Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

[defblade]

E65Ross said:

Lowtimer said:

They need a fair amount of right foot to make progress but the engine is very smooth and sounds nice so it's no hardship. The 728i is not a fast car off the lights in the context of modern cars but nor is it a slow car either. It is perfectly able to keep up with the flow of traffic without screaming its head off, and refined on the motorway. I drive slower cars than that regularly on all sorts of journeys and never feel that I have been made significantly late by absence of 'go'. The quietness and comfort are very pleasant and they do a lot better on fuel than a V8.

This. They aren't fast, but they are adequate. They're a 140mph car. The gearbox means the 0-60 time, in reality, does not reflect on how the car feels once it gets going.

They're pretty superb on the motorway.

I'm following this, as I'm looking for 7 to relax in. My new commute is approx. 14 miles of DC and Mway followed by 3 miles of traffic lights and traffic into town. I'm giving up biking for a bit and have decided (man maths) I deserve some smooth auto luxury if I have to drive, blow the MPG.

BTW, I'm set on an E38 rather than the newer ugly version - price, looks, ease of maintenance and fiddling.

There's lots more tidy, late model, E38 728s about than 740s (the 750 may be a bit silly even for my man maths)... would I feel I'd short-changed myself with a '28 and wish I'd hung on for a good '40?
My hammering about the place at full hoon are over, and I'm man enough to care about the traffic light GP with chavvy Corsas, but I am used to being able to overtake easily on a motorbike (which my previous E46 318 touring and current Grand Vitara 2.0 certainly can't do) and I'd like a fair chunk of power under my left foot for those moments; that's really where I have my main concern about the 2.8 in such a heavy car (I'm thinking back to my E36 325 here, which was great!).

[Krikkit]

If you can afford the fuel I'd go for a 740 or 750. All depends how much of a bill you can stomach really!

[derin100]

I've had two E38 740s in the past but I now drive a 728i Sport as my daily car and have done about 16K miles in it.

Sure, it's not as fast as the 740s (or the 750iL that I once borrowed) but once it's up and running it really isn't a slow thing either. Some may remember that very early morning,high-speed/panic drive that I had to the airport a while back? I didn't run out of performance from the car...I ran out of bottle for fear of my licence!

And the fuel consumption of the M52TUB28 engine really is quite a revelation on a run.

I'm very happy with mine:

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/gallery/index.php?spg...

Probably the best thing would be to go and drive one as see what you think?

[VolvoT5]

Lowtimer said:

They need a fair amount of right foot to make progress but the engine is very smooth and sounds nice so it's no hardship. The 728i is not a fast car off the lights in the context of modern cars but nor is it a slow car either. It is perfectly able to keep up with the flow of traffic without screaming its head off, and refined on the motorway. I drive slower cars than that regularly on all sorts of journeys and never feel that I have been made significantly late by absence of 'go'. The quietness and comfort are very pleasant and they do a lot better on fuel than a V8.

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[derin100]

VolvoT5 said:

Lowtimer said:

They need a fair amount of right foot to make progress but the engine is very smooth and sounds nice so it's no hardship. The 728i is not a fast car off the lights in the context of modern cars but nor is it a slow car either. It is perfectly able to keep up with the flow of traffic without screaming its head off, and refined on the motorway. I drive slower cars than that regularly on all sorts of journeys and never feel that I have been made significantly late by absence of 'go'. The quietness and comfort are very pleasant and they do a lot better on fuel than a V8.

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Well, the thing is, the 728i can actually do over 38mpg at over legal motorway speed.

That 740 above looks horrific!

Pre-lift but with the sills painted to look like a post-lift?
What on Earth is going on with the bumpers?!
Looks like it has been painted all over (literally...rubbing strips, window trims etc) in that ghastly colour.

[defblade]

derin100 said:

Probably the best thing would be to go and drive one as see what you think?

Problem I've got there is I live in deepest Wales... the nearest car to me is a 735 about an hour's drive away (apart from a well-over-priced pre-facelift 750) . I'm sorta hoping to get engine size decided in my head before I have to start spending a whole day to look at each car I fancy in the ads.

VolvoT5 said:

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

And that's NOT one I fancy! In fact, it's tieing for "worst not obviously dented/scrap 7 on sale at the moment" with a tasteful dark purple one that's about somewhere... I think the same seller had another one that looked okay though...

[derin100]

defblade said:

derin100 said:

Probably the best thing would be to go and drive one as see what you think?

Problem I've got there is I live in deepest Wales... the nearest car to me is a 735 about an hour's drive away (apart from a well-over-priced pre-facelift 750) . I'm sorta hoping to get engine size decided in my head before I have to start spending a whole day to look at each car I fancy in the ads.

VolvoT5 said:

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

And that's NOT one I fancy! In fact, it's tieing for "worst not obviously dented/scrap 7 on sale at the moment" with a tasteful dark purple one that's about somewhere... I think the same seller had another one that looked okay though...

Whereabouts in Wales?

[defblade]

derin100 said:

Whereabouts in Wales?

Carmarthenshire, near Crosshands, so a little bit closer to Carmarthen than Swansea.

[derin100]

defblade said:

Carmarthenshire, near Crosshands, so a little bit closer to Carmarthen than Swansea.

