Newbie advice.

[pwd95]

Hi all. I am looking to change my TVR for either a 5 or a 7 series in the not too distant future, (for the sake of peace on earth at home ). I've read a fair bit about the engine trouble some of the V8's & sixes have had with the liners etc. What's the general rule of thumb as far as what to look for & what to avoid then? I'm not too worried about which engine to go for I just want something that's not going to go die on me.
Thanks in advance

[paoloh]

Phone BMW with reg of any car you are interested in, they will check for recall work and if it's been carried out. The you'll if you are ok to buy.

[flattotheboards]

how old would the models be that you are looking at?

[pwd95]

£6-8k so 99-2000 ish.

[jackal]

pwd95 said:

Hi all. I am looking to change my TVR for either a 5 or a 7 series in the not too distant future, (for the sake of peace on earth at home ). I've read a fair bit about the engine trouble some of the V8's & sixes have had with the liners etc. What's the general rule of thumb as far as what to look for & what to avoid then? I'm not too worried about which engine to go for I just want something that's not going to go die on me.
Thanks in advance

i just bought a MY2000 740i and a did afair bit of research and looking so mail me offline if you would like to. I took some advice off of here and instead of paying top wack for a what looked like amint car with full BMSH etc.. i bought a bargain but had it throroughly inspected with a view to spending ~1500 on it soon as you get it. That way you know exactly what you are dealing with and can start your ownership at square one with all niggles, faults and tired/worn components remedied or replaced.

you don't need to worry about engine troubles for this age of car, the 4.4 isnt a speed 6 !!! Just get teh car inspected. My engine had never returned any fault codes in 100k miles. Oh and having driven the 2.8 as wlel I would most definitely go for the V8.. its quite something and having owned all sorts of fast cars I wasnt expecting the 740 to feel 'fast' at all but for a 'normal' car i was really quite taken aback, it really does SHIFT ! I dont know about reliability but both engines are far from any type of stress... just check the usual for yearly oil changes.

[jackal]

oh and for 8k you will definitely get a 2001 'sport' car which is well worth stretching to as it has teh far better nav and a few other decent standard options as standard

i saw 2 2001 sports which i could have had for ~6500 .. Just bear in mind that 7's arent exactly flying off the forecourts at teh moment so when you see 2000/2001 cars for ~7k+ theey are living in cloud cuckooo loud or prepared to wait ~6 months plus for mug punter to show up

[pwd95]

Thanks Rich, I'll mail you later