My BMW 2000 E38 735i SE Individual waft bus
Discussion
Hi all,
I thought it was about time I started a readers thread about my E38 7er.
Some of you may remember that I owned the 38,000 mile E39 530i Champagne Edition II and E46 330i Sport Individual (readers threads are on here); both of which I sold last year.
After spending several months in a F06 last year and as fantastic an appliance it was, I wanted to go back to a modern classic so I sold the F06.
After spending time about what I wanted, I settled on a E38 with my must haves being 2000+, comfort seats, individual, as factory original as possible, little rust, preferably a V8 and evidence of good maintenance.
So step forward this 119k 2000 E38 735i SE Individual which I bought a couple of months ago. It is in Orient Blue with Individual Interior (Sand Beige with blue piping).
When I first saw it, I was a little perplexed as to why it was wearing the style 37 18" M Parallel wheels thinking that the previous owner had removed the SE wheels and put these on. However, looking at the build sheet, the original owner actually spec'd the car with these wheels (plus a few other extra goodies) so that was great to see!
I have to say that the comfort seats in these are absolutely fantastic. It makes for a proper waft bus! I love how much adjustment there is in the seats (they are active / massaging seats too). The matching blue piping looks spectacular in my opinion.
Getting on to the engine; wow what a noise! Whilst it certainly won't win any drag races, going through the gears and gaining speed sounds amazing and effortless. I also love how the roar of the fan as you accelerate from idle (which stops past 2.5k rpm).
There is also plenty of evidence of maintenance (with quite a bit of work done at BM Sport).
So here is the sellers photo of the car. As you can see, it has the white indicator lights fitted.
It does comes with the original blue ultra luxury mats although (in excellent condition) these are not shown in the photo.
And here it is as of a few weeks ago. I have changed the white lenses to the orange ones (OEM ones) as to how it left the factory.
In the photos below, the side door indicator shows it as white, however these have since been changed to orange due to a long back-log / delay at BMW for these.
Lots mote updates to come!
I thought it was about time I started a readers thread about my E38 7er.
Some of you may remember that I owned the 38,000 mile E39 530i Champagne Edition II and E46 330i Sport Individual (readers threads are on here); both of which I sold last year.
After spending several months in a F06 last year and as fantastic an appliance it was, I wanted to go back to a modern classic so I sold the F06.
After spending time about what I wanted, I settled on a E38 with my must haves being 2000+, comfort seats, individual, as factory original as possible, little rust, preferably a V8 and evidence of good maintenance.
So step forward this 119k 2000 E38 735i SE Individual which I bought a couple of months ago. It is in Orient Blue with Individual Interior (Sand Beige with blue piping).
When I first saw it, I was a little perplexed as to why it was wearing the style 37 18" M Parallel wheels thinking that the previous owner had removed the SE wheels and put these on. However, looking at the build sheet, the original owner actually spec'd the car with these wheels (plus a few other extra goodies) so that was great to see!
I have to say that the comfort seats in these are absolutely fantastic. It makes for a proper waft bus! I love how much adjustment there is in the seats (they are active / massaging seats too). The matching blue piping looks spectacular in my opinion.
Getting on to the engine; wow what a noise! Whilst it certainly won't win any drag races, going through the gears and gaining speed sounds amazing and effortless. I also love how the roar of the fan as you accelerate from idle (which stops past 2.5k rpm).
There is also plenty of evidence of maintenance (with quite a bit of work done at BM Sport).
So here is the sellers photo of the car. As you can see, it has the white indicator lights fitted.
It does comes with the original blue ultra luxury mats although (in excellent condition) these are not shown in the photo.
And here it is as of a few weeks ago. I have changed the white lenses to the orange ones (OEM ones) as to how it left the factory.
In the photos below, the side door indicator shows it as white, however these have since been changed to orange due to a long back-log / delay at BMW for these.
Lots mote updates to come!
Edited by Mani59 on Sunday 12th March 19:40
Hope the fuel tank is ok...
Seriously though - hope you've checked it as it is the achilles heel of all E38's. I had to spend out on the larger OEM 95l tank for my E38 last year but the non-V12 and swb cars make do with an 85l tank for which there is an aftermarket alternative.
I remember seeing that car for sale as it has an unusual spec with massage but not heated seats IIRC - the massage seats are very rare on any E38's and the heated seats are rare on anything but the V12's where they were standard spec.
I agree on Orient blue being a nice colour - I had this E34 540i/6 Touring in that colour...
Seriously though - hope you've checked it as it is the achilles heel of all E38's. I had to spend out on the larger OEM 95l tank for my E38 last year but the non-V12 and swb cars make do with an 85l tank for which there is an aftermarket alternative.
