BMW v8 barges. *UPDATE* I haven't, have I?

[Neil]

More specifically the circa 2000 735 and 740i.

To cut a long story short(ish) I've been dying to scratch that v8 itch for a few years. I get a lift to and from work now and I'm doing at absolute maximum 50 miles a month in my daily. The better half is pestering for little 'uns next year so I think it's time I had a taste before I get my next chance which is probably when I'm 50!

So.. being a bit of a retro BMW pest I've been looking at what they have to offer, naturally. I've had my fair share of Bavarians but never a 7 and I'm liking the idea of a great big wofting 735i or 740i as they're pretty affordable.

Just wondering if any of you kind RRers fancy giving me any tips on what to look for when buying or if I should avoid them all together? Or even any other budget v8's worth looking at? I'll probably only own it around 6-8months and won't be shelling out a fortune so it's not gonna be a minter I know.

Have a picture for your troubles! Cheers, Neil.

[miker33]

I have owned a 740i 4.4 LPG for the past 15 years, it's been laid up for the past 3 years though when purchased a newer 7.

Loved it to bits, there can be some electrical gremlins but I never had anything major. The biggest failure electronically from a cost perspective would have been was the dashboard pixels but that was a recall so replaced for free at 8 years old. Does have the odd sensor fail, in my case the cam sensor twice over the course of 10 years and the thermostat once which melted part of the loom.

Mechanically it was pretty solid, mine was up to over 200k and smooth as new with no smoke whatsoever. Weakest mechanical area in my experience was the front suspension arms which seemed to last about 40k per set causing steering vibration, judder and knocks\rattles. Can get some smoking at idle which is usually caused by the oil separator valve at the back of the inlet manifold, not hugely expensive but bit of a git to remove due to access. Can get water leaks under the inlet but I never had that issue. Avoid the earlier V8's (4.0 and 3.0 between roughly 94-97) unless they have had a revised engine block fitted as they had issues with bore wear due to nikasil liners.

Rust wise the back of the rear arches above the bumper rusts a little and the lower part of the doors by the little trim piece. Also had part of the exposed rear brake lines replaced due to corrosion. Plastic rad necks can also snap off when they get brittle but you won't see much if any sign of that until it suddenly snaps off.

I'm sure there are some that are falling to pieces but you should be able to find a decent one if the owner has looked after it.

Have a good google but as usual you will only see horror stories most of the time when there are likely many that have been fine.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Mike

[Smiler]

Good itch to scratch, you've got me thinking now!...

[rblote]

Hi mate

get your hands on a well maintained car and you will love it for a long time even with a small passenger in the back....
I have had a few V8's ( Chrysler, Valiant, BMW, Disco etc) and still have a v8 (Jeep Grand Cherokee) and I still believe that a V8 is not as expensive as most will try to make you believe. Look after them, keep the service up and you will be right.

[VIP]

Autoboxes are a weak point, they are sold as Sealed For Life, but often fail spectacularly without early maintenance and aftercare. Just Google ZF 5HP24 failure.

Also the later 4.4 are Vanos controlled and that's also a weak point.

[steveg]

I can't offer much in the way of info but there is one that goes past my house with a non standard exhaust. Sounds very nice.

[w00dy]

With E38s a lot of the points have been covered above, but the big one to avoid is fuel tank rust as this is hard to see, but costs a fortune if the tank starts leaking and needs to be replaced, but get your hands up there and you should be able to feel if it's going.

Great cars though and with rices as they are it's a good time to buy one.

[SmokeEm]

I scratched my itch with a W140 CL500 Merc and yet, like you, I was a Beemer guy.... Best car I've ever had or driven! Would had another in a heart beat!Don't discount one whatever you do! Bullet proof and will hold its value

[adam73bgt]

I was in the same situation last year and was looking for a 740i until I accidentally got a 750i instead



So while not directly comparable I can at least say the E38's feel really well built, mine was on 200k miles and really didn't feel worn out

If you find a car with the EDC suspension, beware that new EDC struts aren't overly cheap as I had to replace one! (The alternative is to fit coilovers or bags of course which is no bad thing on E38's )

Would recommend

[surprisingskoda]

Main points are discussed, but not accurate.

First point of contact for rust is the fuel tank. It rusts along the seams but you cannot tell for sure without dropping it down. Replacement is around 300 secondhand, double that refurbed, triple that new from bmw.

Then the usual spots around rear arches, bootlid, etc but these are generally very good at not rusting and most won't be too bad.

Dash pixels do fail but can be repaired, ignored or replaced for 20 to 50 quid for a new set.

Big heavy car so they wear out bushes fast ish, every two to three years or 25 to 40k.

Auto boxes are weak as mentioned. Replacement v8 box is about 250 secondhand. No way of knowing and a oil change doesn't make it any better so just ignore it until it goes bang.

The later facelift cars are vanos v8 models. Vanos gives bother, chain tensioner too, alternators are water cooled and fail, ecu can fail but uncommon, oil separator as mentioned, rocker gaskets leak, easy job to change.
Ignore talk of nikasil, doesn't apply to the ones you're looking at and any that have survived till now are fine anyway.
The v8 engines do not like too many short trips or being started to move a few feet all the time. Regular long drives is what they like, getting up to temperature.

I've come across diffs going in the facelift but 50 quid to replace.

Electrics are mostly bulletproof.

Edc shocks can go and are expensive but unlikely to be fitted to a v8 model. Can just replace with lower spec ordinary coil springs and struts.

Abs pumps are the ropey type and they can fail at any time, 150 to 300 for refurb or 100 quid for secondhand.

