£450 740i what could go wrong?

[pits]

So just bought an E38 740i that hasn't run in 3 years, in the dark, whilst raining for £450.
What do I know about it?
110k miles
LPG kit sadly
Fuel tank didn't look great
Both front springs have snapped
Needs brakes
It's sunk into the floor.


Hopeful plan is to put some brakes on it, springs, and see what it needs for mot.

Going to try winch it from its grave next week

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jas xjr said:

i hope you paid by western union and the seller works on an oil rig just to complete the set , as it were .
looks good and if it all goes badly wrong , not too much of a disaster financially .
good luck and please keep us updated , so rusty and low , thats stanced i believe . must be worth ten times what you have paid

No, I've paid him a £450 deposit and then he is going to send me a cheque for £38,760 from my great uncle in Africa (who I didn't even know I had) and the car is there as a dowry to take care of taxes.

I've had a reasonable look over it, yes fuel tank could be costly, yes both front springs have collapsed, I know that the one sill is a bit crispy, and there is a small scab on the arch, and that the rear door card stayed in the car when I opened the door. But lets look at the positives.

It's black
It doesn't smell like a tramps sock inside
there's an engine in it.
It is complete
It has a phone
Navigation as well
A steering wheel
Some pedals that I'm sure used to do things


And if it all goes tits up I have a lovely looking paper weight, but I should be able to get some cash back from it in parts, which I actually don't want to do

[pits]

My plan is turn up with fuel and a battery, a bit of oil.
See if it will start and drive out.

Then do springs, see if brakes will clean up if not new discs and pads.
Then bung through mot

I don't plan to spend loads, going to be a stop gap whilst I manual convert my 5 series.

Hopefully financial ruin does not await, but it is a 740

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Well I don't see any issue why it won't work, the M62 is a good engine, if I can get it up and running I think first job will be remove LPG kit, and possibly sell it.
It will need servicing
It takes up boot space
I've seen LPG take out an M62 engine before
Just a lot more hassle than it's worth to me, but will see how it goes, my biggest issue is the fuel filler is in the quarter panel

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The hope is, it costs me £600 all in to get on road, if it will cost more than that then it's time to weigh it up and let it save other cars, prefer to get it running though, probably worth nearer £2k running, if it's not completely shagged, I do have concerns over the fuel tank from what I could see.


Gas, honestly it does nothing for me, it's not worth the hassle of paying to service it,getting it all checked over, when I could spend £40 on a new inlet manifold, remove it all and sell it, it's going to have enough teething problems as it is, and not only that I like the boot space and/or spare wheel.


To collect it I will be taking.
1x breaker bar
1x jack
1x hammer
1x handy friend
1x handy friends winch

Going to get it on trailer and rolling first, then get it back to workshop and have a look at firing it up.

[pits]

I've had LPG once before, Ford factory fitted on a Connect, and it was nothing but problems even when it was off it would cause issues, and I know as mentioned above they can destroy the engine with lean burn.

Rather just get rid and fix the hole in the side of the body, yes it has advantages when selling, but second hand hand the kit is worth £300-500 and I don't think it is going to add that value to the car or lose that value from the car.


The seals on injectors have probably dried out where it has been sat, the controller may have got damp in it, the tank may have old LPG in it, lines could be cracked and split.
For £45 I think I would rather buy a new inlet manifold and just get rid, if I can get it bought, running and mot'd for less than £800 I'm not overly concerned about the LPG losses, if I can sell that for £300 or so, then the car owes me £500 so anything above that would be profit if I sell it.



I know it seems belligerent but I really am against LPG, it has too many cons for me, once it is running it will more than likely go, if there's a chance I keep it, then I would at least move the fuel filler from the body.

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Towing eye on is because they had to move it forward and the rear wheels bogged into the ground, he does say it runs, and the rear wheels are caked in mud and it's flung it everywhere, so don't think it's a lie. But we have all had our hands burned before.

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Guys I'd give up the info on that 5, but I need an E34 540i donor car to fix my E34 Tourer, gets me one step closer to a 540i/6 Tourer.

Oddly my mates don't think I am insane buying it idiots

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I thought about putting my M paras on it, but with winter coming up it'll probably just go on my E39 winter turbines with spigot rings.

My one para needs a tyre soon as well...actually it needs 3 because the snager deruibo tyres the previous owner fitted to these wheels are dangerous, good tread but no grip.

I'm kinda gutted the guy is away this weekend to not pick it up, really want to get it fired up and back into life, take it for a drive around the industrial site.

