is this a bad idea?

Why would you not want him to buy this? The ensuing drama would be awesome.

Although that one does look pretty sorted and you could probably run it for a few months without any big bills.
 
My old man had two M70 engined cars and to be fair, neither engine missed a beat at all. They did use enough fuel to power a small country for many years though.

From my experience, it's the other bits you need to be more concerned about. A lot of parts for BMW's of that era are special order so can ages to get and have high cost attached to them. The likes of ECP and others can provide quite a range of parts but again, I wouldn't call them cheap.

Might be better on the E38 as they were produced in greater numbers but I certainly have issues when repairs are required to the 8 series. It's not imposible, it just takes longer and costs more.

I'd always go for the M62 engines (the later 4.4 V8). Not that much in the performance and the engines are very reliable and parts widely available.
 
Although there will be guaranteed hilarity if DannyW does make this purchase, I would not wish to be one who encouraged him to do so as the inevitable re-sale of an even worse and most probably dangerous car to an unsuspecting citizen could way heavily on my conscience.
 
Go for that 750iL. It's a risk, as with everything in life. If it's working OK - enjoy the smoothness and luxury.

Close your eyes when holding the fuel filler nozzle down, and try not to get cramp in your hand.....

If it breaks, scrap it if you cant fix it.




*Looks forward to epic future threads*
 
paradigm said:
Service it?

You do realise that even specialist BMW independents usually won't service them, as hardly anyone knows anything about the V12.
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That sounds very much like the opinion of someone who hasn't seen an M73 in the flesh, let alone worked on one. It is a 4 stroke Petrol engine, not a nuclear fission reactor.

Bar changing spark plugs, servicing is business as usual, and even when it comes to spark plugs, 10 out of 12 are painless, one is slightly awkward and one (Plug 12) will have you struggling for a while but it isn't particularly difficult once you know what to do (is it far easier to change the rear most plugs on Arrange based cars underneath). One of the first jobs I did at my dealer's was a service on a silver seraph (same M73 V12 found in the E38 750), and I distinctly remember thinking to myself once it was done "That isn't nearly as difficult as people make out". I'm not saying that because I'm some sort of super mechanic, I'm saying that because I genuinely didn't have a problem (Bar plug 12! :mad:).

I've helped have the inlet manifold (Plus rocker covers and other bits, but I can't remember what we were doing to it :() off of a M73 and it was genuine a pleasure to work on - It is best to think of it as two simple, separate SOHC engines with a common crank, that's properly because the original M70 was essentially two E30 M20 Six cylinder engines with a common crank.

And out of all the Bentleys And rollers I have stumbled across, the V12 seems to be the most mechanically reliable engine in the range.

As for those who say that the 750 is pointless because the 740 offers similar performance, you gentlemen have COMPLETELY missed the point of the V12. It's key attribute is its smoothness and progressive power delivery (not to mention the noise!!!). Wafting wise it kicks the Turbocharged 4.4 M62 V8 in early Arrange cars into next month.

Gah! I want a E32 750IL now!
 
yeah but you arent DannyW.

no use you being confident at servicing it if every indy round his sucks through their teeth when he mentions what car it is. I know the feeling after i went looking for prices for a new clutch for my VXR. Most of the local indy's just sucked through their teeth and made noises like "its going to cost you that is" i'm like yeah i know that ,just tell me how much, but nobody wanted to commit to giving me a price in case i asked them to work on it.

If its not something cheap and cheerfull most backstreet independant garages dont want to know.
 
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