Well I sold my E28 525e, got a good price (still have my E30 318iS). And the same evening I became the proud owner of a late '94 E38 730i V8 with only 120k and full main delaer service history. I'm only the third owner. Oxford green (Boston green to you Yanks) with cream leather. And the best bit - she cost a mere 2100 GBP. Stunning value for a car that was over 45k new!
Nice and quick, she's a Sunday cruiser so I didn't need the 4.0. Besides which this one was fairly local, most of them seem to be in the south of England! And on the way back from Perth with the cruise control on I manged an amazing 30.3mpg average.
What a car, superb bit of engineering. One tiny bit of rust to take care of and it's going to get a full "BMW nerd" valet this weekend.
Amazing what 2k can buy, there's loads of them on ebay in the UK for silly money.
My 94 740iL E32 (88,000 miles, near-mint) was =A31,775 (although I had to= =20 haggle for three and a half hours to get that price, but the dealer was=20 a nice chap). And everything works.=20
Apparently, according to the dealer, people don't want cars like that=20 any more because they drink too much petrol. My 740iL averages 23 mpg,=20 and I drive in a manner best described as "spirited", yet my mate's=20 Vectra SRi tin-box manages 27 mpg. Somehow, I don't think most people=20 get it.
Plus, of course, if you're not doing huge miles, who cares?
I want a later 7-series 750 sport, in metallic dark green or black. Saw=20 the perfect one on eBay but it was too much. TBH I think there's every=20 chance I'd keep my 740 E32 too, coz it's just too much fun and too nice=20 to sell on, especially since I got the wobble sorted out with the wheel=20 centering rings.
Enjoy your purchase!
--=20 Bear "Gays don't vomit. They're a very clean people. And they have been ever=20 since they came to this country from France"
Agreed. I asked my neighbour (not really a car guy) what he thougt I paid. 12k :-)
Exactly.
I had a set of those on the E28 I sold, it had E39 16" cross spokes. My
7 has the more boring 16" standard alloys. I'd love the 18" multi-spoke, they look even better than Alpinas on an E38. That make the whole car look sleeker.
*Right* you two! It's bad enough getting cracking deals on 2 really nice
7-series, but why oh why didn't they ever do an E23/32/38 Touring? Then I could join the 'big boys club'. I love working on 7-series and have owned several, but my daily commute of over 100miles just gets me right where it hurts most: The wallet! So it's still the e34 for me I'm afraid. When you've done the usual 'Nerd Valet' please stick a couple of pics up on your website John. Take good care of those nasty, nasty nikasil V8s now boys :>). JB
Not really, coz yours is the newer model. I'd have preferred a 535/540=20 (I have no real need for a car *that* big; a 5-series would be fine),=20 but I don't fixate on *one* model when buying, and this was too nice not=20 to buy. The dealer also had a nice 750 and a 735, but the 740 was 4=20 years newer, 50,000 miles lower mileage, and despite my worries over the=20 V8 issues, drove almost like new.
Exactly. At work they thought I was some kind of playboy until I pointed=20 out what I'd paid; a colleague said "what?! I paid =A32,500 for my astra=20 and it's a pile of s**te!"
I've been doing some pretty serious miles on it lately (7,000 in about=20
2.5 months), but tomorrow I move to a new place about 10 mins drive from=20 work, so much easier on the wallet.
Giving me more money to hand to JB in a quest to get the 740 as near=20 perfect as possible. His eldest lad said, last weekend "I really like=20 your car, Bear", to which I replied "you bloody should do; it's going to=20 put you through university".
This is the car JB posted about. It's wearing the E39 "turbines" (more=20 like thick spoke turbines to me) and is finally smooth thanks to Wheels=20 UK of Nuneaton, Warcs. Thoroughly recommended; smashing chaps. I'd=20 prefer AC Schnitzer wheels on it, mind.
I still want a later 7 sport or pref 5 though (E38/E39). One day, one=20 day ... I do know a garage chappie who's got a 540 E34 running on dual=20 fuel, and he's about to lob a supercharger into it ... I dare say that=20 will be a giggle.
--=20 Bear Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says,=20 'Oooooo.' Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.
Congrats. You'll be tooling around in high style now, my friend. ;-)
No, we "Yanks" get both Boston Green (paint code 275) and Oxford Green (code 324). Both are clearcoated metallic, but the oxford is a shade or two darker. Are they really cream or are they tan? I really like the tan interior, but cream seems like it would be a PITA to keep looking sharp.
Value? I'll say. I suppose you checked the engine for leakdown (Nikasil problem) or are you willing to take the risk because you are in the UK with lower sulfer fuels?
Interesting didn't know that. They're cream. It's worn quite well. Driver's side bolster has a little wear, I'll need to look into redying a small part of the leather.
She idles really smoothly from cold and since roughly 97 we've had low sulphur fuel here. There certainly have been replacements in the UK but not a huge number, I think the US has had a lot more. I only plan to do
3 or 4k miles a year. My E30 will see most of the miles as it's better on the wee twisty roads I have to use most often.
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