1998 BMW E38 728i
Discussion
Hi All, fresh meat here 
, been lurking for ages finaly got around to signing up, thought i'd post pics of my current money pit.
Bangeromics just doesn't work for me, can never leave a car alone, i'm my own worst enemy, i've always bought older cheaper cars then spent more than they are worth trying to maintain and improve them, usually when i sell the car (at a loss) it's in far better condition than when i bought it, been through a fair few cars over the years including Yank muscle (i'm 42), but i've never been in debt for a car probably never will be.
Few years ago i bought a cheap (£400) MK3 Polo to run around in as my only other car at the time was a nice 1978 Capri 3.0S, of course i then got attatched to the Polo
, lowered it, fancy wheels, GT engine, ended up breaking that for spares to build this........
Was fun for a while but i got tired of being bounced around every day and realised i must look like a sad, ageing boy racer, fancied a big comfy barge to run around in for a change so started looking for an XJ6, Lexus, S class or 7 Series.
A two mile walk, two trains, a bus ride an effortless journey home and this big 7 was in my drive
159,000 miles, years MOT, Four months TAX, a huge folder of invoices and history, BMW sevice stamps up to 127,000, all for £800, been running the car for just over a year and a half now and i love it to bits, best running and driving car i've had in fact.
Bodywork is tidy for it's age/mileage, has some stone chips on the front and a bit of surface rust on the rear arches but nothing too unsightly, still polishes up nice .
Interior is lovely, already had the sport wheel which is a bonus.
Couple of days after buying it, leaving for work at 5.00 am, stuck the demister on to clear condensation off the screen, 10 minutes into the journey, screen still not clear, temp guage half way, stuck my hand over the vent, STONE FRIGGIN COLD, bugger, did a bit of research, horror stories of heater matrix gone, whole dash/console, half the interior removed to get to it but also could be the heater valve in the engine bay, ran out to the car, checked the valve, it had been bypassed
, removed the valve, found it was totaly blocked, fuzzed up,
quite common on these apparently, got another valve assembly off E-bay, fitted that and i now had a heater
Also gave the car a good service, oil change (Mobil one New life 0-40), plugs, serpentine belts, K&N panel filter, cam cover gasket, cabin filters, brake pads, i've seen it mentioned that the M52 motor is underpowered in these but i find it not too bad.
The original rear light units had become scabby (they are double skinned on these and water gets in), bought new rear light units, and clear front indicators, new plates (not shown in pic) and the car was looking a bit fresher.
Flushed with the success of this i bought an angel eye/halo kit for the headlights, fitting was a bit fidly but no too bad.
I've always been obsessed with wheels, tyres and the way a car sits, at the same time i did'nt want big bling wheels and end up looking like a gangster, had to be 18" M-Parallels really, E-bay again turned these up, great seller arranged a courier so had them at my door the next day.
Really transformed the look, wheels are staggered sizes, 9.5x18 rears and 8.5x18 front.
I know it's not everyones cup of tea but i tinted my fogs yellow (also done the main beams recently, pics later)
The wheels cam with decent tyres, 255/45/18 rear and 235/50/18 fronts but i've gradually replaced these with 255/45/18 front and monster 285/40/18 rears also 15mm spacers on the rear to exaggerate the staggered look.
All this was last year, will post pics and details of this years shenanigans later.
, been lurking for ages finaly got around to signing up, thought i'd post pics of my current money pit.Bangeromics just doesn't work for me, can never leave a car alone, i'm my own worst enemy, i've always bought older cheaper cars then spent more than they are worth trying to maintain and improve them, usually when i sell the car (at a loss) it's in far better condition than when i bought it, been through a fair few cars over the years including Yank muscle (i'm 42), but i've never been in debt for a car probably never will be.
