2006 E66 BMW 730Ld - Top Barging
Discussion
I've been on the hunt for a decent spec 7 series for some time now. I do a lot of miles for work and I was looking for a barge to provide comfort and refinement, which pretty much leaves you with the A8, 7 or S Class, or an XJ if you're a Jag man. I used to be into my Jags, but the age of car I was looking at, they really don't come near to the levels of kit you get on german equivalents. I didn't fancy an A8 as they seem a bit soulless and I'm a BMW not a Merc guy, so a 7 it was.
I wanted an LCI (BMW lingo for facelift) car, and ideally with as many toys as possible and comfort seats. The hardest thing about buying one of these is that they all come pretty much with sat nav and leather seats from the factory, and cruise etc, so every advert on the net is proclaiming to be for a 'fully loaded' car when more often than not they're lucky to have been specced with wheels from the factory.
Anyway, after a few months, my car appeared on auto trader, I got the VIN and checked the spec, and bought it blind and drove down to Cheshire for it last weekend. My car is an ex BMW Fleet car, Lloyd BMW reckon either a Managers car, or a magazine car, so I'm keeping an eye out in case I spy it, their parts guy reckons it's one of the highest spec e65/66 he's seen.
It's a 2006 730Ld, Black Sapphire Metallic over Leder Nasca Cream Leather, options wise it has:
I've only had it a week so far but I'm pretty smitten with it, a few token terrible pics from a quick wipe over at the weekend, after the winter it needs the wheels refurbed to make them mint, and I have a passenger side headlight misting up currently so I suspect the vent is blocked as this seems common. Bar that, it's a FSH car that's just been serviced, and it goes pretty well for a diesel 2 tonne barge. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount online for e65/e66's so I'll stick some more pics and info up when I get some time to get better photo's.
Let the barging commence. Hopefully nothing horrendously expensive goes wrong, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?
I wanted an LCI (BMW lingo for facelift) car, and ideally with as many toys as possible and comfort seats. The hardest thing about buying one of these is that they all come pretty much with sat nav and leather seats from the factory, and cruise etc, so every advert on the net is proclaiming to be for a 'fully loaded' car when more often than not they're lucky to have been specced with wheels from the factory.
Anyway, after a few months, my car appeared on auto trader, I got the VIN and checked the spec, and bought it blind and drove down to Cheshire for it last weekend. My car is an ex BMW Fleet car, Lloyd BMW reckon either a Managers car, or a magazine car, so I'm keeping an eye out in case I spy it, their parts guy reckons it's one of the highest spec e65/66 he's seen.
It's a 2006 730Ld, Black Sapphire Metallic over Leder Nasca Cream Leather, options wise it has:
- 2VA - Adaptive Drive (EDC dampers, adjustable between comfort and sport modes)
- 268 - Style 95 Staggered 19" Alloys Wheels, 9J Front, 10J Rear
- 319 - Integrated Universal Remote Control (Program for wireless garage doors, gates etc)
- 320 - Model Designation Deletion
- 322 - Comfort Access System (Touch the doors to unlock etc with your key in your pocket, no need to put key in ignition to start, etc)
- 323 - Soft Close Automatic System for Doors
- 358 - Climate Comfort Windscreen
- 403 - Electric Glass Roof
- 423 - Velour Floor Mats
- 430 - Exterior Anti-Dazzle Mirrors
- 431 - Interior Anti-Dazzle Mirror
- 438 - Dark Wood Trim
- 442 - Cupholders
- 453 - Active Seat Ventilation (Front Seats)
- 454 - Active Seat Ventilation (Rear Seats)
- 456 - Comfort Seats, Electric, Front
- 460 - Comfort Seats, Electric, Rear
- 488 - Lumbar Support System
- 494 - Seat Heating, Front Seats
- 496 - Seat Heating, Rear Seats
- 5AC - Automatic Main Beam Headlight Control
- 508 - Park Distance Control
- 524 - Adaptive Headlights
- 534 - Automatic Air Conditioning
- 541 - Active Cruise Control
- 6NA - Car Telephone in Rear
- 601 - TV Function
- 603 - Monitor in Rear
- 609 - Navigation System Professional
- 611 - BMW Night Vision
- 612 - BMW Assist
- 616 - BMW Online
- 620 - Voice Input System
- 633 - Bluetooth Preparation
- 672 - CD Changer for 6 CDs
- 677 - Logic 7 HiFi System Professional
- 696 - DVD Changer for 6 DVDs
- 761 - Individual Sun Protection Glazing
- 776 - Individual Roof Lining Alcantara
- 785 - White Direction Indicator Lights
I've only had it a week so far but I'm pretty smitten with it, a few token terrible pics from a quick wipe over at the weekend, after the winter it needs the wheels refurbed to make them mint, and I have a passenger side headlight misting up currently so I suspect the vent is blocked as this seems common. Bar that, it's a FSH car that's just been serviced, and it goes pretty well for a diesel 2 tonne barge. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount online for e65/e66's so I'll stick some more pics and info up when I get some time to get better photo's.
