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Sold : R-Reg 1997 E38 BMW 740i 4.4l V8
Absolutely beautiful example!
Finished in Biarritz Blue Metallic with Light beige 'Montana' leather interior. S-EDC Suspension!
81K miles. Full Service History. Just Serviced!
Totally Unmolested condition
A computer print-out from my local BMW dealership confirms the following 9 'Standard Options' along with a further 22 'Ordered Options'!
Standard Options:
0202 Steptronic/Adaptive 5-Speed Automatic Gearbox
0214 ASC+T Automatic Stability/Traction control
0260 Side Airbag for Driver and Front Passenger
0438 Precious (Real) wood equipment (Nussbaum) E38
0459 Seat adjustment, electric with memory for Driver's seat
0510 Headlight Adjust Low Beam
0694 Pre-wiring for 6 CD Player
0806 3rd Brake-light
0853 'English language descriptions'
Ordered Options:
0216 Servotronic Steering
0220 Self-levelling Suspension
0223 Electronic Damper Control (S-EDC)
0258 Style 4 Alloy Wheels
0302 Theft Alarm with remote control
0354 Anti-glare Windscreen Strip
0401 Electric Sliding and Lifting Sunroof
0428 Warning Triangle and First Aid Kit
0430 'Mirror Package' Interior and Exterior mirrors with anti-dazzle function; heated electronic folding exterior mirrors
0441 Smoker's package (unused!)
0473 Front Arm Rests
0494 Seat Heating for Driver and Front Passenger
0500 Headlight Washing System
0508 Park Distance Control (Front and Rear)
0534 Automatic Dual Zone Digital Climate Control and Airconditioning
0555 High On-Board Computer
0672 BMW 6-Disc CD Changer
0676 Premium Audio Hi-fi System and Speakers
0812 Build for England/GB/UK Market
0850 Additional/Larger Gasoline Tank (usually standard only on 'iL' models!)
0877 Without functioning upper cross-bar
0961 Special Motor
Additonally, the car benefits from other features not mentioned in the above such as Rain Sensitive Windscreen Wipers, Multi-function Steering-wheel
Consider a base OTR price of circa £53K and add to this the above impressive list and it is immediately apparent that this was a VERY expensive and desirable car when delivered!
The body and paintwork are beautiful! No dents, dinks, nasty scratches...a few VERY light stonechips to the leading edge of the bonnet which are so small my camera can't pick them up! The Biarritz Blue Metallic paintwork gleams with a depth of shine which must be seen to be fully appreciated and looks stunning especially in bright sunshine. Again...so it should! I have spent even longer on this one than the last! This time I estimate in excess of 40-man hours! Firstly, with my usual multi-stage preparation to remove all old waxes, ingrained particles, swirls etc, but this time finished with the Zaino System which is now finally available in the U.K! Very expensive and laborious but worth every penny and minute spent for the shine it develops and the durable protection it gives! (http://www.advancedcarproducts.com/)
I have even cleaned, polished and waxed under the wheel-arches.
The interior needed no work at all. It was so clean and fresh when I purchased the car that it could be described as close to new...it even smells like new! The only 'fault' is a small crack in the trim around the driver's seat control buttons (this is such a common 'fault' on E38's that it could almost be said to be the norm...there's no point in replacing it as it will inevitably happen again...it's just a weakness - I know of one chap on an American E38 forum who has replaced his three times!).
The only visible sign of use is a 1" round area of wear on the driver's overmat heal area...all other mats and the carpet itself are pristine. Nevertheless, because of this, I am supplying the car with a full set of brand new ('still in the packet') overmats! Unfortunately, BMW don't sell them singly! The Light beige 'Montana' leather with 'Nussbaum' wood-cappings contrast superbly with the Biarritz Blue giving a light and airy ambience which to my mind is much more welcoming than the somewhat oppressive 'All-Black' often encountered. There is no wear on the seats whatsoever...even on the driver's seat!
The front seats on this one are not the 'comfort seats', but they are heated (on my last E38 the seats were 'comfort seats' but not heated...a fair trade I reckon!) With 3 position memory for the driver, they are supportive, comfortable and adjust for height, reach, back rake, angulation and head rest height.
The BMW Business RDS Hi-Fi with 6 CD Changer sounds superb and can be controlled via the Multifunction steering wheel which additionally features the 'Cruise Control' and 'Automatic Air-recirculate' buttons.
