1996 E38 740i 4.4, worth a punt as a bargain barge?

[nagsheadwarrior]

The wheel bearing on my current cheap wafter (98 Jag XJ8) is getting noisy so rather than spunk £220 on fixing it Im selling up and shopping for an alternative wafty smoker.

Ive been looking for the biggest engine luxury wafter for under £1k and have a dipper on a 96 740i with full ticket for £840.
Its done 165k but looks good,has anybody had one or whats your oppinion of these Bavarian Behemoths?

[sparks_E39]

They are probably the best car BMW made along with the E39- I think they share a lot of common problems with the E39, like the cooling system and abs sensors but to be honest for the money and alternatives you can't go far wrong with them.

[Nigel Worc's]

My mate has a 735i.

Look carefully, obviously it is getting old, brakes, suspension, steering, and cooling system can be very expensive to maintain (like most cars of course), and it is around the age to need some serious work doing on those ..... it is probably being sold on the same basis as your jag !

[Frances The Mute]

If it is a 4.4, then you have no nikasil worries.

Control arms, brakes and bushes wear reasonably quickly so check for any vibrations around 55-65mph and any knocking under cornering.

Petrol tanks are known to go porous, so it's worth checking for any signs of leakage.

It's common for oil to leak from the cam cover gaskets, so don;t be too surprised to see soem residue. Fresh/plentiful residue is another thing.

Steptronic boxes can suffer with abuse and high mileage. A good indicator is hesitation, particularly in selecting first/second. Drive along at ~20mph, brake hard, then take off gently. If the box hesitates in anyway, leave it there.

Electronically, they can be a little temperamental but most issues can be solved quickly and easily.

They're great cars. Get a well specced example in a decent colour (not Orient Blue) and you're sorted.

[nrick]

Great cars,aged very well, great specs on most cars.

Usual worries as above, mainly engines and gearboxes that kill these cars.

[Fox-]

If you are the sort to bail on a barge for want of a wheel bearing I suspect a 740i will last all of 2 months before you punt it on because it needs something doing

[Nigel Worc's]

Fox- said:

If you are the sort to bail on a barge for want of a wheel bearing I suspect a 740i will last all of 2 months before you punt it on because it needs something doing

yes my thoughts too, my mates 735i has been a pain in the bum for the last two years

[4rephill]

Nigel Worc's said:

Fox- said:

If you are the sort to bail on a barge for want of a wheel bearing I suspect a 740i will last all of 2 months before you punt it on because it needs something doing

yes my thoughts too, my mates 735i has been a pain in the bum for the last two years

If you read nagsheadwarrior's garage summary of the Jag you'll see:

"Bought for £400 in June 2011 at 111,000 miles. Now worth about £800 at 113,000 miles.
We took this in px at work so I was able to buy it at the trade price of £400,it had a full mot,6 months tax and everythiong works on it along with loads of history."

In this context I can see why the idea of spending £220 (over half what was paid for the car), on a wheel bearing might not seem worth it, but if all that's wrong with the Jag is the wheel bearing then it seems a bit daft in not getting the wheel bearing done and either keeping it or selling it on for a bit of a profit if you simply fancy a change of car.

(BTW, you do realize that you've already spent @£550 in fuel for the 2000 miles you've drive without batting an eyelid about it?, so why worry about a £220 wheel bearing?)


Another thing to consider is that anytime you buy a replacement car you're taking a chance on nothing going wrong with it that's going to cost ££££'s. Sometimes it's a case of better the Devil you know!

[nagsheadwarrior]

4Rephill your bang on there,the Jag was never a long term thing and faced with £220 on the bearing leaving me with a slightly tatty Jag thats needing a mot in May and my penchant for trying as many Motors as poss for as little cash as poss I thought Id get out of the Jag turning a profit on what it owes me and invest the dough in something different! I prefer not to think of fuel costs!

I've got a Capri that I love dearly and will keep forever and this is where the cash gets invested.

Thanks for the advice chaps,much as I thought,they dont seem to rot these things are they galvanised?

Pick up the 740 Thusrday from Gateshead so a 150 mile trip back over the pennines happy days!