Let the barging commence. Hopefully nothing horrendously expensive goes wrong, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?
Edited by D4MJT on Sunday 26th February 16:28
wow wow wow.....
i love your comment about "fully loaded" its in almost every bmw advert nowdays. I had a fully loaded 2009 535d m sport - and it really was fully loaded - only missing the tv, the most ridiculous bit was the night vision which i wouldnt have dared used even if i was blind!!!
top barging indeed.
i love your comment about "fully loaded" its in almost every bmw advert nowdays. I had a fully loaded 2009 535d m sport - and it really was fully loaded - only missing the tv, the most ridiculous bit was the night vision which i wouldnt have dared used even if i was blind!!!
top barging indeed.
Croutons said:
1) Where do you do the VIN check? (Yes I could google but still)
Try here: http://bimmer.work/Gives you a nice PDF download of the codes
Cheers for the replies folks. No other pics yet, I've mostly been using it. It's booked in for an oil and filter change next week, 6k early but I'll know it's been done and what's in it.
I'll hopefully get some better pics next week too.
It does indeed have both a DVD and CD Changer, the CD changer is in the dash, along with a normal slot load CD player, and the DVD changer is in the boot, along with the NAV unit.
I'll hopefully get some better pics next week too.
MrOrange said:
Sweet. I have a massive soft spot for these monsters, would really fancy a 760
Thanks, me too. Sadly I don't fancy paying the fuel bill for one haha.patch5674 said:
Really like that.
I actually think its a very handsome brute. But then I actually really like all of Bangles designs!
Thanks, I really like it too. I'm aware it's quite marmite, but I think it's a really good looking old tank, very happy with it! Agree with you on Bangle's designs, the E60/61 still looks great today imo.I actually think its a very handsome brute. But then I actually really like all of Bangles designs!
jimmyt1202 said:
Nice car, quite a rarity to see a black 7-series! Seems to be quite an American choice. Looks stunning though! What's the mileage out of interest?
Thanks, it was my favourite colour combination which was lucky. The mileage is 97,000. Ideally I would have liked lower, however it's academic really as looked after it'll go for years, and I'm only going to stack the mileage on myself anyway. I came to the conclusion after searching for a few months that I was either going to get a low mileage younger car, or a higher mileage one that had been well specced. It's fair enough I guess, I can't see the point in spending the money to spec a car like this and then not use it either.C7 JFW said:
Looks great. Wonder how you get on with it through winter.
Thankyou, I can't see it being too much of an issue really. I'm no stranger to RWD auto barges, and I live fairly near to the coast and motorway so it's fairly flat and the major roads will be clear enough. If it's horrendous I'll use the wife's car or get round to putting the engine back in my weekend hooner and use that.Croutons said:
Two questions:
1) Where do you do the VIN check? (Yes I could google but still),
2) Can I have first dibs when you're done? It looks amazing
Thankyou, Mad Max has already answered, my version differs so I'll provide that as well. You can input the vehicle reg to www.bmw-warranty.co.uk and it spits a VIN out at you, you can then put the VIN into www.bmwvin.com for a spec sheet.1) Where do you do the VIN check? (Yes I could google but still),
2) Can I have first dibs when you're done? It looks amazing
coopedup said:
Looks very nice indeed OP, dare I ask the mileage and cost?