Ah! That's quite a long way from me otherwise I would have said we could meet somewhere like Newtown and you could have a drive of mine and see what you think.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

defblade said:

VolvoT5 said:

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

And that's NOT one I fancy! In fact, it's tieing for "worst not obviously dented/scrap 7 on sale at the moment" with a tasteful dark purple one that's about somewhere... I think the same seller had another one that looked okay though...

Crikey, that 740 is all sorts of wrong isn't it? I do like the brown interior, but the exterior is truly horrific.

By way of a more general comment, I'm not sure if those cars had variable servicing, but 9 services in 20 years doesn't reassure me. I much prefer the 'mileage-or-12 months,-whichever-is-sooner' approach.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Cheap Merc 126.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C601442

[Frio3535]

Anyone have ownership experience with the W124 E class? A cheap E280 has come up for sale today and I'm tempted by it. Is the 280 a good engine? Things to look out for?

Edited by Frio3535 on Monday 6th April 18:20

[E65Ross]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

defblade said:

VolvoT5 said:

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

And that's NOT one I fancy! In fact, it's tieing for "worst not obviously dented/scrap 7 on sale at the moment" with a tasteful dark purple one that's about somewhere... I think the same seller had another one that looked okay though...

Crikey, that 740 is all sorts of wrong isn't it? I do like the brown interior, but the exterior is truly horrific.

By way of a more general comment, I'm not sure if those cars had variable servicing, but 9 services in 20 years doesn't reassure me. I much prefer the 'mileage-or-12 months,-whichever-is-sooner' approach.

They do have variable servicing but, unlike what you appear to think, if the mileage is not reached in a given time items are changed, oil for example is within 2 years. Variable servicing like this is a very good approach in my opinion. It means those cars which are driven hard are serviced earlier (if the owners are sticking to what they should)

[dbdb]

derin100 said:

VolvoT5 said:

Lowtimer said:

They need a fair amount of right foot to make progress but the engine is very smooth and sounds nice so it's no hardship. The 728i is not a fast car off the lights in the context of modern cars but nor is it a slow car either. It is perfectly able to keep up with the flow of traffic without screaming its head off, and refined on the motorway. I drive slower cars than that regularly on all sorts of journeys and never feel that I have been made significantly late by absence of 'go'. The quietness and comfort are very pleasant and they do a lot better on fuel than a V8.

Yes but when you have the running costs of a 7 series.... plus 20 to the gallon...... why not just get the 740 with the extra 90bhp or whatever it is.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Well, the thing is, the 728i can actually do over 38mpg at over legal motorway speed.

That 740 above looks horrific!

Pre-lift but with the sills painted to look like a post-lift?
What on Earth is going on with the bumpers?!
Looks like it has been painted all over (literally...rubbing strips, window trims etc) in that ghastly colour.

The paint is particularly bad, but sneakily and I'm not sure I should admit this, I do quite like the burr walnut effect carphone!!

I have never driven a 728i, but have travelled in one as a passenger. It had much better performance than I expected and was a lovely, smooth way to travel. It certainly had enough power to drive in traffic without loosing its composure. I liked it.

[defblade]

derin100 said:

defblade said:

Carmarthenshire, near Crosshands, so a little bit closer to Carmarthen than Swansea.

Ah! That's quite a long way from me otherwise I would have said we could meet somewhere like Newtown and you could have a drive of mine and see what you think.

Feels like it's quite a long way from anywhere when it comes to car hunting! Thanks for the thought though

[S3_Graham]

Not sure if I'm allowed to post this as it was below thread budget but, just got my new barge home. What a car. Suitably impressed to say the least.

[W00DY]

S3_Graham said:

Not sure if I'm allowed to post this as it was below thread budget but, just got my new barge home. What a car. Suitably impressed to say the least.

Looks great!


Two low-mileage lovelies.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lovely-E34-520i-SE-Auto-...


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1988-VOLVO-740-GL-BLUE-/...

[harrykul]

Frio3535 said:

Anyone have ownership experience with the W124 E class?

Edited by Frio3535 on Monday 6th April 18:20

Really? In this thread?

Plenty on knowledge and experience here! It's generally regarded as the smoothest of the 124 engines. Reasonably powerful and economical (relatively). As long as the wiring loom isn't on the way out and the head gasket hasnt blown, most other bits are just service items that need done.

Well worth a look and worth consideration if it isn't rotten.

[harrykul]

S3_Graham said:

Not sure if I'm allowed to post this as it was below thread budget but, just got my new barge home. What a car. Suitably impressed to say the least.

Congratulations Graham! 124s are always welcome on this thread!

More info/spec details/pics please!

[S3_Graham]

harrykul said:

S3_Graham said:

Not sure if I'm allowed to post this as it was below thread budget but, just got my new barge home. What a car. Suitably impressed to say the least.

Congratulations Graham! 124s are always welcome on this thread!

More info/spec details/pics please!

It's just such a cool place to be. It was posted on the thread by Londonbabe aka Niall. I kept it quiet and nipped into town with the GF today. She initially hating the idea but after being chauffeured around the sights in London she really likes it.

It's a 300TE-24, 212,000miles. Interior is pretty much spotless, largely rust free however each arch does have some. Passenger front being the worst, but Niall nicely chucked a replacement in for the price! Drives spot on and has a shed load of history so certainly worth a punt. No proper pictures yet. Not full of spec but electric seats, cruise and a sunroof will keep me happy.

Edited by S3_Graham on Monday 6th April 20:16