Advice on buying a 740i

[jamesgareth]

Hi. I've had Jags all my life but have seen some very nice looking 740i's around - and at about the same money as the Jags I have been looking at. For eg - a 1996 740i with 114,000 miles on the clock with everything electric and looks the dogs b*********s.

Any advice thoughts about this model? Things to look out for - did they suffer the same Nikosil problems as the V8 Jags did (though I would have thought that would only be on models a couple of years later) - but this BMW is going for around £2500 - which looks amazing - but are their gremlins on these that I ought to know about?

Any replies very welcome!

Thanks.

James.

[B'stard Child]

Hi

Most of the early cars had nicasil bores - and a fair few had engine changes to later alusil blocks. If it's still running now it'll probably be fine.

Lumpy idle and smokey running is normally blamed on the nicasil issue but it can be exactly the same symptoms of a PCV valve thats split

I bought a 99 facelift 740i and to be honest it's been a heck of a car - only one electrical issue (LCM started going bad) to date

Buy on condition and history rather than miles and check absolutely every thing electrical works as it should.

If it's never had a transmission fluid change I recomend that on any car

I get just over 30 mpg on a run and high teens early 20's round town

The tiptronic box can make B road blasts a giggle

Unless you are in sport it pulls away in second so it can seem a bit sluggish of the line took me ages to realise why

[derin100]

Great cars James

Here's a little info from my website on the Nikasil Issue:

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/articles/nikasil.html

Sorry the links at the bottom of the page giving further info are now old, broken links.

In truth, now with the passage of time a nikasil engined car that hasn't developed a problem is probably unlikely to do so now as ULS fuel has been the norm for quite a while here in the UK.

[B'stard Child]

Bit more info

Lost pixels - display in temperature, mileage display.
Catalytic converters failing
Power steering hoses leaking
Cup holders failing
Nikasil engine block problems in 95 V8
Oil pump bolts backing out, generally pre 99 years
Radiator failures. Plastic neck breaking, all years
A/C stepper motors failing.
Original Water pumps with plastic impellers failing
Coolant thermostat failing
Electric cooling fan failing in year 98 and newer
Sunroof wind noise
A/C drain lines need re-routing to stop gurgling sound

Plugs are 100,000 mile change intervals
Trans fluid is supposedly for life (not a good idea 60 - 100 K is a better plan)

[jamesgareth]

Thanks guys.

[monthefish]

Awesome cars.

Do it