Few years ago i bought a cheap (£400) MK3 Polo to run around in as my only other car at the time was a nice 1978 Capri 3.0S, of course i then got attatched to the Polo
, lowered it, fancy wheels, GT engine, ended up breaking that for spares to build this........Was fun for a while but i got tired of being bounced around every day and realised i must look like a sad, ageing boy racer
, fancied a big comfy barge to run around in for a change so started looking for an XJ6, Lexus, S class or 7 Series. A two mile walk, two trains, a bus ride an effortless journey home and this big 7 was in my drive
159,000 miles, years MOT, Four months TAX, a huge folder of invoices and history, BMW sevice stamps up to 127,000, all for £800, been running the car for just over a year and a half now and i love it to bits, best running and driving car i've had in fact.
Bodywork is tidy for it's age/mileage, has some stone chips on the front and a bit of surface rust on the rear arches but nothing too unsightly, still polishes up nice .
Interior is lovely, already had the sport wheel which is a bonus.
Couple of days after buying it, leaving for work at 5.00 am, stuck the demister on to clear condensation off the screen, 10 minutes into the journey, screen still not clear, temp guage half way, stuck my hand over the vent, STONE FRIGGIN COLD, bugger, did a bit of research, horror stories of heater matrix gone, whole dash/console, half the interior removed to get to it but also could be the heater valve in the engine bay, ran out to the car, checked the valve, it had been bypassed
, removed the valve, found it was totaly blocked, fuzzed up,quite common on these apparently, got another valve assembly off E-bay, fitted that and i now had a heater
Also gave the car a good service, oil change (Mobil one New life 0-40), plugs, serpentine belts, K&N panel filter, cam cover gasket, cabin filters, brake pads, i've seen it mentioned that the M52 motor is underpowered in these but i find it not too bad.
The original rear light units had become scabby (they are double skinned on these and water gets in), bought new rear light units, and clear front indicators, new plates (not shown in pic) and the car was looking a bit fresher.
Flushed with the success of this i bought an angel eye/halo kit for the headlights, fitting was a bit fidly but no too bad.
I've always been obsessed with wheels, tyres and the way a car sits, at the same time i did'nt want big bling wheels and end up looking like a gangster, had to be 18" M-Parallels really, E-bay again turned these up, great seller arranged a courier so had them at my door the next day.
Really transformed the look, wheels are staggered sizes, 9.5x18 rears and 8.5x18 front.
I know it's not everyones cup of tea but i tinted my fogs yellow (also done the main beams recently, pics later)
The wheels cam with decent tyres, 255/45/18 rear and 235/50/18 fronts but i've gradually replaced these with 255/45/18 front and monster 285/40/18 rears also 15mm spacers on the rear to exaggerate the staggered look.
All this was last year, will post pics and details of this years shenanigans later.
Edited by Markgenesis on Saturday 11th May 10:42
They are bargain basement at the moment (like most big barges), seen people asking decent money for them (4K etc) but i dont think they shift for that, would love a 740iL, maybe once i'm done with this one.
The 285's are meaty indeed, the arches are huge on these though, the spacers just bring the tyres out flush, not much in it, had to adjust the return lips slightly (big hammer
) no problem though as the arches are needing touched up anyway.
The 285's are meaty indeed, the arches are huge on these though, the spacers just bring the tyres out flush, not much in it, had to adjust the return lips slightly (big hammer
) no problem though as the arches are needing touched up anyway. So the big barge ran fine, MOT was due last August, passed ok except for an advise on slight wear in the top rear arms, shortly after this i noticed a slight rumble from the rear, checked the diff oil, that was ok, could only be the wheelbearings, looked up a Video for BMW wheel bearing replacement on Youtube, looked like an absolute ballache so i put the car into a local independant specialist to do the work (i normally do all my own work)
Car was fine for a while but noticed the handling was wierd, like the rear was moving in a circle when going over bumps, after some research/checking decided the rear shocks and springs were past their best.
Bought the bits in (still waiting for springs in this pic)
Had to strip the whole rear interior out just to get to.............
........the top mounts.
That was the easy bit, bottom mounts were a bear to get off, had to cut through the outer shell, burn the bush off, heat up the pin and twist it out the hub with vice grips.
New shockers on now though. Brake discs next i think, where does it all end ?
As mentioned fitted 15mm spacers on the rear, buffed the surface rust off the arch lips, and red primered for now.
Spacers work a treat i think.
Also tinted the main beams yellow to match the fogs.
