BMW 740i Sport - Daily driver thoughts?

[Chocaholic]

Reposting. Mysterious gremlins affected other thread. Perhaps a bad omen for one considering the purchase of this car.

Case in point: 2000 740i Sport (M-Steering Wheel, 18's, M-Seats, firmer suspension, .8" lower, etc.). It's available locally for just under $18k although I haven't looked at it yet. Seems to be a nice car in black with tan leather, 79k mi., Nav, Premium sound, 6 disc CD, and the list goes on.

I've always liked the pre-Bangle 7 series and am in need of a comfortable daily driver. I prefer the look of the "i" over the "iL" and it offers plenty of rear leg room for my needs.

Does anyone have any experience regarding reliability, achillies heels, fuel economy, etc?

Thanks for your input.

[the]

We had one exactly like that for 3 years.

It was a good car, no major problems at all, but some electrial glitches that were fixed under warranty. The factory phone never worked right, either. iDrive is a disaster. Very annoying to do simple things like adjust the climate control or even the radio.

Fuel economy was surprisingly good, esp. on the highway.

It's a great driving car, really nice feel, sounds good, good power, etc. Certainly no complaints about the way it drove. We put around 50,000 miles on it.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Chocaholic
Reposting. Mysterious gremlins affected other thread. Perhaps a bad omen for one considering the purchase of this car.

Case in point: 2000 740i Sport (M-Steering Wheel, 18's, M-Seats, firmer suspension, .8" lower, etc.). It's available locally for just under $18k although I haven't looked at it yet. Seems to be a nice car in black with tan leather, 79k mi., Nav, Premium sound, 6 disc CD, and the list goes on.

I've always liked the pre-Bangle 7 series and am in need of a comfortable daily driver. I prefer the look of the "i" over the "iL" and it offers plenty of rear leg room for my needs.

Does anyone have any experience regarding reliability, achillies heels, fuel economy, etc?

Thanks for your input.

No direct experience with the 7-series but some of the equipment is identical to that on the 540i, which is my wife's car now.

The engine is essentially rock solid, but verify that oil changes were followed, and the radiator is either new, or at least not leaking. Make sure no "Stop Leak" has been introduced into the cooling system to avoid a radiator replacement. The dash LED alphanumeric display may have missing dots in it's matrix, common, but expensive to replace, the only option since it's not repairable. You will have the early small Nav screen, which is somewhat easily upgraded to the large display and Mark IV DVD system, for under $2000.00. It has one disk that stays in the Nav box, located in the trunk.

Expect to replace the front suspension bushings if they've not been done or are more than 40k miles old.

I can't think of any other issues, though there may be some. It's a large car, but if you have mostly a highway commute, you'll likely get nearly 20 mpg in it, more on trips.

Oh, yes, the e38 is a Bangle design, as was the e39.

[Chocaholic]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm blown away that this model was a Bangle design. Perhaps that was before he gave up the hard stuff...or perhaps, before he started!

Anyone else?

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Chocaholic
Thanks for the comments guys. I'm blown away that this model was a Bangle design. Perhaps that was before he gave up the hard stuff...or perhaps, before he started!

Anyone else?

I think BMW hadn't allowed him full control yet, the last non-bangle stuff was the e34 5-series and the e32 7-series. Since the target audience of the 7-series were considered to be somewhat staid, in a sporting way, the e38 wasn't a huge change in appearance from a distance, it's way different if you see them side-by-side, though.

if a bit of traveling were in my annual expected road time, i'd certainly consider one.

[m325ix]

IMHO the e38 was the best 7 series ever ! Awesome car ! And by 2000 most of the bugs were fixed. The SWB sport model is awesome, go for it, you won't regret it, just get an extended warranty !

