[Sarc]

A distant family member had a 740i sport (the sporty shorty) up to 180k miles and still looked like new (aside from some seat sag) when he sold it. Looked fantastic in anthracite. I've heard the horror stories as well (don't all luxo barges have them?), but his was pretty stout. Of course it was an open checkbook car.

I've always like them and have bookmarked comments on them when the question pops up from time to time. I read them occasionally, then quickly decide I'll keep driving my E30 a little more.

A couple highlights (not my comments):

"An poorly maintained or rusty E38 should just cause you to walk away. Well maintained E38's can be expensive to keep up. Once that aren't would be the money pit of BMW's of that age group. There is lots to read about common problems with the V8. In addition, there are HVAC issues, window regulators, transmission and diffs (without fluid change) issues, and obviously, the entire cooling systems need to be replaced every 60k. I would find the best car you can afford, and if a good one is not in your price range, move along to another choice. The difference between the sport package and non-sport models, in terms of actual driving pleasure, is significant. One is fun, one is not. "

"As some one who writes service, wrenches on and generally observes all makes and models on a daily basis. The E39 is just as expensive to service and repair as a 740i. All of those listed above have gastronimical repair cost associated with one or more systems on each particular car. V8 BMW's are quite expensive just in the sub systems, but really suffer from neglected maintenance. I would suggest a 530 or 528 Sport wagon, just to avoid the nearly $1300 water cooled alternator (that does fail) of the V8."

There's a decent buyers guide from Bimmer magazine that touches on the these cars. A quick search could probably yield a downloadable pdf.