Wasn’t there some brave sole that bought a 10 year old(ish) 7 series that wasn’t running. Something to do with the fuel pumps, but you had to remove the rear seat, but you couldn’t as that was electrically operated etc etc. I thought he got it dirt cheap/ I don’t seem to be able to find the thread, but I’d love an update.
Are you talking about me?
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/teach-me-750il/50036/page1/
It is running... Still waiting on the title at the moment..
I am a bit distracted by a Spirit R/T at the moment.
That's the one, I didn't realize you'd got it running. Well done. Update with pics time?
Was that an E38? I'm looking at one right now also....
chandlerGTi wrote: Was that an E38? I'm looking at one right now also....
The 750 ronholm bought was an E32. I believe Chris_V is the resident E38 expert, though I know a thing or two about them as well from when I shopped them for my dad.
Do they all have trans issues? I'm looking at an 01 with a dead trans; 78k for 2200. Seems like a lot of car for the price.
chandlerGTi wrote: Do they all have trans issues? I'm looking at an 01 with a dead trans; 78k for 2200. Seems like a lot of car for the price.
BMW sent them from a factory with a "lifetime fill" which basically means that they don't want to waste money on fluid changes while the car is still in warranty. It can still be changed, you just do it manual trans style from under the car. Unfortunately many owners take BMW's "lifetime fill" at its word and claim it never needs to be changed...and many have dead transmissions as a result. A drain, fill, and filter change every 50k goes a long way for these cars. NEVER EVER FLUSH! ONLY DRAIN AND FILL!
Some had GM gearboxes (not too much $$$ to R&R) and some had ZF (hold on to your wallet). There is a colored tag on the bottom of the trans that will identify which you have.
Is it a 740i, 740il, or 750il? I generally steer people away from the il's because of the wonky self leveling rear suspension and the 750 in particular because the V12 is pretty difficult to work on. ronholm seems to have gotten lucky with the SLS on his E32 but you can see his anxieties about giving the V12 a tune-up in the thread.
It seems like a lot of car for the price because there is potential for a LOT to go wrong. Lots of owners get to a certain point with the 7er and give up since the repair bills would far outweigh the car's value. Required maintenance around 100k, like all newer BMWs, includes a full cooling system replacement and a ton of suspension work. I have seen a fair amount of cars just north of 100k with timing chain issues too (seems to be more of a poor maintenance thing though). And that's ignoring all the luxo-barge stuff waiting to go wrong.
If you are a DIY'er they can be a great value as far as a lot of car for not much money but values are really tanking so don't expect to turn a profit.
Yeah I had an E39 touring at the 100k mark so I know about that. This one is a 740il. I'll wait till he comes down on the price or till he scraps it, lol.
I need to keep reading threads like this as every so often I come across one that sounds so appealing and I start thinking that maybe......................and then I re-read previous post.^^^^
Someone needs to buy a 740i and sell all the wonky stuff on fleaBay, get it under $2,000, and take it to the Challenge. With loud exhaust. :-)
SlickDizzy wrote: BMW sent them from a factory with a "lifetime fill" which basically means that they don't want to waste money on fluid changes while the car is still in warranty. Unfortunately many owners take BMW's "lifetime fill" at its word and claim it never needs to be changed...and many have dead transmissions as a result.
We joke that lifetime fill is the truth. When the fluid is degraded, transmission's life is over, the new trans gets new fluid.
Those same owners who claim "YORE TRYING TO RIP ME OFF OMG" are the ones who complain when their car is dead due to lack of maintenance. Nobody enjoys having to spend money on their car, of course, but some of them act like it's our fault that they didn't want to maintain it...
A drain, fill, and filter change every 50k goes a long way for these cars. NEVER EVER FLUSH! ONLY DRAIN AND FILL!
Why no flush? We do it all the time, no issues. We also use synthetic Dexron in Euro transmissions (including VW DSG autos!) with never a long-term problem, on the advice of the trans shop who we deal with. We've had exactly zero comebacks from them over the years, so we believe what they say about fluids.
chandlerGTi wrote: Do they all have trans issues? I'm looking at an 01 with a dead trans; 78k for 2200. Seems like a lot of car for the price.
its a 01 with 78k on it. if the car is all there and not beat to hell and back, body and interior clean. i will give you $2500.00 for it.
Knurled wrote: Why no flush? We do it all the time, no issues. We also use synthetic Dexron in Euro transmissions (including VW DSG autos!) with never a long-term problem, on the advice of the trans shop who we deal with. We've had exactly zero comebacks from them over the years, so we believe what they say about fluids.
I've seen flushes do more harm than good in a lot of cases, as in a lot of transmissions E36 M3 the bed 5-10k miles after. You probably have more direct experiences than I do, and admittedly most failures seem to be on already-overdue boxes from having that gunk blown through during the flush. However, my experience is that flushes are very risky on any high-mile trans, even if well maintained. Apparently some just don't like the pressure and will blow out seals and so forth during the process. My dad's E39 is north of 220k on the original autobox with nothing but drain-and-fills, so I'm inclined to believe it's a safer alternative to a pressurized flush.
yeha, the flushes are great if you have under 100k on the trans. I'd be worried about it on a higher mileage trans (mine had 143 on the original fluid when I got it, so I left it and it was still working fine at 185k miles). Also, my 740iL did not have the self leveling rear suspension. I beleive that was on the 750s, and optional on the later 740iLs. The V12 IS harder to work on, by a little, but it's more reliable than the V8s overall, so it's really a wash.
Personally, I'd pass on a 740 with a bad trans, as for the cost of the car AND a trans and the labor to put it in, you can get a good running car these days (though an '01 Sport will stil run you about $9-12k). Unless of course, for that $2k it IS an aforementioned '01 Sport (SWB only, as the LWB Sports are only an appearance package, with just the wheels and shadowline trim), as it would then be worth it to source a replacement trans.
DWNSHFT wrote: Someone needs to buy a 740i and sell all the wonky stuff on fleaBay, get it under $2,000, and take it to the Challenge. With loud exhaust. :-)
No they don't 
We just did the did the drain and fill along with all of the seals and other crap on Mrs. Zero's 740i.
My indy said the same thing Chris_V and SD regarding the transmission. Ours had the dreaded "Stop and Go" fault along with the lock-unlock torque converter manlfunction.
The drain and fill took care of the tc problem. I still have to check for the stop and go fault.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
If you were closer (NC/SC/GA), CL is littered with sub $2K E38s with transmission problems. There is one locally that I want to see if the seller will call me back. It has a blown motor. If I get it and transmission is good, anyone on the board is welcome to to it for cheap.
Strike_Zero wrote: In reply to Adrian_Thompson: If you were closer (NC/SC/GA), CL is littered with sub $2K E38s with transmission problems. There is one locally that I want to see if the seller will call me back. It has a blown motor. If I get it and transmission is good, anyone on the board is welcome to to it for cheap.
I’ve no personal interest in owning one, I just think it’s an awesome project to DIY a late model Luxo car like this that scares the bejebuss out of sane people!
They are fairly easy to work on. I would've done the work on ours, but due to it being the only auto car we have that she could drive to PT, it became a time critical issue.
So far we have less than $5k in ours, including the purchase of the car.
Cutter67 would have time down here if he wanted an E38 . . . So many to choose from.
What kills me about the car....
"High quality"
It is easy to see much greater care went into designing the car... The fit the finish are all much greater than nearly anything else of the same vintage.
Yet at the end of the day it is more likely to break... and cost you more when it does..
It is a weird definition of quality if you ask me..
I still dunno what I am going to do with the car. It sounds ridiculously awesome.. It is sure nice enough to drive... but dang... Low teens MPG's.....