[epbrown]

Engine-wise, the 7-series is as solid as any other BMW. The 7 is prone to electrical gremlins because the car has so many gadgets, lots of them being tried for the first time - the price of staying "state of the art." Like a lot of high-end luxury cars, some stuff doesn't get fixed to factory specs because it would cost 20% or more of the car's value (usually climate control or suspension). I too like the SWB 7 series, but I'd want to look for one with as few gadgets as possible. My dream 7-series is a late E32 with the E34 M5 engine (S38) swapped in.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
That's not correct. Joji Nagashima was responsible for the E39 5-Series design, one of the best there ever has been. Bangle joined BMW in 1992 - the E39 design was complete by then. Claus Luthe was the head of design at BMW at the time, the role that Chris Bangle currently holds. Nagashima is also responsible for the E36 and E90 as well...

-Wayne

I'll take your word for it, I was repeating what I've read in Roundel long ago, perhaps they were incorrect.

[89911]

I was very interested in the 740. Wayne's right about the facts, also no I drive yet on this car. The sport sounds fun, but I was very close to the 740il. If you have never sat in the back of that car, it makes you feel like your a visiting Diplomat on his way to the UN. Tons of leg room. Unfortunately, it has a large tranny hump in the back seats, so it really is a 3 ton, 4 passenger car. These cars has some severe engine problems, (the one I was looking at just had a brand new engine replaced at the dealer). Kind of like the 850 better, older brother with less headaches. Looks fantastic in black and tinted windows.

[VincentVega]

Make sure you never let it overheat. A buddy melted, literally, his 740 after a hose blew on the highway. In my area you see 740's for 8-14k everyday, the engine replacement was at least that muc.

Great car on the highway

[Drago]

I love my 740il:



I've experienced most of the bugs mentioned here. No big deal. Fantastic car.

[wludavid]

My opinion on 7's: If you drive a 911, an e38 will seem rock solid reliable and downright cheap to own!

They have weak points -- cooling systems sucks -- radiators, expansion tanks and water pumps need to be replaced on a fairly regular (and more frequent than you think) basis. BMW V8s are not the bulletproof beasts the I6s are. The valve cover gaskets don't last very long and are hard to get to. Front suspension "thrust arms" are weak and will require replacing by now if they haven't been done. Rear window regulators will both need replacing within the next 30k miles -- $200 part + 2 hours labor each. Sport package alignment specs will CHEW through expensive 18" tires like you won't believe.

IF you go in with open eyes, they are fantasic cars like Drago says. You won't believe how well the 4000lb beasts handle and how quiet and well-behaved they are when cruising.

[the]

Originally posted by 89911
These cars has some severe engine problems, (the one I was looking at just had a brand new engine replaced at the dealer). Kind of like the 850 better, older brother with less headaches. Looks fantastic in black and tinted windows.

"Severe engine problems," I assume you are referring to the Nikasil engine cylinder corrosion problems, which indeed were severe and too common.

By 2000, though, the V8 had gone to the Alusil block, and there are no known, common, severe engine problems with the 2000 model year.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by the
"Severe engine problems," I assume you are referring to the Nikasil engine cylinder corrosion problems, which indeed were severe and too common.

By 2000, though, the V8 had gone to the Alusil block, and there are no known, common, severe engine problems with the 2000 model year.

That's correct, the e34's with the 4.0 V8's had most of the problems, with a lower percentage of e32-e38 7-series having the nikasil blocks, and for reasons unknown having fewer problems even when they had the nikasil engines. BMW replaced the blocks under warranty through 100,000 miles or a specified year, I don't remember what year it ended. Your engine had to fail a compression check for replacement I think.

I'm ordering a new radiator for my wife's '00 e39 540i this week, and a new hood roundel. Gotta keep those roundel's looking fine.

[Fellowship]

I had looked at the 2000 740i sport as well. Seems like alot of car for the money. I have always liked the 7 series, but had no idea how fast they depreciated.

Are the extended warranties expensive? Are they worth the money?

[Spede]

You can pick up a 7 series in the Bay Area all day for under $9-10k.