It's going to be interesting to say the least, clean all the interior up and clean all the green off it, shame it was dark so couldn't provide more pictures.

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E36Ross said:

I once bought an E32 735iL that had been layed up in an open barn for about 3 years....
Pumped the tyres, Got it towed out with a Ferguson135 through the mud. Stuck a battery and some fresh juice in it and it started and drove home!

May have had to stop at a graveyard to use a tap for water to clean the windscreen and top up rad.


Brilliant cars, Would love a properly sorted one.

That's what I'm dying to do, just want to get it back, remove the fuel pump relay, get the oil pressure up, put some fuel in it and then see if it will start, I want to do it when I get it back, but kinda want to video it and light will be lacking.


And yeah, the quality you get for pocket money is awesome, it seems well looked after from mot history, so hopefully some new struts and maybe brakes and it will go through mot

[pits]

It's D-Day, we are going up around 5 ish to try drag it out of its current grave, may even look at firing it up later if all goes well, possible video as well

[pits]

Well the basic plan at the moment appears to be go up with winch and try drag the barge out, get it on trailer bring it back.
Connect power to it
Remove fuel pump relay
Check oil level
Pour some oil into bank A
Hand crank her first to get the oil pump lubed and moving
Try pump any old fuel out
Add new fuel
Relay back on
Try it


Now I am working on the following, our 8 series was parked up for 5 years and that started lovely after doing all that and has had only one issue so far, the cat appears to have fallen to bits and blocked up.
Same engine but longer parked up, however, 8 has been in a garage, not balls deep in mother nature so fingers crossed it will work, let it warm up see if any issues rear their head, hopefully ABS isn't an issue

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TEKNOPUG said:

Is it not safe to assume that there was a pretty serious issue with the car, for it to be laid up and abandoned in the first place? Can't simply be the front springs. Must be a story to it.

Think I covered it, but the guy I am buying it off it was his uncles dad who bought it new, when his dad died it got parked up and left as the guy didn't want to use it due to sentimental value.
It could be a massive lie, but may also be true, at the end of the day though it is £450 and worth more than that in bits if there is something catastrophically wrong with it, but hoping it should be alright, but as I say we have all had our hands burned on "cheap" cars so going into this eyes wide open, however MOT history is pretty good on it.

[pits]

I'll try get an update before your misses enters proper labour, I feel though that perhaps now your child should have the middle name "740i" it's going to be an emotional day for you, good luck to both.


Fuel pump relay just easy to pull out and you can short it out easier

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Alisul maybe better as shes on a 4.4.
Imagine if she is born at 7:40pm, could name her
Beatrice Matilda Winnie "surname"

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Well I'm back, phone went dead.
Got up there tool a few pictures, guy handed me the valet key, gave him a sort of wtf look, I'm not taking the car with the valet key, but turns out the valet key doesn't fit that car.

2 hours of searching, nothing.
So tried to pull it out with the disco and it's stuck, well and truly stuck.

It just turned into a clusterfk really, I'll write up a bit more when not on phone.

As it stands no 7 series, so going back up Saturday to dig it out, actually dig it out.

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eltax91 said:

Well. She was born at 5:50pm. Which has given me a Bmw based idea for baby name.

It's a sign I tells ya

Brilliant news man, gutted I've spoiled your evening with no 7 series.

And definitely needs a BMW name, reckon the misses will go for E61 as a name?

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Key wise, it currently has no key until it turns up, sensibly I will not be buying it without a key unless I am getting £200 off the car, and I can't see that happening if I fork out on a key for it and the car does turn out to be knackered then I am kinda stuck into a key that I no longer need with an £80+ paperweight.

Hopefully the key turns up.

So generic really bad photos that got taken before battery died





And new development, not sure if I mentioned this but the drivers door refuses to latch now as well, which is handy.

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Soov535 said:

eltax91 said:

Soov535 said:

pits said:

It's D-Day, we are going up around 5 ish to try drag it out of its current grave, may even look at firing it up later if all goes well, possible video as well

Oh yes please!

I'm sat here in my lounge, have been since 2:30 this morning, with a wife in the early stages of labour, and i'm wondering if i'll get to read the thread update tonight or tomorrow

Are you a dad yet?>!

Yeah

eltax91 said:

Well. She was born at 5:50pm. Which has given me a Bmw based idea for baby name.

It's a sign I tells ya

[pits]

It's moved. Now the winch has broken, still no key