BMW 750

I see these on Craigs List for stupid cheap. What gives? Is that engine swap fodder? Or just keep looking. Funny, we also have 31 Miata under 2000.00. Rust free Florida, FTW.

I seem to remember the rule of thumb on BMW 5 and 7 series to be that the sale price on C-list is 20% of the cost of ownership over the next 18 mos...give or take. Thats probably why they are so cheap.

The trouble is that there is SO much variability there. A 535i or 735i is (mechanically) an anvil. Put a V12 in there (or even V8) and things get significantly more complex and expensive.

I want to put a M70 into an e28 (or e34, probably much easier to do) so damned bad.

Parts for the v12s aren't any more expensive than comparable BMW parts, except that there's two of everything. That car basically has two I6s joined at the crank. Two engine computers, two fuel systems, two of EVERYTHING. The idea was that you could have a catastrophic mechanical or electrical failure on one system and the car would just keep going on 6 cylinders like nothing happened. Diagnosing a miss or other running problem can get a little odd, but they're otherwise pretty stout motors. Nice power and smooth as silk as well.

cwh wrote: Rust free Florida, FTW.

Tim could probably pay for his trip to Carlisle every Spring by bringing a couple of these rust-free Miatas and selling them in the corral for a profit. They're like hen's teeth in PA.

My concern with any "cheap" newer BMW is does everything work? Like all of the fiddly interior and computer bits?

One of the selling points on my E30 (besides being rust-free) - and why I felt it was worth the price - is that everything works in the car. The dash OBC, the overhead OBC, the A/C, the cruise... everything. If I were looking for a track-rat, the importance of those things may be different, but I wasn't. IMHO, with a 7-series being a premium luxury car, those things matter even more.

It just surprises me that good looking examples are under 2000.00 for cars that cost a cubic butt-load a few years ago. If I didn't want a Volvo Turbo wagon so much, I might be tempted.

The horrors of owning a BMW V12 actually make an XJS V12 start to look good!

no way

BMWphiles run from 750's. All of them. Do not get one, ever.

Yeah but couldn't you dress up the engine and make it into a cool coffee table?

would running said V12 on something more accessible, like a MegaSquirt, improve things at all?

What's with this forum and being afraid of German cars? A BMW v12 isn't even in the same nightmare universe as a jag.

skruffy wrote: What's with this forum and being afraid of German cars? A BMW v12 isn't even in the same nightmare universe as a jag.

And yet the E30 is part of the holy trinity....

peter wrote: would running said V12 on something more accessible, like a MegaSquirt, improve things at all?

Not sure. In theory, yes, but I think the V12's are VANOS and I'm not sure if/how MS would interface with that.

As my g/f has a long-term desire for an 8 series, we've pretty much decided on the V12 version. Either will be hell for me to work on, but since the prices for both are roughly the same and it wouldn't be a primary car by any means and could be down for long periods if necessary, the chutzpa of having a "V12" badge outweighs the downsides. The funny part is back in 1992, a new 850 would have cost more than we paid for my house at the same time.

The mechanics of the BMW V12 are good, it's the electronics that scare people away - they're complicated and expensive to replace.

My BMW indy cringe with the mention of the BMW v12. Like Stu said . . .the electronics is mostly the deal breaker. Two of everything gets pricey really quick.

There are a ton of cheap 740 and 750 around here. All of them need either a new trans or some electronic bug tracked down and squashed . . . both are pricey. Most of these cars end up in the hand of peeps that don't maintain them very well. And when their 10K luxo cruiser breaks and they are fronted with $3-4K repair, they dump em for cheap.

skruffy wrote: What's with this forum and being afraid of German cars? A BMW v12 isn't even in the same nightmare universe as a jag.

egg SACTLY

I guess I'm glad a lot of your are sissies so I don't have a bunch of competition when I buy one some day.

One day, I'll have a Megasquirted M70 in something smaller than a 750.

But I think the only manual trans that will bolt up to the V12 (in the USA) is the 6 speed from the 850. That would be an expensive box.

Someone on here has a 750, I was very close to trading my XR4ti for it, but couldn't get over the idea of having an autotragic trans.

I'm also reasonably sure that they are not a vanos engine.

belteshazzar wrote: I'm also reasonably sure that they are not a vanos engine.

Positively sure the M70 is non-Vanos.

it's been a long time, I forget stuff. thanks.

Need a new battery? Factory service manual says it's something like an 7 or is it an 11 hour job. To replace the battery. The BATTERY.

In reply to Jay_W:

It really sounds like these cars are begging for a Megasquirt.

Jay_W wrote: Need a new battery? Factory service manual says it's something like an 7 or is it an 11 hour job. To replace the battery. The BATTERY.

Yeah, a friend who's a BMW tech told me that. The battery is under the back seat, which has power recline built in - it's a real ordeal to remove.

Another scary one was the price of a new alternator from the dealer - they had a list price of around $1100 if I recall correctly. New ones are NLA, but they still sell rebuilts for around $550.