Full On-board Computer, front and rear reading lights, footwell lights, illuminated vanity mirrors, remote and soft closure boot-lid complete the list of creature comforts! Absolutely everything works as it should on this car...the is not even a single dead pixel on the dash displays!!! (Another common 'irritation')
Additionally, this car has a hands-free phone kit fitted on to a leather bound holder which slips neatly and securely on to the left side of the centre console without the need for nasty holes having to be drilled anywhere! It's also much more pleasing on the eye than the 'BMW Carphone' which is fitted into the top of the armrest on some cars which frankly looks like some kind of ugly, mammoth phone from the 1980's!!!
This kit is for Nokia's excellent 6310 phone. The phone is not included in the sale but these are easily available in large numbers on Ebay for about £60-80.
However, above all BMWs are 'Driver Cars'...and this car most definitely fulfils that!
This car features the later BMW 4.4L V8 (NOT the earlier 4.0L version) - those considering the purchase of a 740i who are not familiar with the difference MUST read 'The Nikasil Issue' article! Having read this, be assured the 'Nikasil Cloud' DOES NOT hang over this car!
The engine in this car develops 286 bhp at 5700 rpm and a whopping 420 Nm of torque at a mere 3900 rpm! At tickover, it is virtually inaudible even when standing outside the car. With the bonnet raised you have to feel, with a flat palm, that the engine is on, so free of vibration is it. Inside the car it is whisper quiet at all 'reasonable' road speeds. Firm pressure on the accelerator translates to distant 'V8 burble' with the horizon and once distant traffic ahead approaching at an alarming rate!...There is none of the usual BMW six-cylinder snarl.
Even accepting BMW's own, usually conservative, performance figures this engine will propel the car from 0-62 mph in 6.6 secs and on to an electronically limited top-speed of 155 mph!
These figures are indeed impressive for such a large and well-appointed car, but for me this somehow misses the point. It is the truly effortless feeling that is conveyed at all speeds...at all times!
The above will understandably raise concerns for prospective buyers regarding fuel consumption. I drove this one back, after purchase, 180 miles on A-roads and motorways at 70-ish mph and averaged an incredible 31 mpg (honestly!) to just before home! I had my 10 year old son with me in the car and 'we' gave it a little squirt on an empty bypass just before home (just to check everything was functioning as it should!) and that dropped our final average mpg down to 29.8 mpg. The last 740i I had was also good and we averaged 26 mpg when we came back in that. This is in no small part due to the fact that at 70 mph the engine is turning at a mere 2000 rpm (ie little over tick-over!)
Of course, it would be crass to suggest that if the 'performance envelope' is regularly explored, in a car of this power, that the mpg figure would not drop significantly... that is then down to driver choice!
Power is transmitted through the superb BMW 5-Speed Steptronic/Adaptive (AGS) gearbox. This changes virtually seamlessly and actually 'adapts' to your driving style and road conditons by assessing the position and degree of movement of the accelerator pedal, then selecting one of four stored programs which range from 'Highly Economical' to 'Highly Sporting'! Additonally, it compares wheel slip and engine torque, automatically deciding which of the road conditions 'Normal', 'Winter' and 'Hill Climb' applies. It is therefore also able to adapt its transmission speed stages to extreme conditions for maximum traction and dynamic stabilty on slippery surfaces.
Move the gearlever to the left and 'Sport Mode' is immediately engaged...the car still remains fully 'Automatic'. Therefater, the lever may be moved fore and aft allowing fully manual, 'Sequential' gear selection.
The car featrues ASC+T...which may be de-selected as the driver chooses...as can the front and rear PDC.
Steering is via the 'Servotronic Vehicle-speed-sensitive System'. This reduces steering effort in parking and at very low road speeds more than the engine-speed-sensitive system of most other BMW models, as is appropriate for BMW’s largest, most luxurious cars.
However, the option which impressed me most over the last car is S-EDC! This is not just a simple means of selecting a firmer 'Sports' setting for the dampers. In fact, it is a system which is operational all the time (unless overridden by the driver) constantly monitoring numerous parameters and automatically making micro-second adjustments to the damper rates according to these variables! (http://www.bmw.co.za/Products/FIRST/Active/act-EDC.htm)
When de-selected the suspension instantly assumes its most aggressive characteristics and when used with the steptronic gearbox in the full manual/sequential mode transforms this large car into a really sporting and rewarding drive!
Again, this car rides on the rarer option of 'Style 4' 16" Alloy wheels (a real favourite of mine!). These, as I have said before, give the car a subtle elegance with the added twin advantages of a more comfortable ride over the 18" upgrades seen on many of these cars (particularly on U.K roads!)...and of course MUCH cheaper tyres!
The tyres on this car are matching Pirelli P6000 which look to have been recently mounted (the spare-wheel on this car is completely new and unused!). One wheel (driver's front) has a small kerb mark which I should be able to correct by hand if I find time. The other road-wheels are blemish free. The spare is new.
The car has never been smoked in; ashtrays and lighters are unused.
Of course, all tools (unused), warning triangle, leather document folder, manuals and 4 keys are present and correct.
The car has a FULL SERVICE HISTORY the last being last week (20/05/05) at 81264 miles 'Oil Service plus Microfilter' by my local BMW Maindealer, Godfrey Hall BMW Shrewsbury. I had this done even though the Service Indicator Lights were still showing 2 green lights. The car has been driven home from there and will not be used again prior to sale...it is thus freshly serviced, 'on the button' and ready to go!
In my experience, this particular dealership seem to be especially zealous in trying to find 'faults' with your car.
On this occasion the only 'faults' they could find were two broken small mounts on the oil filter housing which I've replaced for the princely sum of £3.66 and "wiper blades smearing"...They say that every single time I take a car to them for servicing and then try to relieve me of the sum of £60 for replacing two wiper blades! They are NOT smearing!
The previous service was an "Inspection II" ie 'The big one'.
For those not familiar with the BMW Service Indicators these do not make mere simple calculations based on mileage alone. The calculations for the next service are made based on a formula which takes other parameters into account eg. number of 'cold starts' etc...However, looking back at this car's previous service intervals the last few seem to have been done very frequently at approximately 6 monthly intervals and with only about 5K miles between them! Obviously, a very well looked after car!. The previous car I had seemed to average about 10K between services as this one did earlier on. Based on this I would expect that the next 'need-to-service' will not arrive for another 10,000 miles!
Additionally please read the 'BMW Servicing' link on the website. This car is now just eligible for the '7+ Servicing Scheme'. The 'Oil Service plus Microfilter Change' that I have just had done cost me a total (including VAT) of £69.33 instead of the £168.66 it would have cost without this discount!
The current mileage of 81K miles is frankly VERY LOW for one of these cars. Stories abound about 7-Series cars going on for many hundreds of thousands of miles. These are true but only if the car has been properly lookafter and serviced...and this one has been!
MOT is until February 6th 2006; Road Tax is until end July 2005. All 5 MOT certificates are present.
The full servicing schedule is thus:
| Pre-Delivery Inspection: |
9 miles |
Henry Brothers Glasgow |
| Oil Service: |
8337 miles |
Henry Brothers Glasgow |
| Inspection I: |
17002 miles |
Henry Brothers Glasgow |
| Oil Service: |
26153 miles |
Sytner Nottingham |
| Inspection II: |
35369 miles |
Scotthall Hampshire |
| Oil Service: |
45666 miles |
Tice Dorchester |
| Inspection I: |
54185 miles |
Tice Dorchester |
| Oil service: |
62384 miles |
Keystone BMW |
| Inspection I: |
67454 miles |
Keystone BMW |
| Inspection II: |
72012 miles |
Keystone BMW |
| Oil Service: |
81264 miles |
Godfrey Hall Shrewsbury |
As a final bonus...This car is discretely fitted (and I mean properly 'fitted') with a 'Road Angel' Detector device! (Costs about £300 without fitting). This picks up speed cameras, radars etc AND also, more importantly, warns you of accident blackspots! You will not believe how much more carefully you'll drive with one of these fitted! I was astounded by what it picks up. I'm convinced they are a major help to road safety. Far from the government trying to outlaw such devices they should be making them compulsory!!!
IN SUMMARY, THIS CAR LOOKS AND FUNCTIONS BEAUTIFULLY IN ALL RESPECTS!
If you come to view this car and are disappointed...I'll be disappointed!
The car comes with an AA-Vehicle Data Check (which I had done prior to purchase in March and which is clear!). As part of this service they now offer a valuation on the vehicle (see photo). They have valued this car based on 80K miles at a dealer in showroom condition ( I hope by now you'll agree it fulfils that condition criterion!) at £10913.
Yes, you maybe able to buy one cheaper...go ahead! But my advice would be: "If you find a better one at the price...Buy it!...Before I do!" Remember:
"The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
SOLD
This price is non-negotiable, if you don't like it please walk away without obligation as I'm in no hurry at all. Again, if I had the extra garage space I'd keep it without hesitation!
As a side note: This car is ONLY available to U.K buyers. 'Scammers, 'agents', 'Western Unioners', other crooks and swindlers please do not waste your, mine or other genuine people's time! The car will only be released once full, cleared funds are firmly and safely within my bank account!
About Me
Relevant articles:
The Nikasil Issue
BMW Servicing
Fuel Calculation
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