I remember seeing that car for sale as it has an unusual spec with massage but not heated seats IIRC - the massage seats are very rare on any E38's and the heated seats are rare on anything but the V12's where they were standard spec.
I agree on Orient blue being a nice colour - I had this E34 540i/6 Touring in that colour...
McGee_22 said:
Hope the fuel tank is ok...
Seriously though - hope you've checked it as it is the achilles heel of all E38's. I had to spend out on the larger OEM 95l tank for my E38 last year but the non-V12 and swb cars make do with an 85l tank for which there is an aftermarket alternative.
I remember seeing that car for sale as it has an unusual spec with massage but not heated seats IIRC - the massage seats are very rare on any E38's and the heated seats are rare on anything but the V12's where they were standard spec.
I agree on Orient blue being a nice colour - I had this E34 540i/6 Touring in that colour...
Knowing how Mani operates; it will have been thoroughly checked over Seriously though - hope you've checked it as it is the achilles heel of all E38's. I had to spend out on the larger OEM 95l tank for my E38 last year but the non-V12 and swb cars make do with an 85l tank for which there is an aftermarket alternative.
I remember seeing that car for sale as it has an unusual spec with massage but not heated seats IIRC - the massage seats are very rare on any E38's and the heated seats are rare on anything but the V12's where they were standard spec.
I agree on Orient blue being a nice colour - I had this E34 540i/6 Touring in that colour...
Mani59 said:
Hi all,
I thought it was about time I started a readers thread about my E38 7er.
Some of you may remember that I owned the 38,000 mile E39 530i Champagne Edition II and E46 330i Sport Individual (readers threads are on here); both of which I sold last year.
After spending several months in a F06 last year and as fantastic an appliance it was, I wanted to go back to a modern classic so I sold the F06.
After spending time about what I wanted, I settled on a E38 with my must haves being 2000+, comfort seats, individual, as factory original as possible, little rust, preferably a V8 and evidence of good maintenance.
So step forward this 119k 2000 E38 735i SE Individual which I bought a couple of months ago. It is in Orient Blue with Individual Interior (Sand Beige with blue piping).
When I first saw it, I was a little perplexed as to why it was wearing the style 37 18" M Parallel wheels thinking that the previous owner had removed the SE wheels and put these on. However, looking at the build sheet, the original owner actually spec'd the car with these wheels (plus a few other extra goodies) so that was great to see!
I have to say that the comfort seats in these are absolutely fantastic. It makes for a proper waft bus! I love how much adjustment there is in the seats (they are active / massaging seats too). The matching blue piping looks spectacular in my opinion.
Getting on to the engine; wow what a noise! Whilst it certainly won't win any drag races, going through the gears and gaining speed sounds amazing and effortless. I also love how the roar of the fan as you accelerate from idle (which stops past 2.5k rpm).
There is also plenty of evidence of maintenance (with quite a bit of work done at BM Sport).
So here is the sellers photo of the car. As you can see, it has the white indicator lights fitted.
It does comes with the original blue ultra luxury mats although (in excellent condition) these are not shown in the photo.
And here it is as of a few weeks ago. I have changed the white lenses to the orange ones (OEM ones) as to how it left the factory.
In the photos below, the side door indicator shows it as white, however these have since been changed to orange due to a long back-log / delay at BMW for these.
Lots mote updates to come!
Another stunning car Mani; you're getting as bad as me I thought it was about time I started a readers thread about my E38 7er.
Some of you may remember that I owned the 38,000 mile E39 530i Champagne Edition II and E46 330i Sport Individual (readers threads are on here); both of which I sold last year.
After spending several months in a F06 last year and as fantastic an appliance it was, I wanted to go back to a modern classic so I sold the F06.
After spending time about what I wanted, I settled on a E38 with my must haves being 2000+, comfort seats, individual, as factory original as possible, little rust, preferably a V8 and evidence of good maintenance.
So step forward this 119k 2000 E38 735i SE Individual which I bought a couple of months ago. It is in Orient Blue with Individual Interior (Sand Beige with blue piping).
When I first saw it, I was a little perplexed as to why it was wearing the style 37 18" M Parallel wheels thinking that the previous owner had removed the SE wheels and put these on. However, looking at the build sheet, the original owner actually spec'd the car with these wheels (plus a few other extra goodies) so that was great to see!
I have to say that the comfort seats in these are absolutely fantastic. It makes for a proper waft bus! I love how much adjustment there is in the seats (they are active / massaging seats too). The matching blue piping looks spectacular in my opinion.
Getting on to the engine; wow what a noise! Whilst it certainly won't win any drag races, going through the gears and gaining speed sounds amazing and effortless. I also love how the roar of the fan as you accelerate from idle (which stops past 2.5k rpm).
