RE: Shed Of The Week: BMW 728i
Discussion
+1 on the fuel tank issue.
I was given one of these for a weekend by a friend while his workshop were fixing the gear linkage on my MK1 Golf... many years ago.
I put a full tank of fuel in, drove it about 50 miles, left the car for a few hours and came back to find only a 1/4 tank. Thought it was a bit thirsty. Then it happened again.
When I took it back to him he had a look and the tank had a leak about 1/4 of the way up, hence anytime you left it for any length of time you'd always come back to only 1/4 tank of fuel..... and I'm guessing it wouldn't be a good plan to weld the tank in situ :-)
I was given one of these for a weekend by a friend while his workshop were fixing the gear linkage on my MK1 Golf... many years ago.
I put a full tank of fuel in, drove it about 50 miles, left the car for a few hours and came back to find only a 1/4 tank. Thought it was a bit thirsty. Then it happened again.
When I took it back to him he had a look and the tank had a leak about 1/4 of the way up, hence anytime you left it for any length of time you'd always come back to only 1/4 tank of fuel..... and I'm guessing it wouldn't be a good plan to weld the tank in situ :-)
If it lasts a few months it is not bad value, as long as you resist the urge to fettle, when it dies, sell some bits like the wheels and the scrapman gets the rest.
£425 is cheap to tick the barge box on your PH CV, and always thought these were handsome, certainly more appealing looking than the one that followed, I remember my father in law getting one new, a 730i, Silver M plate, drove it a few times as a relative youngster and loved it, remember him demonstrating the parking sensors and whilst doing so, reversing into my mother in laws car, remember him coming back from B and Q with 20 litres of "Ducksback" in the back, only he had had to stop quickly and it split, coating the entire interior brown, luckily its water based so could get swilled out.
Funny to think they have been around over twenty years.
£425 is cheap to tick the barge box on your PH CV, and always thought these were handsome, certainly more appealing looking than the one that followed, I remember my father in law getting one new, a 730i, Silver M plate, drove it a few times as a relative youngster and loved it, remember him demonstrating the parking sensors and whilst doing so, reversing into my mother in laws car, remember him coming back from B and Q with 20 litres of "Ducksback" in the back, only he had had to stop quickly and it split, coating the entire interior brown, luckily its water based so could get swilled out.
Funny to think they have been around over twenty years.
I took my 728 from 160k to over 200k. They are almost perfect in waftability but the things I found with it were;
Lived in utter fear of the fuel tank letting go. Pretty much a £1600 job if you can find a replacement
Very heavy on suspension components, brakes and tyres
The cooling system was a ticking clock- it was a case of when. Even when I had it all done, the clock reset.
It was a gorgeous car other than that. Looked great, went well enough, lovely sounding straight-six.
I would rather spend £1k+ and get a better one.
Lived in utter fear of the fuel tank letting go. Pretty much a £1600 job if you can find a replacement
Very heavy on suspension components, brakes and tyres
The cooling system was a ticking clock- it was a case of when. Even when I had it all done, the clock reset.
It was a gorgeous car other than that. Looked great, went well enough, lovely sounding straight-six.
I would rather spend £1k+ and get a better one.
They're very good cars when in fine fettle - the 728i performs a lot better than you'd think. It has perfectly respectable performance. They're not nearly as handsome as the E32 though and lack the delicacy and appeal of a Jag, feeling very German to drive. Still, a lot of PHers like that about them.
A good shed of the week, providing it isn't completely buggered.
A good shed of the week, providing it isn't completely buggered.
Such a cheap asking price does tend to make you wary (or weary, if you are a t
t), but some people are just not very smart sellers - like me! I sold my Alfa 166 for £400 with tax and MOT (and ~90k miles), having spent a lot of money not long before on important stuff like timing belt and suspension, simply because I had a perception in my mind that more big bills were just around the corner and I wanted to move it on fairly quickly. That perception had no basis in fact, and I've kicked myself ever since as I miss the car and now they are getting so hard to come by and prices have started to creep up.
It could be a lemon, or, it could be that the guy just sees very little value in it when he knows it needs a new wheel bearing and doesn't want it hanging around for months at double the price.
