One Bad V12 - 1998 750iL E38

[Aitch]

I've been hanging around here a bit and posting haphazard updates, but figured it's time I finally sat down and got my own progress/update thread going.

Having recently moved to San Diego, it seemed like a great chance to own an E38 given the amount of them here, and the lack of rust. I looked at a few, but really couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting into a V12 when I came across this 1998 750iL. Although it's not in mint condition, it is very good, and the previous owner had kept up with maintenance.

Here's the car the day I picked her up:



The seller listed the following recent maintenance:

• Intake manifold gaskets (all 12)
• Fuel injectors (all 12)
• Spark plugs (all 12)
• Primary air pumps (2)
• Secondary air pump
• Radiator
• Cooling fan and shroud
• Belts
• Hoses
• Window regulators (all 4)
• Tail lights and lenses (Right and Left hands)
• Vacuum hoses
• Passengers side low beam head light
• Lower control arm bushings
• Coolant tank
• Coolant temperature sensor

For under $4000, I couldn't pass it up! The owner said it may need new shocks in a year or two, which is not horrible, they can be replaced with non-SLS shocks easily. I don't believe the EDC system is working, I don't notice any change when I switch it on, but luckily the shocks aren't super-hard as some have found when that is wearing out.

Next up, my to-do list. Then some more photos.

Also - the thread title. A license plate is inbound, "BAD V12"

- - - Updated - - -

So, my to-do list, which I made up in the first week of ownership, and have been slowly attacking.

• Proper clean inside/out
• Clean engine
• Re attach driver-side rear outer door trim
• Re-fill coolant (low coolant warning)
• Replace front control arms, alignment
• Swap front seats for sport versions
• Repair front kidney grilles (broken tabs, hopefully will stay put)
• Passenger headlight - color is off. Cloudy lens. Replace w/H1 housings?
• Replace trunk struts
• Replace upper windshield seal/strip
• Replace HID bulbs
• Install H1 bi-xenon housings in high-beams? (Already have these)
• Glovebox latch (stuck closed)
• Side mirror panes (delaminating)
• Paint driver's door handle (lots of scratches)
• Driver's door card replacement if possible (slightly worn leather)
• Headliner, pillars (headliner is sagging)
• Replace rear passenger window shade frame (missing)
• Re-dye rear deck carpet if it's out (fading from sun)
• Fix front cupholder?
• Upgrade speakers/stereo/navigation?
• Paint correction - lots of swirls & scratches
• Rear tires getting worn. New tires, 19" wheels.

- - - Updated - - -

First up - cleaning. The engine needed it. This is after:



The cabin air filters had never been changed:



The HID bulbs were getting foggy:



The passenger side projector is still cloudy, I may try to clean it or swap it when I disassemble them. The plastic inner lenses are yellowed, and I've got a set of mini-H1 bi-xenon projectors I might add into the high-beam housings, so I'd have dual projectors per side.

The original comfort seats weren't in bad condition, but these extra sport seats were even better.



Swapped the 750iL wood seat backs onto them:



I also replaced the engine air filters, which weren't too bad, but it was cheap.

- - - Updated - - -

Just before I purchased it, the previous owner had some new clearcoat sprayed on the roof. Didn't do a great job, it's not really that glossy, and I'm not sure they properly masked off the windows, including the sunroof. There's this residue that looks like it was wiped while drying, but never properly removed.



It was worst on the sunroof, although there were bits of it on the rear windows as well. I tried everything to get it off, window cleaner, degreaser, abrasive polisher, nothing. Then I remembered you can actually scrape windows using an Xacto blade, so that's what I did yesterday. Success! Finally got it off.



Still getting the edges perfect. You can also see it coming off the rear side window:



- - - Updated - - -

Now, about those tires. I new the rears were a little worn, but I didn't give them a thorough inspection. My bad, last week I got a blowout on the freeway doing 85mph. The inner sidewall blew out, and also took out this brake pad sensor at the same time:



So I replaced that, and since the wheel wasn't in great shape I jumped on a deal for a new set of 19" wheels. Luckily I have a full size spare for the rear for now, although the tire is 235 vs 255 on the other rear side.

