My BMW E65 745i

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Discussion

bmthnick1981

5,310 posts

215 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Looking good, glad the sticker has been removed!

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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bmthnick1981 said:
Looking good, glad the sticker has been removed!
Back to total stealth V8-ness smile

A couple of other massive improvements on the E38 are proper Cup holders and also Idrive is nicer.

Had the engine bay professionally cleaned today after my, erm, incident and I'm not exaggerating when I say this it genuinely looks like a brand new engine bay. They've done that good a job. Steam cleaned, degreaser, dressed etc. Looks spot on! Next is wheels being refurbished!

bmthnick1981

5,310 posts

215 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
E65Ross said:
bmthnick1981 said:
Looking good, glad the sticker has been removed!
Back to total stealth V8-ness smile

A couple of other massive improvements on the E38 are proper Cup holders and also Idrive is nicer.

Had the engine bay professionally cleaned today after my, erm, incident and I'm not exaggerating when I say this it genuinely looks like a brand new engine bay. They've done that good a job. Steam cleaned, degreaser, dressed etc. Looks spot on! Next is wheels being refurbished!
My v12 is debadged but i'm debating whether to re-badge it, the v12 badges for the c pillars are pricey tho. I want to clean my engine up, might have a go at it myself this coming weekend having done the interior and exterior last weekend. Goes in for wheel refurb tomorrow, get it back Thus PM, 2 days without it will save me some fuel!

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
bmthnick1981 said:
My v12 is debadged but i'm debating whether to re-badge it, the v12 badges for the c pillars are pricey tho. I want to clean my engine up, might have a go at it myself this coming weekend having done the interior and exterior last weekend. Goes in for wheel refurb tomorrow, get it back Thus PM, 2 days without it will save me some fuel!
Be cheaper getting the wheels refurbished than driving it for a day or 2 rofl

I was tempted to rebadge mine, £22 for the badge(!) and I'd get my indy to do it as I wouldn't want it messed up! Unsure though, I've decided against it for now. Asked about it when I got a new bonnet badge.

dave828

62 posts

126 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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ive got an E65 730d in trade & ive been using it the past week, its probably the best barge ive ever had, dont want the thing to sell!

Only thing i hate is the damn screen wash function, water always sprays back onto the screen after wiping mad
I've gotten over the bangle butt & fugly front end and actually find myself looking back at it after walking away from it in the carpark

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
dave828 said:
ive got an E65 730d in trade & ive been using it the past week, its probably the best barge ive ever had, dont want the thing to sell!

Only thing i hate is the damn screen wash function, water always sprays back onto the screen after wiping mad
I've gotten over the bangle butt & fugly front end and actually find myself looking back at it after walking away from it in the carpark
Can't say I get that issue at all, the screen is fine after washing it. Your wiper blades clean?

dave828

62 posts

126 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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The water flicks off the wipers deflectors & onto the screen, happens in light rain too, id imagine the previous owner stuck the wrong size wipers on

Court_S

12,764 posts

176 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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That is a massive amount of car for the cash. At that price it's be rude to say no.

I kind of know what you mean about newer model BM's being better to live with than much revered older ones; I was the same with my E46. I couldn't get my head round the E90 because it just didn't feel as solid as my E46 how've raving lived with the E90 for a few months, it is the better car.

dbdb

4,311 posts

172 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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I'm interested to see the economy you're getting. My brother has a facelifted 740iL which he bought in 2006. It has been a great car for him; super reliable and huge inside.
He regrets not getting the 750iL though. He finds the 740 underpowered so he needs to thrash it. Fuel consumption is rarely out of the teens. I like the car. Really, the only critisism I would make of it is the ride which isn't great - the 7 series is outclassed by my XJ40 for smoothness on the road. His 740 is excellent at everything else though. If your 745i is anything like as reliable as my brother's car you will be very happy with it - and so much car for the money now!

Edited by dbdb on Wednesday 20th November 10:20

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
quotequote all
dbdb said:
I'm interested to see the economy you're getting. My brother has a facelifted 740iL which he bought in 2006. It has been a great car for him; super reliable and huge inside.
He regrets not getting the 750iL though. He finds the 740 underpowered so he needs to thrash it. Fuel consumption is rarely out of the teens. I like the car. Really, the only critisism I would make of it is the ride which isn't great - the 7 series is outclassed by my XJ40 for smoothness on the road. His 740 is excellent at everything else though. If your 745i is anything like as reliable as my brother's car you will be very happy with it - and so much car for the money now!

Edited by dbdb on Wednesday 20th November 10:20
See above, I'm getting around 21-22mpg at the moment over the last 1500 miles or so.

Is his a "sport"? Mine is an SE on 19 inch wheels which will ride better than the sports on 20's, secondly the "Li", I think, has air suspension which I've heard isn't quite as good as the SWB set ups so that might be a reason.