That's it pretty much up to date, probably spent double what the cars worth now but i'm keeping it for a while.
Driving it down to Bristol (from Glasgow) at the end of the month so have been saving for the fuel (looking forward to it though)
Car was fine for a while but noticed the handling was wierd, like the rear was moving in a circle when going over bumps, after some research/checking decided the rear shocks and springs were past their best.
Bought the bits in (still waiting for springs in this pic)
Had to strip the whole rear interior out just to get to.............
........the top mounts.
That was the easy bit, bottom mounts were a bear to get off, had to cut through the outer shell, burn the bush off, heat up the pin and twist it out the hub with vice grips.
New shockers on now though. Brake discs next i think, where does it all end ?
As mentioned fitted 15mm spacers on the rear, buffed the surface rust off the arch lips, and red primered for now.
Spacers work a treat i think.
Also tinted the main beams yellow to match the fogs.
That's it pretty much up to date, probably spent double what the cars worth now but i'm keeping it for a while.
Driving it down to Bristol (from Glasgow) at the end of the month so have been saving for the fuel
(looking forward to it though)Edited by Markgenesis on Saturday 11th May 19:25
Baryonyx said:
Nice car, though I do find myself less and less enamoured with it as time has went on and your mods have become more extreme. Nothing wrong with a classy 728i wafter but the Halfords mods don't suit it, IMO!
Extreme mods ?, headlight tint and spacers ?, i only buy paint from Halfords 
Respect your opinion though
.Nice facelift mate ^, cooling systems are a weak point on these, mine has been fine so far, last owner replaced the water pump, i keep an eye on the temp guage just in case though.
Hows your fuel tank ?
storminnorman said:
the m-parallels are so much better. Top work. I would've stopped at the yellowing as that tends to only suit old porsches, but that's just me
Ha, i'd a feeling the yellow lights wouldn't go down too well , i like them though, gives the car a continental look.Thinking about ditching the flags on the plates though.
Cheers for the comments guys
Ha, no, that Polo was'nt £400 (those Borbet wheels were worth that alone), the original one i bought was £400, bought that Saloon for £250 as it had a running fault, decided it was better than the hatch (coupe) i had so broke that for the wheels and engine to use in the Saloon, got the BMW and sold the Polo for £900.
Another pic of the Saloon, was a very tidy thing, low mileage too.
The £400 one i broke for spares (though i got two years use out of it), bit of a shame as it was still solid and quite tidy despite the missmatched wings.
iacabu said:
Wheels have made a massive difference, looks good, if not sitting a little high
Polo looks clean for £400 too
Yeah, they do sit quite high as standard, apparently they hunker down at high speed (over a ton), yet to try it though Polo looks clean for £400 too
Ha, no, that Polo was'nt £400 (those Borbet wheels were worth that alone), the original one i bought was £400, bought that Saloon for £250 as it had a running fault, decided it was better than the hatch (coupe) i had so broke that for the wheels and engine to use in the Saloon, got the BMW and sold the Polo for £900.
Another pic of the Saloon, was a very tidy thing, low mileage too.
The £400 one i broke for spares (though i got two years use out of it), bit of a shame as it was still solid and quite tidy despite the missmatched wings.
Markgenesis said:
Nice facelift mate ^, cooling systems are a weak point on these, mine has been fine so far, last owner replaced the water pump, i keep an eye on the temp guage just in case though.
Hows your fuel tank ?
Can't say I've noticed a smell of fuel or any missing, other than it being empty quite quickly. Averaged 28mpg since I've got it which is OK for the waftyness of the thing.Hows your fuel tank ?
Currently struggling with a tapping noise which comes on when it's sat still with the engine running. When moving about and just after, it runs like silk, but it's almost as if when it's standing still the oil pressure drops and I get a noisy tappet/VANOS.
Edited by Graebob on Saturday 11th May 22:28
Only ask as the Tank is a bigger achilles heel on them than the cooling system, (didn't know this when i bought mine), breathers get blocked and the tank base pops in and out till it fractures (there's a Video on Youtube somewhere of an E38 tank poping), my tank has been patched up in the past but seems ok, new tanks are expensive (of course)
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