Current living room:



19x11, +25mm for the rear, 19x9.5, +22mm for the front.

Rear test fit:





Pretty close on the inside.



There's actually lots of room on the outside it looks like. Might add spacers at some point. Current plans are for 275/35R19 tires at the back, 245/40R19 at the front.



I had ordered some rear tires already, Nankang NS2. Unfortunately I clicked on the wrong size, 275/35R18. DOH! The upside was it showed me how narrow the Nankangs run. So I returned those and have some 275-width Achilles inbound.



I don't mind some stretch, but the above would be too much for me.

- - - Updated - - -

The next big item is replacing the front lower control arms. Although the previous owner said the bushings were replaced, it still has a shimmy at 65-90mph, and under braking at 60-40mph. I don't trust that the control arms were done properly, and apparently they're always the major culprit of these problems, so I have replacements on hand and it's going in on Thursday to have them replaced. If the problem persists, I'll move on to the center steering link and tie-rod ends.

And finally, some decent photos of the car in it's stock state.

[Scolirk]

Those rims look familiar! I think a friend of mine is a friend of yours, he's heading down your way in a little while if I'm not mistaken.

[Aitch]

Those rims look familiar! I think a friend of mine is a friend of yours, he's heading down your way in a little while if I'm not mistaken.

Maybe. If you mean the guys from Double clutch.ca, then yes I think they're heading down for the LA auto show.

[vegaslightsss]

Before you replace those front control arm bushing you should inspect the inner and outer tie rods and the thickness variation of the front rotors for your shimmy under braking which would be more intense with worn tie rods. I do agree the bushing are usually it but if the previous owner had them replaced I would check other areas as well that can be problematic. Also with new balanced wheels and tires you might notice a good bit of difference

[NordmanMg]

If you going with 35% profile on 19" rims then they have to be 285 or either 295/35/19
with 275mm width better run 40%
245/45/19
275/40/19
or
245/40/19
285/35/19
or
255/40/19
295/35/19 (285/35/19 will work here as well)
...
with 9.5x19 & 11x19 you can go
275/35/19
315/30/19
but that's extremely wide, your car will never gonna like running on that type of setup
..
i just went from 19x9.5 & 19x11 down to 19x8.5 & 19x9.5, and ride quality is way better

[Aitch]

I'm going with 275/35R19 and 245/40R19, which are matched in diameter and very slightly undersized from the stock tires.

Before you replace those front control arm bushing you should inspect the inner and outer tie rods and the thickness variation of the front rotors for your shimmy under braking which would be more intense with worn tie rods. I do agree the bushing are usually it but if the previous owner had them replaced I would check other areas as well that can be problematic. Also with new balanced wheels and tires you might notice a good bit of difference

I don't disagree, but I figured I'd start from the most likely source and just do both sets of front control arms at once. It's possible the PO only did the bushings but the ball joints are worn, or something else went wrong. Plus I've already bought the parts lol! Even if it ends up being the tie rod ends, I'd rather know that the whole front end gets done properly.

I don't suspect it's the brakes, due to the fact the shimmy also shows up at speed while cruising. It's more likely a problem with the suspension causing the majority of the issue.

[Scolirk]

Maybe. If you mean the guys from Double clutch.ca, then yes I think they're heading down for the LA auto show.

That's the one! I'm jealous that they'll be able to see this in person, looks like you've got a great E38!

[RVAE34]

Looks very nice. I think you scored well on this one.

[Aitch]

That's the one! I'm jealous that they'll be able to see this in person, looks like you've got a great E38!

Looks very nice. I think you scored well on this one.

Thanks guys!

[RDE38]

Looks very nice! I'm excited to see the upcoming changes.

[Hueristic]

Beauty!

[Nyc Dito]

Looks very nice!

[Aitch]

Well after two days, finally got the stripped torx bolt out that was holding the airbag on my original steering wheel. After that it only took 15 minutes to install the new MSport steering wheel. I lucked out, it seems that finding one built with a single stage airbag is fairly rare, especially with the control buttons, and this one was local too! It doesn't look that much smaller than the stock bus steering wheel, but that half inch or so in diameter makes a world of difference.





The leather is not perfect, so I may consider redoing it in the future. But for now it's so much nicer to drive!

[Sabreslight]

Wow we did almost the same set-up at the same time lol lookin good.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[Aitch]

More small updates. Replaced a rear wheel speed sensor that I suspected was giving me the DSC and ABS lights, but they still came on afterwards. So today I cleaned all the other sensors. We'll see what happens when I take it out for a drive.

Also replaced the orange corner lights with smoked ones.

Before


After




Still need to clean up the inner headlight lenses.

That wheel gap is ridiculous. Picked up some new ST coilovers for a used price.



Awaiting new strut mounts for them.

Lastly, installed gauge cluster rings.

Before


After


Still kinda annoyed, because I bought some black brushed vinyl to use around the gauges and steering wheel controls. But you can't easily separate the front clear plastic on the cluster, nor could I quite get the buttons out of the steering controls to wrap them properly either. Frustrated by that.

[kulgan]

Looks like you got a good one.

Great progress on this.

Those rims are very nice too. It's really hard to find something different that's going to look good on the E38 and I think you've done it.

[NordmanMg]

Very nice,
also try to retrofit facelift headlight inside stuff into yours, it will look great that way

[Aitch]

Looks like you got a good one.

Great progress on this.

Those rims are very nice too. It's really hard to find something different that's going to look good on the E38 and I think you've done it.

Very nice,
also try to retrofit facelift headlight inside stuff into yours, it will look great that way

Thanks guys. For the headlights I have an additional set of h1 bi-xenon projectors I'm planning to slot into the high-beam housings, so I'll have dual projectors and also high-beam capabilities. Haven't decided if I'll add angel eyes or some other DRL lighting at the same time yet.

Also, today no DSC/ABS errors, so fingers crossed the sensor cleaning did the job. Usually whenever that error has cleared itself, it quickly came back after a couple of minutes driving where I'd feel the ABS activate under light braking, and then the lights would come on again. Nothing so far today *knocks on wood*

[xboss]

More small updates. Replaced a rear wheel speed sensor that I suspected was giving me the DSC and ABS lights, but they still came on afterwards. So today I cleaned all the other sensors. We'll see what happens when I take it out for a drive.

Also replaced the orange corner lights with smoked ones.

Before


After




Still need to clean up the inner headlight lenses.

That wheel gap is ridiculous. Picked up some new ST coilovers for a used price.



Awaiting new strut mounts for them.

Lastly, installed gauge cluster rings.
Before


After


Still kinda annoyed, because I bought some black brushed vinyl to use around the gauges and steering wheel controls. But you can't easily separate the front clear plastic on the cluster, nor could I quite get the buttons out of the steering controls to wrap them properly either. Frustrated by that.

The cluster cover comes off very easy, did you remove the whole cluster?

[cazal740i]

NICE 7fiddy

[Aitch]

The cluster cover comes off very easy, did you remove the whole cluster?

I did, but what I specifically need is to remove the clear plastic from the rest of the cluster cover. Otherwise I can't install a vinyl overlay properly from the front. It appears the two parts are essentially fused together.

[Aitch]

Well this also sucks.





Fibreglass, so not very bendable.

[cazal740i]

you`ll need to heat it up and bend it..Not a Genuine ACS spoiler I See ...ALso for gluing purposes use 3m Window sealant

[gaspump]

Take it off, it looks stupid anyway.

[Aitch]

you`ll need to heat it up and bend it..Not a Genuine ACS spoiler I See ...ALso for gluing purposes use 3m Window sealant

For $40 shipped from ebay, (with a money-back guarantee) I was willing to take a shot on it. I'm not sure that heat will allow the fiberglass to bend that much.

Take it off, it looks stupid anyway.

I'm planning on tucking a full-length LED 3rd brake light under it. There's not a great way to do that without the spoiler (anything inside the rear window gets very dim thanks to the tint).