Everything else should be grand.

Overall an exceptionally reliable car and really well built.

[garthalgar]

A good mate of mine has a facelift 735i as a daily and its excellent. He also took it to Germany and has done about 9000 miles since he bought it last year with no real issues. Surprisingskoda has pretty much covered everything you could possibly need to know.

With regards to bushes... The rear ball joints are absolute nightmare things that are pressed onto a shaft. My mates are needing done as they are a bit clunky, however he has said that fitting his BCs has quietened it down a bit haha.

Overall all though i'd massively recommend. Whenever we go out in his it really is incredible value for money. Also removal of the backboxes is necessary!

[deanflowers]

I had a 728i shadowline sport for a brief 4 month period. It was a bit of a nightmare electrically so the stereo and indicators would work and sometimes they wouldn't. Also it wouldn't start if it was less than 3 degrees outside which was annoying if the temperature dropped after work. It was always a case of everything worked or nothing.

One day though it had enough and the bonnet opened at 70mph and smashed the windscreen and kinked the roof.

I still have a brand new black chrome grill in its box waiting for another one. I liked it most of the time when i didn't hate it.

I do prefer my w140 though.

[ChasR]

Oct 11, 2016 10:04:24 GMT w00dy said:

With E38s a lot of the points have been covered above, but the big one to avoid is fuel tank rust as this is hard to see, but costs a fortune if the tank starts leaking and needs to be replaced, but get your hands up there and you should be able to feel if it's going.

Great cars though and with rices as they are it's a good time to buy one.

Tank is a big one. @dickdasterdly has had two go on his IIRC.

Oct 11, 2016 18:28:00 GMT adam73bgt said:

I was in the same situation last year and was looking for a 740i until I accidentally got a 750i instead



So while not directly comparable I can at least say the E38's feel really well built, mine was on 200k miles and really didn't feel worn out

If you find a car with the EDC suspension, beware that new EDC struts aren't overly cheap as I had to replace one! (The alternative is to fit coilovers or bags of course which is no bad thing on E38's )

Would recommend

I was tempted at the time!

Regarding the EDC I guess it depends if you want comfort and handling combined. I say this as I am debating buying an RS4 B7 which came with DRC suspension and the consensus is that the DRC setup is favoured by many over coilovers due to its combination of comfort and road holding (IIRC it works similar to some Citroen systems in levelling out the car ; the dampers are linked dynamically). But it can be potentially £1k a corner to fix if not caught in time; Yikes!

[adam73bgt]

Oct 14, 2016 5:48:02 GMT ChasR said:

I was tempted at the time!

Part of me wishes I hadn't sold it as it was by far the best value car I've bought!

Mine had had tank replacements, which has just reminded me its a good idea to check/clean out the tank vents as mine did make a 'popping' sound occasionally after a long drive

[Dr.AK]

I've had an E38 as well. They are fantastic cars, but can be a bit of hit or miss.

Mechanically, they are relatively simple for such a big car, compared to a W140 S-Class or Audi A8 they're practically made out of Lego.
They do like to rust though, so watch out for that. Common spots are the trunk, lower areas of the doors and sills, IIRC.

They like to eat front suspension bushings - don't skimp out with cheap parts when replacing these.

As already stated, the fuel tank should be checked as it's prone to rust and can be very expensive to replace.

On the V8's it's a good idea to check over the bolts for the oil pump, as they tend to get loose and might drop into your oil pan and cause damage. Generally, the older M60 model is a bit more bullet proof than the newer M62 in terms of timing chain and such. My advice would be look for a earlier model 740i with the M60 engine, as those should be the most problem free ones. Stay far away from the 730i M60 ones, those are slow as balls and not very fun at all while drinking more gas than the 740i. The M62 740i and 735i are both decent, but a bit more finnicky than the older ones.

Depending what I said on hit or miss - that mostly concenrs electronics. You can get lucky and get one that will be problem free or you can get one where you'll get a new electronic problem every week. They can be nightmares in that case.

But overall, I vote get one while they're still affordable!

I quite miss mine sometimes, although I'm pretty happy with my A8.
If I go back to an E38 one day, it will have to be a V12 for me.

[richrolls]

Had an E38. Liked it alot. At the moment I have a S55 AMG with a supercharged V8 in it. Would recommend both, but if pushed, the BM. The Merc of the same era rust very well.

[Neil]

Thank you all for taking the time out to help. It seems I'm going to have to give one I go while I can, hey!?

Just need to move the e36 on now to help fund one.

Thanks again!

[njw]

Be warned, BMW V8's are addictive! I've never owned an e38 but am on my third V8 e39. There's some good advice above by the way.

[dasleg]

On the M62 if the milage is high the plastic chain guides and chains will go bad at one point or another, so make sure that operation has been done or haggle alot. M60, the 4 liter, as opposed to the M62 4,4, don't suffer those issues. M60 was produced in the e38 from 94-95.

Apart from that and the odd vanos rattle they are fab engines.

Top tip. Get a V12. same price, rarer, faster (ish), better equipped and bombproof compared to the V8. I've had 3, they are awesome.

[dickdasterdley]

I've had a couple of e38s and my dad had one too, I love them, awesome cars! Don't think about the fuel consumption and just enjoy them!

But yeah, fuel tanks are a bad point! All 3 of ours had rotten tanks. You can't always see the rot as the corrode behind the coating....I dug a hole approx 3" long from my 740!

But you can buy new aftermarket tanks nowadays! I bought one from euro car parts for £350.....I sold the car before I fitted it and eventually helped my mate (that I sold it to) fit it!

I'd have another in a heartbeat!