I just wish cars like this were around when I need them. It never seems to be right time/right place for me. With the little mileage I do I'd easily get 6 months of motoring from that and wouldn't even bother doing the bearing unless it was really bad.
t), but some people are just not very smart sellers - like me! I sold my Alfa 166 for £400 with tax and MOT (and ~90k miles), having spent a lot of money not long before on important stuff like timing belt and suspension, simply because I had a perception in my mind that more big bills were just around the corner and I wanted to move it on fairly quickly. That perception had no basis in fact, and I've kicked myself ever since as I miss the car and now they are getting so hard to come by and prices have started to creep up.It could be a lemon, or, it could be that the guy just sees very little value in it when he knows it needs a new wheel bearing and doesn't want it hanging around for months at double the price.
I just wish cars like this were around when I need them. It never seems to be right time/right place for me. With the little mileage I do I'd easily get 6 months of motoring from that and wouldn't even bother doing the bearing unless it was really bad.
YellowCar said:
It's big, it's cheap - nothing else going for it. It WILL mug you big time.
Really?? Well yes if you decide to keep it tip-top at your local BMW main stealer. But my man-maths says that at £450 it simply can't throw you a bill for more than £250.
If it does you simply live with the fault or if terminal you weigh it in and move onto the next one.
Even if this thing did 6months service, in most peoples book that would be considered £450 well spent. If it borked a year later you'd be quids in and send it off to the crusher with a cheery wave and a 'thank you' note.
Or am I missing something?
Matt UK said:
YellowCar said:
It's big, it's cheap - nothing else going for it. It WILL mug you big time.
Really?? Well yes if you decide to keep it tip-top at your local BMW main stealer. But my man-maths says that at £450 it simply can't throw you a bill for more than £250.
If it does you simply live with the fault or if terminal you weigh it in and move onto the next one.
Even if this thing did 6months service, in most peoples book that would be considered £450 well spent. If it borked a year later you'd be quids in and send it off to the crusher with a cheery wave and a 'thank you' note.
Or am I missing something?
Plus the 2.8 litre engine is ridiculously good on fuel.
Matt UK said:
Really?? Well yes if you decide to keep it tip-top at your local BMW main stealer.
But my man-maths says that at £450 it simply can't throw you a bill for more than £250.
If it does you simply live with the fault or if terminal you weigh it in and move onto the next one.
Even if this thing did 6months service, in most peoples book that would be considered £450 well spent. If it borked a year later you'd be quids in and send it off to the crusher with a cheery wave and a 'thank you' note.
Or am I missing something?
Even if it terminally breaks, it will surely be fetch at least £200 on ebay for parts. But my man-maths says that at £450 it simply can't throw you a bill for more than £250.
If it does you simply live with the fault or if terminal you weigh it in and move onto the next one.
Even if this thing did 6months service, in most peoples book that would be considered £450 well spent. If it borked a year later you'd be quids in and send it off to the crusher with a cheery wave and a 'thank you' note.
Or am I missing something?
The trap is spending a small fortune rebuilding everything that isn't perfect. Probably what I would end up doing.
Bought one a while ago and still running it. Cooling system needed replacing (ECP expansion tank was only 2 years old but split again) and all the wear and tear things went too. Bushes are knackered too and I am starting to get the steering shimmy again. However the funniest thing is the head unit which occasionally crashes. It resets itself but the brake lights stay on.
Also the most comfortable seats I have ever sat on. Love this car.
Also the most comfortable seats I have ever sat on. Love this car.
SD_1 said:
To be fair they are pretty good for what they are, I have that engine in my 3 series and it's not noticeably worse than my old 1.8 Mondeo unless you do a lot of town driving. I'm quite impressed.
So do I in an E46 with a manual gearbox. It always strikes me as fast, but never once have I thought the fuel economy "ridiculously good". I would have thought you'd struggle to average more than 25mpg with it in an E38.Blackbird425 said:
daveco said:
Nope, considering most lease deals are at least 300 quid a month you start recouping those losses after about 1.5 months of ownership
Plus the 2.8 litre engine is ridiculously good on fuel.
Ridiculously good compared to what? A boat? Plus the 2.8 litre engine is ridiculously good on fuel.