New tune up parts are kinda $$$$$ compared to what I am used to... But this means a couple things.. Dead parts cars are cheap... but they generally need the same stuff...
Heck.. I found some quality spark plug wires on Rock cheap... 175 bucks A SIDE 
I want to cut it up and make a locost type thing out of it... Go for the old boat tail speedster look...
but the truth is I will probably dump it off on CL...
Plugs shouldn't cost that much
I normally use plain jane plugs in all my BMWs . . . As long as the gap is right, it runs fine. There was page out there on the interwebs with all of spark plug gap info.
Not plugs... wires... Right now the best price on rockAuto is 168.00 and you need 2...
Although I do have to admit most things do seem to not be quite as far out of whack as that... and the Spark plug wire setup really is pretty slick... but dang....
ronholm wrote: What kills me about the car.... "High quality" It is easy to see much greater care went into designing the car... The fit the finish are all much greater than nearly anything else of the same vintage. Yet at the end of the day it is more likely to break... and cost you more when it does.. It is a weird definition of quality if you ask me..
As pointed out by a trainer... Part of the reason new technology ends up in the ultra-expensive cars first is because new technology is expensive and it's easier to roll it into a $150,000 car than a $15,000 car. Part of it is because new tech is expected in cars like that.
And most of it is because the first people to get new tech are always the beta-testers. High end cars are low volume, and if/WHEN something goes wrong, it's cheaper to replace it under warranty for 1500 cars instead of 1.5 million.
Knurled wrote:ronholm wrote: What kills me about the car.... "High quality" It is easy to see much greater care went into designing the car... The fit the finish are all much greater than nearly anything else of the same vintage. Yet at the end of the day it is more likely to break... and cost you more when it does.. It is a weird definition of quality if you ask me..As pointed out by a trainer... Part of the reason new technology ends up in the ultra-expensive cars first is because new technology is expensive and it's easier to roll it into a $150,000 car than a $15,000 car. Part of it is because new tech is expected in cars like that. And most of it is because the first people to get new tech are always the beta-testers. High end cars are low volume, and if/WHEN something goes wrong, it's cheaper to replace it under warranty for 1500 cars instead of 1.5 million.
I guess that is fair enough... The durn thing sure is loaded compared to 80"s cars..
The trouble with justifying it now... My dads 09 or so F150 has more luxury features, and rides at least as nice... 
gets better gas milage... and makes more power...
Slightly off the OP topic but on the topic of lifetime transmission fluid fills...
About 12 years ago, a little after I retired from high tech I designed a remote start, turbo cool down, anti theft alarm system for my B4 Audi. In the process I ended up reverse engineering a LOT of the B4 electrical system. I sold these to B4 owners because the car came with a woefully inept security system and the S4 and anyone with factory HID headlights drove a hot ticket for thieves. Anyway once the engineering was done on that I realized I knew a LOT about the Audi/VW electrical system and I had time on my hands so I offered my service to a local VW dealer - I would repair difficult customer electrical system problems for flat rate. The kind of thing that the techs seem to hate and have trouble getting to root cause, and an issue that was dragging the VW reliability reputation down. I proposed this to the service manage who was all for it but when I met the lead tech he was all "we have no problems". To see where he was coming from I asked him how often he recommended fluid changes on the ZF trannies in VW. He said never - it is lifetime. This despite ZF saying (see footnote) the fluid needed to be done around 30K the first time. So here was an ASE Master Mechanic that was so brainwashed by AoA/VWoA marketing propaganda he actually believed the line about lifetime fluid. No wonder he saw no electrical problems that werent getting corrected on the first visit (owner feedback, Consumer Reports, and his own service manager not-with-standing). I didnt take the job.
It does seem true that what must have been meant by "lifetime" was until the tranny fails due to lack of a fluid change...or just past the warranty.
(footnote) I personally got confirmation of this directly from ZF when I was considering the need for a tranny fluid change on our 2001 S8 at 30k miles - Audi was saying "never" at the time.
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