There is also plenty of evidence of maintenance (with quite a bit of work done at BM Sport).
So here is the sellers photo of the car. As you can see, it has the white indicator lights fitted.
It does comes with the original blue ultra luxury mats although (in excellent condition) these are not shown in the photo.
And here it is as of a few weeks ago. I have changed the white lenses to the orange ones (OEM ones) as to how it left the factory.
In the photos below, the side door indicator shows it as white, however these have since been changed to orange due to a long back-log / delay at BMW for these.
Lots mote updates to come!
Edited by Mani59 on Sunday 12th March 19:40
The E38 7er was peak 7 series IMO (and a lot of everyone else's too)!
I'd have loved another E38 but I didn't want to move back to another older car; my times with the older BMWs are done I'd say, currently loving the F31 I bought
I'll be following this thread as per the norm
That's lovely - the last good looking 7 series to my eyes.
An uncle had a 735i way back; dark blue with a cream (possible lemon) interior on M Parallel's. It was a lovely thing to waft around in and I got to drive it - for a big (at the time) car, it didn't feel all that big to drive.
An uncle had a 735i way back; dark blue with a cream (possible lemon) interior on M Parallel's. It was a lovely thing to waft around in and I got to drive it - for a big (at the time) car, it didn't feel all that big to drive.
Hi all,
Thank you all for the kind words!
The E46 and E34 Orient Blue examples above are stunning!
The really good thing about this example is that it is virtually rust free, both on the bodywork and underside. It may have something to do with it being used quite carefully by its first couple of owners and then garaged. But nevertheless, the fuel tank replacement is a job for next year.
I saw your F31 and it is lovely and really pleased to hear that you are getting on well with it!
I tried that with my F06 but missed the older stuff too much!
Did the BMW forum5 ever get up and running again!?
Thank you all for the kind words!
The E46 and E34 Orient Blue examples above are stunning!
McGee_22 said:
Hope the fuel tank is ok...
Seriously though - hope you've checked it as it is the achilles heel of all E38's. I had to spend out on the larger OEM 95l tank for my E38 last year but the non-V12 and swb cars make do with an 85l tank for which there is an aftermarket alternative.
I remember seeing that car for sale as it has an unusual spec with massage but not heated seats IIRC - the massage seats are very rare on any E38's and the heated seats are rare on anything but the V12's where they were standard spec.
I agree on Orient blue being a nice colour - I had this E34 540i/6 Touring in that colour...
Thanks! When I was looking for my E38, there were 4 main jobs I allowed for to undertake at my specialist if it had no evidence of the works ever been done. Number one was the timing chain guides / tensioner (if it was a V8), second was a gearbox service if there was no evidence of it having been done, third was the fuel tank replacement and forth was the cooling system.Seriously though - hope you've checked it as it is the achilles heel of all E38's. I had to spend out on the larger OEM 95l tank for my E38 last year but the non-V12 and swb cars make do with an 85l tank for which there is an aftermarket alternative.
I remember seeing that car for sale as it has an unusual spec with massage but not heated seats IIRC - the massage seats are very rare on any E38's and the heated seats are rare on anything but the V12's where they were standard spec.
I agree on Orient blue being a nice colour - I had this E34 540i/6 Touring in that colour...
The really good thing about this example is that it is virtually rust free, both on the bodywork and underside. It may have something to do with it being used quite carefully by its first couple of owners and then garaged. But nevertheless, the fuel tank replacement is a job for next year.
d_a_n1979 said:
Another stunning car Mani; you're getting as bad as me
The E38 7er was peak 7 series IMO (and a lot of everyone else's too)!
I'd have loved another E38 but I didn't want to move back to another older car; my times with the older BMWs are done I'd say, currently loving the F31 I bought
I'll be following this thread as per the norm
Thanks Dan! I still remember the photos of your stunning grey E38. So sad that it got written off I think?The E38 7er was peak 7 series IMO (and a lot of everyone else's too)!
I'd have loved another E38 but I didn't want to move back to another older car; my times with the older BMWs are done I'd say, currently loving the F31 I bought
I'll be following this thread as per the norm
I saw your F31 and it is lovely and really pleased to hear that you are getting on well with it!
I tried that with my F06 but missed the older stuff too much!
Did the BMW forum5 ever get up and running again!?
roadie said:
Contrary to the popular opinion so far I prefer the clear indicator lenses.
Lovely car, I can imagine it would be serene inside.
Thanks and its great to hear all opinions! I did ponder about keeping the white lenses since it does make the car look more modern (in my opinion) and get matching clear lights for the rear too. But for me, I decided that I wanted originality / factory fresh look so decided to keep the orange lights I fitted.Lovely car, I can imagine it would be serene inside.
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