I'd say yes 
I have a 740i so 4.4 V8 and it easily returns over 30mpg on a run at sensible motorways speeds as long as you keep away from cruise control - affectionally named "blackbird" or "General Belgrano" both for good reason.
I fully believe claims of 35 plus from a 728 under similar conditions provided you don't try to get to M-Way speeds as fast as possible. Key to getting good mpg from a barge is build the speed gently and anticipate the traffic avoiding losing the speed gained - barges aren't sports cars - the joy is wafting round enjoying the AC and comfort (comfort bar a slightly harsh ride that turns to considerable body roll in corners - something of a strange situation)
I bought the V8 because V8 - intending to replace two cars in the fleet with it - an aging and rotten Senator 24V and an even older and not so crusty Carlton with a force fed engine. It turned out to only replace just one...... so not quite to the original plan - it took me a few years to really gel with it (it wasn't a step up from my previous few Senator B's that had served me very well for 15 previous years)
If you do have to call on those 290 horses and use them it picks up it's skirt and has a very reasonable turn of pace - not quite the 400 horses of my Carlton but it wasn't expect to have that pace so an unfair comparison.
I've owned my E38 since 2006 so now 10 years and maintenance costs have been very low - biggest costs have been a tranny cooler £300 which sprung a leak after an impact and and more recently a full set of suspension arms and bushes which I have yet to fit in attempt to eradicate a 63mph shimmey £400 (incidently the cost of the complete kit from BMW was £998 plus vat but the aftermarket parts I sourced from Germany you can see where the BMW logos on the casting have been removed with a die grinder) so I'm reasonable confident that they are higher quality part than the far eastern copies I first looked at from the UK aftermarket suppliers.
The AC has only been re-gassed once in 10 years and possibly could do with it again as it's lost it's ice cool edge - if I was going to the Le Mans Classic in it this year (it's been before) I'd get it re-gassed but I'm co-driving a mates 2.8 Capri so I probably won't bother yet.
I have replaced pretty much all the coolant hoses during the time owned and done 3 transmission fluid partial changes. plus oil changes every 3000 miles and oil and filters every 6000 miles.
I've never worried about the fuel tank leak issues - pretty much resigned myself to dealing with it (one way or another) if it ever happens as you only hear about it from those that have experienced the pain and it seems from reading on forums that cover the 7's to be in a minority of owners rather than an "happens to everybody"
I've no inclination to change it right now as it's pretty much the only alternative to a 4x4 that can tow my track car on a 4 wheel trailer - incidentally towing 2000 kgs at trailer speeds from Worcs to Norfolk a couple of years back it returned 27 mpg
I never did agree with the comments about 3 dead hookers in the boot space - it's actually quite a shallow boot due to spare wheel well having to accommodate a full size spare - so getting two suitcases on top of each other depends on you having suitable slim cases. I did get a 3.0 straight six engine in the boot once as I couldn't hire a van at short notice and needed an engine collected pronto.
The only other downside of a 7 v my prev long list of Senator B's is the 7 doesn't have fold down rear seats that my old Senators did - this make moving larger/longer objects a bit of a pain.
It's never been kept in the garage - always lived outside - It's worth a bag of sand at best now so my 10 years have cost me around £650 per year in depreciation and maintenance (not including fuel or insurance) - the paintwork is a little tired, the arches have a few bubbles of rust appearing under the black paint and the leather whist well fed shows a few of the signs of it's 120,000 miles.
I also prefer the looks of the E38 to later 7's - to my eyes one of the most attractive BMW's built - one day I'll be forced to change it - it'll be quite a sad day because it's been quite a good barge.
Sorry for the long post - it seems I like it more than I thought I did - it's still bloody well got annoying jiggly ride on anything other than perfect smooth roads and it does roll like the General Belgrano at speed in the bends......
Blackbird425 said:
SD_1 said:
To be fair they are pretty good for what they are, I have that engine in my 3 series and it's not noticeably worse than my old 1.8 Mondeo unless you do a lot of town driving. I'm quite impressed.
So do I in an E46 with a manual gearbox. It always strikes me as fast, but never once have I thought the fuel economy "ridiculously good". I would have thought you'd struggle to average more than 25mpg with it in an E38.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff