Unseen £200 e38

[Slow]

Just agreed to pay £200 for this delivered 40 miles to me. Will update in a few days when it arrives.

All I know is the wing is rusty on the other side, rear door has a dent, exhaust blows, has no mot, no history and 4 tyres that dont hold air for long. Good bit is that has a v8, even if its a lowly 730.

[lewisco]

I love these cars. I still miss my 735i.

[cat with a hat]

How much do 4 tires cost though?

[Slow]

cat with a hat said:

How much do 4 tires cost though?

Dont really care what brand so like £50 for cheapish branded tyres or may even be able to fit my old e46 wheels + tyres.

But the whole car will be getting sanded back to bare metal and resprayed. Only after ive machine polished it to practice abit more as I worry going near nice cars.

Got a e30 im restoring so going to practice spray painting on this, along with dent repair.

[J4CKO]

I remember my father in law getting one new in 1995, also a 730 in silver, used it as one of the weddign cars at our wedding, I got to drive it as a youngish lad and loved it, felt fast then, cant believe they are only 215 bhp, sounds a bit anaemic now, torque seems unremarkable at 214 lb/ft, but they do go pretty well from what I remember, strange to think his then 40 grand car is now £200s worth.

Bet you will get it looking superb, such a nice shape, better than the previous ones, less gawky and certainly better than the dollop that followed, properly proportioned and handsome.

[Slow]

Got sent a few other pictures, front seats look nasty, have a e46 coupe with the same cream leather in parts at the moment, do we think changing them over will be hard? They are the sports ones

[IanH755]

Did the same with a £500 E38 740i from eBay about 10 years ago (they were around £3k then). On the drive home the fuel pump packed in (not been driven in 2 years previous and with an empty tank) and within the next 3 months the plastic fuel tank split, the water pump seized, the tyres and brake disc/pads were replaced on all four corners along with a few suspension arms (about £1500 of repairs) and it drove perfectly for another 3 years without missing a beat. The only issue was a failed valve in the heater circuit so even with the temp selected to LOW it would blow hot air out of certain vents until you deselected those vents, more of a nuisance than anything else.

Hope you have fun, they're a really good car!

[outnumbered]

I reckon the interior will clean up really well with a couple of hours elbow grease, no need to replace seats.

[The Nur]

It doesn't look terrible. Certainly will take some elbow grease to bring it up to standard though

Keep us updated, I like where this this thread is going.

[Slow]

Replacing the seats was more due to the fact they are sports seats, so hold you in place better. I know its a 7 series but that wont stop the odd fast drive.

[MarkwG]

Slow said:

Replacing the seats was more due to the fact they are sports seats, so hold you in place better. I know its a 7 series but that wont stop the odd fast drive.

Would be surprised if they straight swap, tbh.

[J4CKO]

As has been said, the seats will most likely clean up, however, if they dont or you want perfection, go to furniture clinic and order one of their kits,

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/

I am not involved in any way other than having spotted a renovation of an E46 M3's seats on the web and I got their kit, in black for my 944 and the resuts were amazing, like new, really lifted the interior.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1...

Jaw dropping transformation that lifts a dustbin interior to as new.

I paid £60 something, but I bought a compresor as the aerosols with the kit didnt work, needed one anyway.

If you are going to the trouble of painting it, I think it is worth doing, get the old girl like new.

[Dr G]

Gliptone for the leather and it'll be lovely with just a bit of time but minimal expenditure. Should be a fun project to make look nice again.

4 used tyres from ebay won't cost a lot.

[Slow]

Think a few people are sort of missing the point of this car, its never going to look great.

Im 21, always wanted to own a v8, fuels cheap right now so seems right
It was cheap and delivered
I want to practice respraying, not for this cars sake, but because im restoring a e30 I would like to spray myself
I live on a farm pretty much so muddy boots will get in it, no car I own has a nice interior for long, just too much mud

Sorry if this annoys any of you but dont expect pictures of a lovely clean interior.

[hashtag]

730.

That would be a straight 6 not a V8?

[geeks]

hashtag said:

730.

That would be a straight 6 not a V8?

Nope m60 v8. The 2.8 was the m52 so an I6.

Shane op is leaving the interior as an after thought of putting so much effort into the exterior! Still you pays us money....

[8potdave]

£200! Crikey, you could make 5x that on parts easily. The plates probably worth £150ish!

[TooMany2cvs]

8potdave said:

£200! Crikey, you could make 5x that on parts easily. The plates probably worth £150ish!

My first thought was more "£200? The seller's down the pub right now celebrating..."

[Toaster Pilot]

8potdave said:

£200! Crikey, you could make 5x that on parts easily. The plates probably worth £150ish!

The plate is worth about £20 plus the transfer fee

[Slow]

olly22n said:

Toaster Pilot said:

8potdave said:

£200! Crikey, you could make 5x that on parts easily. The plates probably worth £150ish!

The plate is worth about £20 plus the transfer fee

Comfort seats are worth a bit too.

Doesnt come with the plate I believe anyway.

Are they comfort seats? I dont even know if they are electric or anything about it really. Still not seen it myself.