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Thread: The "Do it for Dad" Project | 2001 740iL Restore/Revival

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Camarillo, California
    Posts
    32
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 740iL

    The "Do it for Dad" Project | 2001 740iL Restore/Revival

    Hi Everyone,

    I haven't been too active on this Forum for a while due to finishing up High School and Starting my first Job. But I'll give everyone a little re-cap.

    So In March-ish of 2018, I was looking for a replacement car for my dying '95 740i, when I found a 2001 740iL on my Local Marketplace for "Best Offer". I ended up contacting the owner and he told me that it currently didn't run, but I was more than welcome to come by and take a look... which I did. On first inspection of the car, I could immediately tell the Owner was a pretty heavy user of cigarettes and alcohol. But, forgetting about the awful, disgusting smelling and looking interior because of the months or years worth of garbage in the car, I saw that there was potential. Before I left my first viewing, I made sure to take a picture of the VIN, thinking I was going to look up all the options and such that it came with then toss him an offer, but, my Dad was one step ahead of me. He asked the Guy if he would take $250... SOLD! Only drawback was that it was out of reg foro a year ish and we owed like $100 in back fees or whatever they're called and I then had myself a nice car with 110K on the Clock!

    Anyways, flashing back to the present. On Tuesday morning, my Mom and I found my dad had a stroke, and today, Friday, he still hasn't woken up yet. This car was our Father-Son thing and I am just realising that I'm probably never going to be able to show him the progress that I'm going to have to make by myself. For instance, He has wanted me to hold of on getting new tires until I cleaned the M-Pars, even though the tires are 8 years old and probably older now. So, I'm going to be taking a good amount of time off of work to directly focus on the Car as well as other things that my dad left my mom and I that needs to be filled.

    I'm calling this project, the Do it for Dad Project, and I'm making my goal to make it to BimmerFest 2019, no matter how much of my depleting budget and time it's going to have to take, I need to show him that I can do it, because I haven't had the time to do it lately.

    So, I'm going to start off with some Goals (Not in any particular order):

    - Get Kidney Grills Installed

    - Purchase and Install 3-Spoke ///M Style Steering Wheel

    - Get New Tires!

    - Get new carpet installed as well as floor carpet cleaned

    - Clean Headliner as best as possible

    That's going to be it for now, I'm going to try my best to update as often as I can as soon as I learn to upload pictures, as I'm used to the Reddit format.

    Anyways, Thank you for Checking out my Build and I hope to see some of you at BimmerFest 2019.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Rutland, Vermont
    Posts
    4,398
    My Cars
    E30 E38 E46 E85 F150 GTI
    Hope the project is a huge success. Best of luck to your Dad. My dad passed away a few years ago and I still wish I could share some of my projects with him. Hope your dad recovers and can share this one with you.
    2000 740i Sport | 2004 330xi | 1988 325i Vert | 2003 Z4 2.5 | 1995 Ford F150 | 2018 GTI

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Camarillo, California
    Posts
    32
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 740iL
    So I decided to put a good amount of time into the car today. I was able to change out the Roundels and am planning on vacuuming and detailing the Rugs and Rims as well as a small wash today, so I should be posting some more pictures tonight.

    But here are some of me removing the roundels!

    Thank you for the support so far!
    car 1.jpgcar 2.jpg

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    1,293
    My Cars
    328i,740i,e36 m3 x2,e46
    I have a tricolor 3 spoke wheel for sale here, PM if interested! Congrats on the new ride!

    Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Camarillo, California
    Posts
    32
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 740iL
    I've been thinking about getting a DME Tune for her, Has anyone had any experience with the DUDMD Stage 1 Tune?

    I'm going to take some time to clean up the interior today, but I'm going to add some pictures I posted last night. One at normal height and one photoshopped to be lowered and... you know what. I really like the look of it so Coilovers/Bags are going to be on a watchlist for me.

    Thanks for Checking out the Build!


    Edited 1.jpgaaa.jpg

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Stamford, CT
    Posts
    192
    My Cars
    2014 Ford Focus ST
    Good luck with the project - I wish your dad a swift recovery. Looks like a great car and a fun project

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Upstate NY
    Posts
    237
    My Cars
    2001 740i
    Quote Originally Posted by clarkitect View Post
    Hope the project is a huge success. Best of luck to your Dad. My dad passed away a few years ago and I still wish I could share some of my projects with him. Hope your dad recovers and can share this one with you.
    +1

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Camarillo, California
    Posts
    32
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 740iL
    Hey Everyone,

    Sorry for my lack of updates on this Project. On the 23rd of January my Dad passed away and I haven't really been too motivated to do much of everything.

    I took the car out that night and nearly crashed it due to the beyond overdue tires I still haven't gotten around to replacing. So those are now a TOP priority.

    I have also been looking into exhaust modifications that are much more Daily Driver friendly, unlike my old '95 740i that had a complete Straight Pipe. I am 19 after all haha.

    I've also been looking into a Steering Wheel Swap to possibly an E39 M5 Facelift Wheel or a E38/E39 Sport Wheel, but am still trying to find one at a picknpull or on eBay that isn't too atrociously priced.

    Anyways, Once I get the time and energy to get the tires replaced on the car, I'm sure I'll be back to updating on the project, but I need(ed) some time to myself to figure everything out.

    Thanks for reading the Post.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Nebraska
    Posts
    412
    My Cars
    '01 E38 '99 DINAN 5
    My condolences

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Land O Lakes, FL
    Posts
    1,077
    My Cars
    1986 535i, 2012 X5 50i
    My condolences to you on your dad's passing. Just look at it as a tribute project for him, slowly but surely work on it. It sounds liek you definitely have a plan and I understand that at the moment your mind is not just there for this kind of work.
    Time heals all wounds and just think of him as you make the car better and better!
    Jimmy Moreno
    BMW CCA 115551
    1986 535i, Arctic Blue
    2012 X5 XDrive 501, Sparkling Bronze Metallic

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Rutland, Vermont
    Posts
    4,398
    My Cars
    E30 E38 E46 E85 F150 GTI
    Sorry for your loss. jimoreno is correct, time does heal the wounds. It takes a while though, and there's always a place where something is missing. I think about my Dad every day.
    2000 740i Sport | 2004 330xi | 1988 325i Vert | 2003 Z4 2.5 | 1995 Ford F150 | 2018 GTI

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Camarillo, California
    Posts
    32
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 740iL
    As Much as I hate to say it. I think I'm going to sell the car.


    A stupid way out, I know. But Insurance and Gas are costing me, a 19 y.o. with a minimum wage job, a CRAP ton of money. As much as I love this car and I want to keep it forever. I realistically can't afford it in the long run.

    I'm going to give it the best though and take it to get detailed and fix as many of the dings and rock chips that I've been putting off.

    Thank you for all the Support and I wish you all the best.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Rutland, Vermont
    Posts
    4,398
    My Cars
    E30 E38 E46 E85 F150 GTI
    List it here first
    2000 740i Sport | 2004 330xi | 1988 325i Vert | 2003 Z4 2.5 | 1995 Ford F150 | 2018 GTI

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