1994 BMW E38 740i

[whitbytom]

This is the latest and largest addition yet to my fleet. The story of how I ended up with it is here

It's my first V8 and I'm dead chuffed with it. There are a few niggly things wrong with it, but these things are well supported by a decent owners forum and loads of 'how to' guides on the web. Hopefully I'll manage to keep all the smoke in the several tons of wiring that are in it.

Thus far the only thing I've managed to do to is retrieve a tape that was jammed in the tape deck - 'Now that's what I call music 11' - it may have been in there a while

Plans are wheels and a drop, but that may be in the longer term (or at least when the weather's warmer) because I'm going to be a dad for the first time at the end of next month.





It's absolutely lovely to drive, and pretty rapid too, it has a switchable sports/auto box and 290bhp through the rear wheels so for a 2 ton motor, it's pretty spritely!

I'll try and keep the thread up to date with how I get on with it!

[charnock]

such a nice barge, very layer cake.

[useless inc]

They're great value barges these.
For a quick change I think they look great with m-parallel wheels on them.
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230423311279

[Robinxr4i]

Thats lush, some wheels, some stick sorted!

[Thrasher]

Noisy exhaust as well please !

[whitbytom]

OK, Stick, Wheels, Noisy Exhaust. I'll see what I can do!

I tried to open the bonnet to have a look at the lovely V8 check the screenwash yesterday, and there was a little tug on the cable, and then nothing.

I'm guessing the bonnet release cable has snapped, so that's today's little repair job!

[danv8]

Thats a nice 7 you have there

I've always like those.

[whitbytom]

Having investigated the bonnet release problem, it was just me being thick, the bonnet wasn't popping up when the cable was pulled

Boogieman has kindly got me the build sheet for the car from BMW's system (cheers!), and these are the boxes that the first owner ticked:

Colour MOJAVEBRAUN METALLIC (331)
Upholstery SANDBEIGE VOLLEDER MONTANA (0553)
Prod. date 1994-06-24

Order options
No. Description
214 AUTOMATIC STABILITY CONTROL+TRACTION
216 SERVOTRONIC
250 SIDE AIRBAGS F RR COMPARTMENT PASSENGERS
288 LT/ALY WHEELS
302 ALARM SYSTEM
401 SLIDING/VENT ROOF, ELECTRIC
428 WARNING TRIANGLE
438 WOOD TRIM
441 SMOKERS PACKAGE
473 ARMREST, FRONT
500 HEADLIGHT WASHER SYS/INTENSIVE CLEANING
534 AUTOMATIC AIR CONDITIONING
540 CRUISE CONTROL
555 ON-BOARD COMPUTER
672 CD CHANGER BMW FOR 6 CDS
676 HIFI LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
686 DIVERSITY-FUNCTION AERIAL

Annoyingly, at some point in the past, someone's nicked the CD changer. All the wiring's there fortunately, so I'll have to have a search around for a replacement.

While replacing the interior light bulb in the boot I established you could easily fit 2 of me in the boot (I'm 6ft) so if anyone needs a cool car to dump a body, drop me a PM!

[useless inc]

MOJAVEBRAUN is a great colour name.
You should get a multichanger for it no problem as loads of e39's and e38's had them installed.

[jackoM535]

Jan 15, 2010 17:04:13 GMT whitbytom said:

because I'm going to be a dad for the first time at the end of next month.

Congratulations, and for the future dadness

Very nice, so much car for the money, i'm a big fan of the 7 series

[Boogieman]

Jan 16, 2010 19:50:41 GMT whitbytom said:

Boogieman has kindly got me the build sheet for the car from BMW's system (cheers!)

No problem

[johnrh]

Looks nice. Any plans for it?

A good tip is to get the gearbox fluid and filters changed. It's not part of the BMW service schedule, so hardly ever gets done. And... surprise surprise... the boxes have a reputation for failing between 100 and 150k.

Go to an auto gearbox specilaist (not a BMW dealer/specialist). I paid just over £100 all in to have my e39 540i done.

A rebuilt box is £2000+ fitted

Cheers

John

[whitbytom]

Ah thanks for the tip! I've read a how-to on line so I'll probably do it myself when the weather improves, doesn't look that difficult.

I gave it a wash this morning, (took ages, it's massive!) and it's in surprisingly clean condition, I'd only really scrutinised it in the dark up to now.

Immediate plans are find and fit a CD changer, fix the dead pixels in the A/C display, and keep enjoying driving the thing!

[340i]

sweet beemer. theres plenty of these in nz on 20's and dropped on their sills. its crazy how low they go before they scrub the wheels on anything! they look great too.

[e30fanboy]

I want your engine for my E30!!!

[340i]

Jan 18, 2010 13:46:24 GMT e30fanboy said:

I want your engine for my E30!!!

get a v12. more cubes and they probably fit easier (much narrower and no longer than a 6)

[whitbytom]

Can you get a manual box for the 5.0 V12? Maclaren F1? ;D

[Lewis]

You can, the 850i's came with them now and then.

[johnrh]

Jan 17, 2010 22:13:20 GMT whitbytom said:

Ah thanks for the tip! I've read a how-to on line so I'll probably do it myself when the weather improves, doesn't look that difficult.

Be 100% sure to use the right fluid; the wrong type will kill it. BMW charge a fortune for it!

John

[whitbytom]

Jan 20, 2010 18:06:27 GMT johnrh said:

Jan 17, 2010 22:13:20 GMT whitbytom said:

Ah thanks for the tip! I've read a how-to on line so I'll probably do it myself when the weather improves, doesn't look that difficult.

Be 100% sure to use the right fluid; the wrong type will kill it. BMW charge a fortune for it!
John

I've read a few guides and seen that they're very sensitive to the right fluid. I've also read that in some cases a fluid change can kill the box altogether if any contamination gets in there.
Bearing that in mind, the fact I'll be doing under 3000 miles a year in it, and the fact it shifts perfectly now, I might leave it...
I know BMW say 'sealed for life' and ZF say otherwise but I really don't want a £2.5k gearbox rebuild on my hands...