I'm very happy with the ride quality, it's amongst the best I've been in. I'd say other great cars with good ride quality I've been in include a BMW E34 535i SE, Mercedes 190e and also the W221 S class. It's up there, not the best but you'd be insane to call it uncomfortable or too firm.

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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As said, the gearbox isn't as smooth as I'd like so went to a very well regarded automatic transmission specialist today who came with me and drove my car and the guy immediately knew the issue, he said there is a rubber damper which helps smoothness of gear changes (especially noticeable on slow speed down changes) which wear, as well as some aluminium plug things so it's booked in to get those replaced as well as new gearbox oil and filter in 2 weeks today.

Suspected cost £5-600 Inc vat. He said the gearbox itself is fine and not about to go bang at least smile

Going to cost a lot over the next few months but once sorted properly it'll be very nice indeed.

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Wednesday 5th March 2014
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Well here's a bit of an update for anyone interested in this or E65s in general.

The gearbox service was a bit over £600 but TOTALLY transformed the gearbox. It's so smooth now it was worth every penny. They also changed the sump so changing the oil in the future is a much simpler job if I still have the car in 30-40k miles (not sure, who knows!)

I had a major scare at the beginning of January when a warning light came on the Idrive claiming insufficient engine oil pressure!! The engine sounded fine, oil level was fine and fortunately it turned out just to be the oil pressure sensor/switch which cost the grand sum of £13 plus about £30 for fitting!

At that time it was due a "vehicle check service" in 2k miles so decided to get this done at the same time which revealed a few minor issues such as perishing rubber on the CV joints, very minor engine oil leak (put it this way, in the last 1500miles it's used approx 100ml or so of oil.... That's including any it naturally burns) so no worries on that.

Since that it's been fine, it was put through its MOT Saturday just gone which I got for £20 and passed with flying colours.

The next service due is a coolant change which the computer is showing 6 months and then after that is 10k miles for an engine oil and filter change. I'll probably get both of these done at the same time in 5 months or so.

Other than that I've just taxed it for 6 months, life with the E65 745i is good. It's quiet, comfortable and over the poor weather we've had its just been so sure footed and confidence inspiring.... It really makes you feel almost cocooned when it's cold outside and it's chucking it down with rain and you're inside with the heated seats on, the lovely interior ambience etc... It's just a nice place to be.

I must admit that despite this I still browse the classifieds from time to time but I've now spent around £2k on this since early October getting it to where I want it to so I'd be mad to sell it now. It's still not perfect for my liking, I'd like to get the wheels refurbished as they are quite bad but other than that there's not really anything it needs which is nice.

I largely browse the classifieds just for the sake of it as it sure we all do!

It's now on 111300 miles so I've done just shy of 6k miles since collecting it and driving it home to Southampton from just outside Glasgow in October.
If anyone is interested I'll post up details of exactly what been done and it's cost and any items mentioned to look at.

Must get some more pics up!

Thanks for reading!

Max M4X WW

4,790 posts

181 months

Wednesday 5th March 2014
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Sounds great, if a little pricey but all to be expected. Love the interior!

sparks_E39

12,738 posts

212 months

Wednesday 5th March 2014
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Good stuff. My 530i is heading towards £2k of maintenance in it's first full year with me by the time the mot service and tyres are sorted. And it's been pretty routine stuff. Still, it's to be expected to dip into your pocket frequently to run an older BMW I guess! Totally worth it.

Neil.D

2,878 posts

205 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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Lovely car Ross.

Where did you have the gear box serviced? I need mine doing.

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,946 posts

211 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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Neil.D said:
Lovely car Ross.

Where did you have the gear box serviced? I need mine doing.
Specialised transmission services in Southampton.... Very much recommended!

http://www.specialisedtransmissions.co.uk/vehicle-...

kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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sparks_E39 said:
Good stuff. My 530i is heading towards £2k of maintenance in it's first full year with me by the time the mot service and tyres are sorted. And it's been pretty routine stuff. Still, it's to be expected to dip into your pocket frequently to run an older BMW I guess! Totally worth it.
Ouch! frown

My 540i has cost me approximately £230 since August and 4.5k miles....

£30 - MOT
£15 - Puncture repair
£85 - Partworn after a puncture (to match the others) inc. fitting
£100 - Gearbox fluid change

It does however need:

Rear Diff seals - £200
Gearbox refurb - £1,500
Rear exhaust silencer removal (not broken but want a little more sound) - £60

sparks_E39

12,738 posts

212 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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Alot of it is cooling related and some of it like the rust could of been done cheaper to a lesser standard. I'm fussy though. I like oem parts and specialist/dealer stamps.

kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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sparks_E39 said:
Alot of it is cooling related and some of it like the rust could of been done cheaper to a lesser standard. I'm fussy though. I like oem parts and specialist/dealer stamps.
Very fair point, I think i'm just in the good period following the owners £6k spend last year....

sparks_E39

12,738 posts

212 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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kiethton said:
Very fair point, I think i'm just in the good period following the owners £6k spend last year....
Wow! Yeah you should be okay for a little while!