Buying a V12 blind - am I crazy?
Discussion
That is many if not all kinds of awesome, huge e38 fan here, I've had 3 750's and one 728.
Facelift SWB in right hand drive are rare as rocking horse poo, just 93 made iirc. Interior looks fantastic aswell.
Gutsy move buying un-seen, I wish you all the best of luck. *off to the classifieds to look for e38's*
Facelift SWB in right hand drive are rare as rocking horse poo, just 93 made iirc. Interior looks fantastic aswell.
Gutsy move buying un-seen, I wish you all the best of luck. *off to the classifieds to look for e38's*
Sadly no starting videos - just 2 videos of a dash lighting up and the sound of a key turning fruitlessly in the ignition.
Got everything prepped which included nipping down to Halfrauds for a new auxiliary battery and a few jerry cans of fresh fuel. (it's quite amazing how quickly the costs start to add up).
The big moment came, the excitement of which even attracted a couple of neighbours over to come and see the big beast fire up. I felt like Clark Grizwald turning on his Christmas lights after the big family drum roll.
Plugged in a code reader and it showed 2 codes for the DME. Went over to the DME housing and only one screw was securing it (out of 4) - not a good sign. Opened up to find another spider cabinet and a clearly water damaged DME. This could be terminal. Going to see if I can source one with identical part number having had luck in the past doing this with a transmission control module for the 728 which was in trans failsafe prog - that turned out to be a £15 fix. DME's look pricey though, and refurbed ones are £800+.
Given the list of things this car is going to need i am already at the point where i need to make a decision. Either I keep going and could find the hole gets wider and bigger, or this gets it running. Fingers crossed for a guy I know who breaks E38's might have just what I need.
Got everything prepped which included nipping down to Halfrauds for a new auxiliary battery and a few jerry cans of fresh fuel. (it's quite amazing how quickly the costs start to add up).
The big moment came, the excitement of which even attracted a couple of neighbours over to come and see the big beast fire up. I felt like Clark Grizwald turning on his Christmas lights after the big family drum roll.
Plugged in a code reader and it showed 2 codes for the DME. Went over to the DME housing and only one screw was securing it (out of 4) - not a good sign. Opened up to find another spider cabinet and a clearly water damaged DME. This could be terminal. Going to see if I can source one with identical part number having had luck in the past doing this with a transmission control module for the 728 which was in trans failsafe prog - that turned out to be a £15 fix. DME's look pricey though, and refurbed ones are £800+.
Given the list of things this car is going to need i am already at the point where i need to make a decision. Either I keep going and could find the hole gets wider and bigger, or this gets it running. Fingers crossed for a guy I know who breaks E38's might have just what I need.
torx_whisperer said:
Sadly no starting videos - just 2 videos of a dash lighting up and the sound of a key turning fruitlessly in the ignition.
Got everything prepped which included nipping down to Halfrauds for a new auxiliary battery and a few jerry cans of fresh fuel. (it's quite amazing how quickly the costs start to add up).
The big moment came, the excitement of which even attracted a couple of neighbours over to come and see the big beast fire up. I felt like Clark Grizwald turning on his Christmas lights after the big family drum roll.
Plugged in a code reader and it showed 2 codes for the DME. Went over to the DME housing and only one screw was securing it (out of 4) - not a good sign. Opened up to find another spider cabinet and a clearly water damaged DME. This could be terminal. Going to see if I can source one with identical part number having had luck in the past doing this with a transmission control module for the 728 which was in trans failsafe prog - that turned out to be a £15 fix. DME's look pricey though, and refurbed ones are £800+.
Given the list of things this car is going to need i am already at the point where i need to make a decision. Either I keep going and could find the hole gets wider and bigger, or this gets it running. Fingers crossed for a guy I know who breaks E38's might have just what I need.
As a SWB 750i optioned up to the eyes this is about as desireable an E38 as you can find. Spending a couple of grand sorting it out would not be a bad investment, IMHO. Dare I ask what you paid for it?Got everything prepped which included nipping down to Halfrauds for a new auxiliary battery and a few jerry cans of fresh fuel. (it's quite amazing how quickly the costs start to add up).
The big moment came, the excitement of which even attracted a couple of neighbours over to come and see the big beast fire up. I felt like Clark Grizwald turning on his Christmas lights after the big family drum roll.
Plugged in a code reader and it showed 2 codes for the DME. Went over to the DME housing and only one screw was securing it (out of 4) - not a good sign. Opened up to find another spider cabinet and a clearly water damaged DME. This could be terminal. Going to see if I can source one with identical part number having had luck in the past doing this with a transmission control module for the 728 which was in trans failsafe prog - that turned out to be a £15 fix. DME's look pricey though, and refurbed ones are £800+.
Given the list of things this car is going to need i am already at the point where i need to make a decision. Either I keep going and could find the hole gets wider and bigger, or this gets it running. Fingers crossed for a guy I know who breaks E38's might have just what I need.
dme123 said:
As a SWB 750i optioned up to the eyes this is about as desireable an E38 as you can find. Spending a couple of grand sorting it out would not be a bad investment, IMHO. Dare I ask what you paid for it?
Yeah you are not wrong - but this will be a lot lot more than a couple grand. Couple grand might get it through an MOT but to make something good of this car it needs a full paint job and a very very long list of other bits replaced. I don't think the market is strong enough to justify the spend even though its a rare car and while I am passionate about them and not in this to turn a profit - I have a family and cant be losing thousands on a car. Got to stay positive about it - All I can do is be pragmatic and tackle each challenge as it arises. The DME being a potentially expensive problem could be a fork in the road, but believe me I will exhaust all options before I abandon hopes on this beauty.
Gallons Per Mile said:
Surely you can take it to an ECU repair company that will be able to have a go at it? The same sort of place that fixes dead pixels on he instrument cluster etc. I wouldn't imagine it would cost the earth for them to sort it?
I am definitely looking into everything I can and have contacted just such a specialist outfit. No idea on the cost yet. I consider this is a journey, and any journey involving a V12 is almost always going to be an epic!
M4CK 1 said:
Can I suggest removing all spark plugs, add 2-3litres of fuel remove fuel feed pipe before the injectors and place it in a container. Pour a small amount diesel into each cylinder leave over night. Drain oil from sump. Top up with some cheap thin oil and new filter. With a Fresh battery and turn the engine over, check the oil pressure, purge your the fuel out making sure you've got adequate fuel flow. If all seems good do an oil and filter change with some good quality oil and fresh filter. Reconnect your fuel line put some 5 litres of shell 98 and half a bottle of Redex in. Start engine with fresh plugs and leads let it idle till warm and then rev it up to high revs which should blow all the s
te out
Why would you want to let it idle until warm? That’s generally not advised. Certainly in some cars, oil pressure is much lower at idle speeds. te outGassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff