very odd in an area of town which is utterly packed with luxury saloons.

Led me to think, its ages since i have even seen one irl, where have they all gone? Do you consider them to still be an acceptable luxury car, or do you think they just look like an old pile of rubbish now?

Pointless thread really, but i always thought they were faily good looking, and there are still plenty of 90's s-class' around still in the hands of very wealthy owners and looking fantastic, why has everyone ditched the E38?
 
I saw one the other day, still looks pretty awesome.

Not sure how they are reliability wise, but the 740's seem pretty cheap, how much of a money-pit they are is anyones guess.
 
I think it's because a good Merc is always appreciated by the wealthy yet when a BMW reaches 10-15 years old it's appreciated by the... erm.... yea you get my point.

Then after 15 years if there is anything left of it it becomes a classic if it was a car of historical note, ie E30 M3, E30 325i and E28 M5.

As for the E38 - that one you've posted is exactly the same age as your Mercedes. But does it look it? The Merc looks like a considerably nicer car. It's the front end that ruins the E38.
 
I think these and the E39 5 series look really dated now.

*edit*

I appreciate that's right under Foxes post, but it wasn't a dig at his car. When I wrote my post he hadn't written his.
 
I personally think the facelift E39's are still getting away with it but only just. It helps that many of the things introduced with the E39 facelift, ie the angel eye headlights and CELIS LED rear lights are still featured on contemporary BMW's. If you look at the rear of a 135i M Sport at night, for example, the lighting setup is very very similar to facelift E39. Ditto facelift E53 X5 - replaced only just over a year ago it still looks fresh and is basically an 4x4 E39 so this rubs off on it as well. The prefacelift ones with those awful 15/16" wheels and, orange indicators and nasty front lights really are being done any favours as the years advance - but then they have no features which link them with the current range.
 
I dunno I was looking at a none sport E39 facelift the other day and it didnt look old, not like the E38.

That said I still think the model prev to the E39, on a N plate still looks pretty ok.

Fox is right tho, Bm's just seem to fall into the wrong hands at a certain age, mind Mercs do aswell, but you still see plenty of old boys driving old Mercs.
 
I think it's just comparing them with the new ones, they look so dated. My mind groups E39 5 series with E36 3 series for some reason.
 
I think its far more likely that a given Mercedes S Class at 10 years old will be a 1 owner car than the BMW. And to the first owner, the car is always something they paid £60k for, and so even at 10 years old isn't likely to be trashed.

Whereas Kevin, who paid £1k for his 97 E38 cos its PROPER BLINGIN MAN is likely to be driving around in a bit of a nail.
 
Its not a dated looks thing, a chauffeur driven W140 pulled up outside the Dorchester and looked absolutely fantastic, it still looked every bit as though it belonged there.

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^ Not exactly the latest in design, yet there are still many, many lovely ones around.

I guess its the demographic which BMW attracts :(
 
MrSix said:
I think it's just comparing them with the new ones, they look so dated. My mind groups E39 5 series with E36 3 series for some reason.
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It shouldn't - E38/E39/E46/E53 were the broad family of that particular generation.

BMW's attract ****'s and the cheaper they get the more wideboy those ****'s become.
 
It must be gut-wrenching to buy a car for £40/50/60k new, and own it for 10 years or so, then to sell it on for a couple of grand!

Saying that, they probably just go out and buy another car of similar pricing anyway!
 
Jez said:
Its not a dated looks thing, a chauffeur driven W140 pulled up outside the Dorchester and looked absolutely fantastic, it still looked every bit as though it belonged there.


^ Not exactly the latest in design, yet there are still many, many lovely ones around.
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That looks rather old to me! How old is it?
 
Phil W said:
It must be gut-wrenching to buy a car for £40/50/60k new, and own it for 10 years or so, then to sell it on for a couple of grand!
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On the contrary I rather suspect it doesn't matter - if you buy a £40,000 car and keep it for 10 years before throwing it away you've lost just £4k a year in depreciation. How much per year does a brand new Mondeo lose?
 
Phil W said:
It must be gut-wrenching to buy a car for £40/50/60k new, and own it for 10 years or so, then to sell it on for a couple of grand!

Saying that, they probably just go out and buy another car of similar pricing anyway!
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Not really, making a £60k car last 10 years isnt exactly bad value, you dont expect anything back for it :) Sadly i think people are underestimating how much a lot of these cars cost, a fully specified W221 S-class runs to a shade over £160k!
 
Phil W said:
That looks rather old to me! How old is it?
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Thats my point, its ancient, yet it still looked a million dollars outside the dorchester with a chauffeur opening the door to the elderly gentleman in the back.

You just dont see this with E38's, they have all vanished off the face of the earth.
 
I've recently bought an e38 and must say it is a lovely car - really really nice to cruise along. I waft up and down the A19 from Hartlepool to South Shields and back, 60 mile round trip. I am averaging around 28-29mpg combined.

Mine is on the S plate 1999 and yes it does look a bit dated but so what? £1200 for 2 tonnes of BMW niceness, lots of cow hide, lots of toys, good sound system, and lots of nice little touches such as lights under the door handles and the tiptronic box. Smooth as a baby's arse, I find it difficult to think of a better S plate motor for the money in it's class of bangernomics. ***** Prestige - executive motoring for the price-sensitive gentleman.
 
I guess if you can afford to buy a car like that once, you'll probably buy another again when it comes to replacing it :)

I'm not sure i could justify spending that sort of money on a car, having said that my financial circumstances/views are much different to those buying these sorts of cars new :)
 
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