Thankyou, mileage is provided above, 97k. I think it's a hard car to price really, as at the end of the day it's a 10 year old 7-series with nearly 100k on the clock. On the flip side, it's got great history and a spec that I haven't seen on a diesel car before, the rear seats etc I've only found on 750/760's really. I'll PM you what I paid for it.Disco You said:
Awesome.
A couple of questions:
Where is the "monitor in rear"?
Does it have both a DVD changer, and a CD changer?
Cheers buddy. The rear monitor is on a swing arm on the rear of the front centre console and can be folded out of the way, if you look at the pic of the front seats you can see it upright between the 2 front seats, if you're sat in the back of the car it's basically directly in front of the rear centre console and iDrive controller.A couple of questions:
Where is the "monitor in rear"?
Does it have both a DVD changer, and a CD changer?
It does indeed have both a DVD and CD Changer, the CD changer is in the dash, along with a normal slot load CD player, and the DVD changer is in the boot, along with the NAV unit.
cerb4.5lee said:
Very nice and I do like that very much and the spec is just epic, enjoy it.
Thanks Lee.The service history is up to date, but it was due an oil change, so I've had the oil and filter done this week. Oil wise I'm using Shell Helix 5w/30 fully synthetic BMW-LL-04 standard oil, and genuine BMW filter, I got 12 litres of the oil from Opie for £90 delivered, and it was £44.16 for the change and filter. I'd be very happy to do such a job myself, but since the car has full history it made sense to me to get it done at an Indy and the book stamped.
I've done around 1,500 miles in it now since I collected it, and it's been a joy so far. With the weather being horrendous I've not been able to give it a good going over yet as I like to with a new car, so it needs a clay bar and detail and generally a good once over. I had a red warning for the steering flash up and inform me that I had a "loss of oil from steering system - contact nearest BMW service centre", however once I'd changed my underwear and checked the fluid it was just on the minimum mark. When I restarted the car it had gone off, however I've topped up the reservoir with CHF 11S fluid (<100ml) and it doesn't appear to have dropped since. This is good, as I immediately imagined all sorts of horrible suspension and adaptive drive related impending financial pain.
Fuel wise I've not had a "normal" weeks commuting in it yet as I've had various other things to do but I'm averaging around 31mpg before the oil change, however it was definitely due and I've also now set the tyres to the correct pressure, so hopefully that might nudge a bit further north. Either way, for the level of comfort and the fact that it's a 6 cylinder automatic levathian that weighs in at just over 2 tonnes and has 10" wide wheels, I'm pretty happy with it.
As a package, it's the best car I've ever bought, it's a joy to drive, not from a drivers car point of view obviously, but from a "tool" point of view, and having to drive long distances in s
t weather, it's just utterly fantastic. The cabin is beautifully lit at night and the dials are a work of art, the conventional gauges have digital backs which display sat nav instructions and adaptive cruise information inside the arc of the needle sweeps, along with speed limit settings etc.It's due an MOT in January so I'll stick it in December and see what's what, I think it'll need a new front left tyre as I think it's the spare, all the other 3 have good tread left, they seem pretty reasonable though, around £150-160 for a Pirelli P Zero Rosso.
In short, loving it.
Well, here we are 9 months down the line and just ticked over 20,000 miles in my ownership.
So, just how horrific to run has the uberbarge, loaded with just about every conceivable extra with the potential to go cripplingly wrong been?
It's been pretty sweet to be honest. It's probably cost me about £3,500 in the last 9 months, but that includes a full set of new Pirelli P Zero Rosso's, brakes, and a gearbox fluid and filter change, and the mechatronix seals, and a remap (long story).
So, just how horrific to run has the uberbarge, loaded with just about every conceivable extra with the potential to go cripplingly wrong been?
It's been pretty sweet to be honest. It's probably cost me about £3,500 in the last 9 months, but that includes a full set of new Pirelli P Zero Rosso's, brakes, and a gearbox fluid and filter change, and the mechatronix seals, and a remap (long story).
Edited by D4MJT on Sunday 26th February 16:29
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff