OT: Opinions on E38 750il

[ILoveMPower]

My mothers gets better fuel economy than my 5.

And I must agree... they are wiring nightmares.

740 vs 750 meng

[ber55ber55]

I personally have heard nothing butbad things aboutthe 750's. Old e32 and e38. mostly electronic problems. Also the car is extremely rare so if your gonna need some parts, you aint gonna find them at the yard. youll have to go strait dealer ALL the time. If you have the wallet, go for it. It is a beautiful and wonderful car.

Good luck either way.

[CharlesAFerg]

I personally have heard nothing butbad things aboutthe 750's. Old e32 and e38. mostly electronic problems. Also the car is extremely rare so if your gonna need some parts, you aint gonna find them at the yard. youll have to go strait dealer ALL the time. If you have the wallet, go for it. It is a beautiful and wonderful car.

Good luck either way.

Uh, I don't know where you're from - but the E38 and E32 750il models are fairly common in the United States.

My dad has a 740i sport and I agree w/MacV, the E38 4,4L is a great car, I don't know about the V12 though... We need more info on the specific differences when it comes to maintinence.

The 740i sport is amazing, especially compared to the iL with all of the features. (steptronic and some improvements to the shifting patterns or something, suspension, shadowline, Mpars - All OEM from the factory!)
Wicked.

[TC535i]

The 750 has computer module failures left and right. It has TWO BATTERIES, and a computer dedicated to switching the charging back and forth. That thing craps out on the regular. It has HEATERS on the cats to bring them up to operating temp quicker (emissions thing, M5 has it too. big motors...). It has a computer that controls THAT. Replaced.

General module replaced 3 times. Car would drain battery, intermittently not go into sleep mode, etc etc. What a nightmare... BMW dealer wants nothing to do with it. Offered us $12k for it on trade-in for a new 7-series!!

[rreimund]

My understanding was that the 750's engine was essentially two inline-6 engines (M20s?) put together in a V. Problem was that they have duplicates of nearly every system - one for each "engine". Which sort of goes with TC535i's post about there being two batteries, etc.

That said.. the 740i Sport is dead sexy. And if it's not an E39 M5, then my E34 will be replaced with an e38 740 sport

[Jimbo]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I think I am possibly being blinded by the prospect of owning a car with such a magnificent engine and such amazing luxury (leather covering just about everything, 16 way power seats...) for a very reasonable price. The A/C on my 535i has not worked all summer, and with temperatures in the mid 90's (I'm in Kansas City) and getting hotter every day I really just want to get something newer with less to fix right away, and this 750 is actually less than many of the late 90's 528's and 328's I've been eyeing.

I have to make a decision by tomorrow, I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do...

[Jimbo]

My understanding was that the 750's engine was essentially two inline-6 engines (M20s?) put together in a V. Problem was that they have duplicates of nearly every system - one for each "engine". Which sort of goes with TC535i's post about there being two batteries, etc.

I believe the architecture of the V12 in the E32 was essentially that of two M20's joined at the crank, however the M73 in the car I'm looking at is an aluminum 5.4L, though interestingly it is still SOHC unlike the V8's and sixes from this time period. There only appears to be one battery (albeit a huge one) for this vehicle from what I can find.

[CharlesAFerg]

My understanding was that the 750's engine was essentially two inline-6 engines (M20s?) put together in a V. Problem was that they have duplicates of nearly every system - one for each "engine". Which sort of goes with TC535i's post about there being two batteries, etc.

That said.. the 740i Sport is dead sexy. And if it's not an E39 M5, then my E34 will be replaced with an e38 740 sport

Why do people keep talking about the E32 like it's the topic of this thread...? E38 740 is indeed really nice.

[TC535i]

The two batteries are on top of eachother, but the lower one is covered by a black metal shelf for the upper battery. The bottom one's even bigger than the one you see!

BTW, don't consider the purchase price the "cost of owning" this car... far from it.

[Elekta]

740i Sport with M//'s with the 4.0 alusil is a sexy beast. My brother has one with over 200k on it. It is the highway sled of all time. There are tons of iL's out there, some with really low miles on them, driven by women and neat as kitten.

750's are easy math. twice the cyl's, twice the bills. RUN