So when February come in close, I'm looking forward to buying a new car and for the longest time I've always wanted and E38 ever since my friend in high school had one. The one I got my eyes set on its a 1998 740il that's about to hit 200000 miles. I know these E38 are common to have timing chain failures but is there anything else I should know before purchasing this car? The owner claims to never have had any problems with the motor or transmission and that it is in fine working condition. As stated above I plan on buying this car next month February 2019, and in the spring of this year I looked to take it on a road trip if all works out and I end up with the car which leads me to another question... Could I trust this car to go New York to Florida which is about 1100 miles each way?
El Cid 1999 ILDUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.
200k with original guides? I wouldn't buy it even if I had franco's money.
If you buy it, you should do the guides. I meticulously maintain mine (237k miles) and would drive it anywhere. If I had just bought one and didn't have much of a maintenance history, I wouldn't drive it anywhere far.
'98 740il | 9/97 build | schwarz 2 | sandbeige | 5AT | 270k
'04 330i ZHP sedan | Mystic blue | Alcantara | 6MT | 120k
'00 540i sport | Titanium silver | Black | 5AT | 152k
'85 Mustang GT convertible | Medium charcoal metallic | Gray | 5MT | 216k | one owner, all original
mods: m-pars | Bilsteins & B&G springs | ValentineOne | StealthOne
retrofits: full nav | MKIV | bluetooth TCU | BM53 w/ AUX input | video module w/ AV input & backup cam | oem sirius xm | xenon | shades | PDC | rain sensor | BMW DWS TPMS | lighted door handles | front seat heaters | heated steering wheel | euro rear fog lights | ski pass | folding mirrors
When people say “the car is great I never had to do anything to it” it means “hello deferred maintenance”. Car might be just fine but something like the guides or cooling system could fail suddenly and you’d be stuck. Are you a gambling man?
To many miles on on it, keep looking. First never trust the owner unless they service records, then get a pre purchase inspection, but it has to many miles on it. Are you moving to Florida or just going on a road trip and will return. Get a rental car.
Not finding much local for any e38 under 180,000. However i am finding alot of 745li amd 750lis with right around 100,000 for around $3-5,000. They are not as good looking as the e38 tho.
If I'm not mistaken the 1998 model was pre VANOS and didn't suffer from the dreaded plastic timing chain guides problem. No?
Yes. It is pre VANOS but they are not immune from the guides falling apart. I've parted 4 of these cars. Three '96 and one '98. Got them all dirt cheap because they were driven after the guides disintegrated.
E38s are common enough, pass on this one and find a more suitable candidate. How much are you looking to spend to get into one? Whenever I buy a "classic" bmw I always figure I am going to spend the purchase price on parts (i do ALL the work myself) since I get most of them pretty cheap. Something to consider if you aren't handy with a wrench. A garage bill with these could swallow you whole.
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