BMW 7 Series

Velocity

Velocity

Velocity

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UK - Milton Keynes
Hello,

I have a friend who is interested in getting a BMW 7 Series similar to the picture below

media


Most of the versions of these are automatic it seems and he is after a 740 but is this worth it? A 735i have similar performance?

if anybody owns/has owned one of these beast's know of certain things to look out for.

As a lot of the examples are Automatic are the boxes prone to failing etc?

He has about 11k to spend on it so the best for around that price.

Many Thanks
 
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A friend of mine had a 7 series, he sunk abou 4K into it in repairs (electrics were shot to hell) until he admitted defeat and outed it, old Beamers can be really bad news IMHO

HEADRAT
 
Yes suppose so the ones he was looking at were around the W Reg Mark.

I guess the Automatic box and then electrics being the major!
 
They are fine cars if looked after. 11k will get you a nice one.
I did a long post with what to look for a while ago. Search it out and read.

I've done it for you:

rilot said:
There are a number of common problems with the E38s. Take your time a pick a good one as a tatty one with a few problems will cause you loads of head aches.

Things to check:

E38 general
- Lower control arms can wear. Manifests itself as judder under braking much like a warped disk.
- Check the tyre wear, bad camber at the rear will destroy tyres in 5 minutes.
- Avoid ANY car with either EDC (electronic damper control) or LAD (load adaptive damping AKA self levelling). This means all LWB versions. Both systems were great when new but are a nightmare to fix and go wrong frequently.
- Check the operation of the seat motors. They are expensive to replace and in some cases can need a new seat to fix.
- Dashboard LCDs should have no lines missing. To fix then you need to replace the entire binnacle.
- Watch out for a red LED next to the odometer readout. If it's on, WALK AWAY as the car has been clocked. It signifies a sync error between the display and the car's ECU.
- Any vibration under acceleration and you should walk away. This means the prop-shaft centre bearing is shot and replacement is a £1500 job. This only really affects 750is and 740is that have had a hard life. 730i and 735i aren't powerful enough to wreck the bearing.

750i specific
You should be able to balance a pound coin on it's edge on top of the engine with it running and without the coin falling off. If you can't there's something wrong with it and you should walk away.

740i and 735i specific
Engine is rubber mounted and will twist under hard acceleration. This constant movement can break the radiator which isn't cheap to replace.

Avoid any car older than 1996 as these had the old 4.0 and 3.0 M60 engines which had horrendous problems.
Click to expand...

Rest of the thread is here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17549148
 
Rilot said:
They are fine cars if looked after. 11k will get you a nice one.
I did a long post with what to look for a while ago. Search it out and read.

I've done it for you:



Rest of the thread is here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17549148
Click to expand...

Lovely car... its like buying a baby Rolls...

Watch out for the self levelling suspension I belive, but thats only 750i isnt it?

:cool:
 
My opinion is that an £11k E39 540i would:

a) Be newer
b) Be 80% as good a cruiser
c) Be 150% as good a drivers car
d) Be faster
e) Be more economical (lol, economy + V8 but hey)

This is, however, an opinion from somebody who has not driven an E38 and has an E39 obsession.

Cue R124 to tell us all how his 728 handles better than his Dads 528i :p

However, the biggest difference..

The E38 7 is beginning to look very dated - the side profile is more akin to an E34 than an E39, whereas an E39 with facelift lights still looks modern and fresh.
 
[TW]Fox said:
My opinion is that an £11k E39 540i would:

a) Be newer
b) Be 80% as good a cruiser
c) Be 150% as good a drivers car
d) Be faster
e) Be more economical (lol, economy + V8 but hey)

This is, however, an opinion from somebody who has not driven an E38 and has an E39 obsession.

Cue R124 to tell us all how his 728 handles better than his Dads 528i :p

However, the biggest difference..

The E38 7 is beginning to look very dated - the side profile is more akin to an E34 than an E39, whereas an E39 with facelift lights still looks modern and fresh.
Click to expand...


I'm in "agree with Fox" mode today. The E38 is a fine car but the E39 is a better buy.
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Didn't the 540i have poorer steering over the 6 cylinder models? Would you still say it's better than the 7 even with this?
Click to expand...

The V8 E39 5 Series has recirculating ball steering, for packaging reasons. The 6 cylinder E39's had sharper rack and pinnion steering and, as a result, are better handling cars.

I do not know what steering setup the 7 has - I'll wait for Rilot to confirm - but I'd would still think the 5 is better than the 7.

Worth considering a 6 cylinder 5 anyway - £11k would get a really nice 530i and they are certainly not short on pace. Infact perhaps even faster than the 740i.
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Didn't the 540i have poorer steering over the 6 cylinder models? Would you still say it's better than the 7 even with this?
Click to expand...

Oh yes. All 7-Series are recirculating ball steering anyway.

Remember that the E38 is essentially an E32 with a different shell. That makes it a 20 year old design. In fact most of the suspension and chassis comes from the E23 which first appeared in 1977.
The E39 was designed from scratch in 1996 so is only a 10 year old design.

The E39 has alloy suspension components which make for a much sportier drive due to the lack of unsprung mass.
 
One More Solo said:
I never really saw the appeal in the 7 Series, they're a bit too barge-y. I'd rather have a really nice 5 Series.
Click to expand...

The point is that on a motorway, the 5-Series is no where near as refined to drive. This is due to the shorter wheelbase.
 
The 7 Series is an uber cruising barge. Thing is, though, that the cruising ability of the 5 is so good I'd question whether the extra cruising ability of the 7 is worth the tradeoff in handling and 'sportyness'.
 
[TW]Fox said:
They didn't make one becuase it would have been utterly pointless - the 7 just isn't the sort of car you buy to throw around like an M car.
Click to expand...

They did. Kind of.

The E31 M850csi shares the same platform with the E32 7-Series.
 
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