E38 728i - am i mad?

[langy]

A local(ish) garage currently has a 1996 728i for sale and it looks like a great car for not a great deal of money.

BMW service history up until 110K ish, current has 123k ish, looks like a genuine car and in great condition for a 26 year old car. Started it up and sounds like new. It also has Alpina wheels, which finish it off.

Have done a bit of research and have asked a few questions about the fuel tank, suspension bushes and radiator (all common issues)

Don't really know why i want it, but there is something about it...... am I mad, or should i just go for it?

[Fiedka]

Price would help in determining your level of insanity

[langy]

Fiedka said:

Price would help in determining your level of insanity

Advertised for £2695

[FilH]

I ran a 750 daily for 8yrs up until , a lot when wrong at once. I do miss owning an E38. They are a nice place to be for not a lot of money.

ULEZ didn't help in me sorting it out in the end to keep it running.

[langy]

ULEZ isn’t a problem for me.

It kind of feels it’s disposable motoring territory

[d_a_n1979]

Buy it and enjoy it...

Just replace the cooling system ASAP (Walher stat, Meyle water pump, Febi top & bottom hoses and Comma G48 coolant) - you'll do all that for less than £200 and enjoy it

Look out for rust, check all the suspension and make sure if runs through the gears smoothly and brakes well etc..

The M52 lump is superb and very bulletproof, once you've refreshed the cooling system

Keep us posted as to how you get on

[bmwmike]

Buy it!

What does "BMW service history up until 110K ish, current has 123k" mean ? I see this a lot.. is it generally taken to be DIY history from 110k or literally no history from then?

[g3org3y]

Fuel tank is probably the main E38 issue. Engine is robust and reliable (albeit somewhat delicate cooling system as mentioned).

What's the bodywork like?

Values of E38s seem to be going up a bit of late. Doesn't sound silly money tbh.

[BlueJ]

I'd go for it, superb looking cars, lovely interior. Not the most grunt from the 2.8 but who cares - the roads are crowded anyway.

[d_a_n1979]

BlueJ said:

I'd go for it, superb looking cars, lovely interior. Not the most grunt from the 2.8 but who cares - the roads are crowded anyway.

Nope; but still a superb engine and more than enough power to get to license losing speeds in no time! The M52 is a very smooth lump & very easy to fix/maintain compared to the M62 V8 and V12 etc...

The E38 728i was my very first BMW back in 2011; loved every minute of it and deffo a car I regretted selling

[JeremyH5]

I have had mine for 10 years, taken it from 140k to 208k miles. Changed the fuel tank when I bought it (only 6 months old and sourced from the previous one that had to be scrapped due to Titanic levels of rust under sill covers), done radiator change, suspension refresh. It’s a lovely car gets compliments everywhere. It is a keeper.

As others have said above, not much else to check.

[jon-yprpe]

I bought a 2000 (2nd facelift) 728i in April on a whim - prob after too much perusal of the barge thread.

Paid what yours is up for - 1 owner for 20 years, 84k. Clearly been stored inside - no rust.

Actually grown fond of it - it is SO comfortable to waft in. Bit sluggish off the mark but goes when booted and is proper quick from around 80mph.

Main other issue is the steering wheel shake at about 50….

[JeremyH5]

jon-yprpe said:

I bought a 2000 (2nd facelift) 728i in April on a whim - prob after too much perusal of the barge thread.

Paid what yours is up for - 1 owner for 20 years, 84k. Clearly been stored inside - no rust.

Actually grown fond of it - it is SO comfortable to waft in. Bit sluggish off the mark but goes when booted and is proper quick from around 80mph.

Main other issue is the steering wheel shake at about 50….

You need front suspension bushes checking, even the tiniest play can set that off. It is the “7 shimmy”.
Have a look on meeknet.Co.uk

[langy]

Thanks for all the replies, great information as always

Bodywork looked ok with my initial cursory glance, needs a thorough check. Didn't see any bubbling
Can you easily remove cill covers to check rust on cills?
Water pump etc, good idea to swap out for only £200 ish.
Haven't test driven it, but have read about the 50mph shimmy, so one to check.
Is fuel tank a PITA to swap out/repair? assume this is more of a garage job?

Cheers all

Edited by langy on Sunday 17th July 10:56

[d_a_n1979]

JeremyH5 said:

jon-yprpe said:

I bought a 2000 (2nd facelift) 728i in April on a whim - prob after too much perusal of the barge thread.

Paid what yours is up for - 1 owner for 20 years, 84k. Clearly been stored inside - no rust.

Actually grown fond of it - it is SO comfortable to waft in. Bit sluggish off the mark but goes when booted and is proper quick from around 80mph.

Main other issue is the steering wheel shake at about 50….

You need front suspension bushes checking, even the tiniest play can set that off. It is the “7 shimmy”.
Have a look on meeknet.Co.uk

Yup; any shimmys around 50-6-mph is generally the rear 'upper' arms, but can be the front arms too. Go for Meyle/Lemforder/TRW via BMWmotormec or C3BMW, not expensive and any decent indy mechanic will have them swapped over in a few hours

TBH at the age these cars are at now; makes hell of a lot of sense to swap all the arms out; plus the pitman arms on the steering rack etc

[langy]

No the best photo, but…..

[JeremyH5]

I don’t think that age 7 series has sill covers. Mine is a 2001 and has very obviously plastic covers in body colour. Those are black and you can see what I think are two jacking points.
Mine:

[d_a_n1979]

langy said:

No the best photo, but…..

That looks in good condition; does it have the manual air con controls etc?

I'd take that for a drive, get it up to temps, get it up to speed, do some safe but hard braking and if its smooth and feels like it should & glides through all the gears, I'd say it's a go'er

As said; budget for the cooling system overhaul ASAP for peace of mind (stat, water pump, top/bottom hoses and coolant flush/refill (maybe the rad if you feel it's necessary - Nissens or Behr ONLY)

Replace the viscous clutch (Febi/Behr etc)

And I'd deffo get it in for an autobox service (fluid & filter) unless there's paperwork to show this has been done...

This could be a cracking buy & project

[Touring442]

langy said:

No the best photo, but…..

The wheels are fake Alpinas (19 spokes) and the silver inner headlight trims look a bit naff (plus the Ebay Alpina grille badge has to go) but it looks alright. Montreal blue is a good colour. Early E38's rot less than later ones, just like E39's. It'll be a single Vanos engine and hopefully it's had the original Nikasil engine replaced although don't get your knickers in a twist if it hasn't.
The cooling system is robust on these older ones and ditto the 5HP18 autobox.

So many of these things are ragbag money pits now but an early 728i is probably the safest one to go for.

[langy]

Touring442 said:

The wheels are fake Alpinas (19 spokes) and the silver inner headlight trims look a bit naff (plus the Ebay Alpina grille badge has to go) but it looks alright. Montreal blue is a good colour. Early E38's rot less than later ones, just like E39's. It'll be a single Vanos engine and hopefully it's had the original Nikasil engine replaced although don't get your knickers in a twist if it hasn't.
The cooling system is robust on these older ones and ditto the 5HP18 autobox.

So many of these things are ragbag money pits now but an early 728i is probably the safest one to go for.

It was the Alpina badge on the front that I spotted when I cycled past it a few weeks back.

Didn't know if the wheels were original or not, but I do now (the spare is the same)

Will take another look and go through receipts etc and see how it drives. My gut feel is that if it has the 50mph shimmy, I shan't bother, unless i can get a bit of money off.

I'm fairly handy with a spanner, so nothing should be too much of a problem (famous last words....).