Keep Driving Daily or Preserve the Miles? 2001 740i M Sport - 70,000mi

[COSteve]

Cham, just for the record the steel blue had 47500 miles when I picked it up. There was a mistake on the Craigs ad, it had two prices $9200 and $9800. Victor agreed to the lower price but someone local after I had arranged tickets offered $10k and I agreed to meet that price. Still a good deal.
I'm not a flipper either. I spend the time and money to make them as perfect as I reasonably can, driving them during the process. If I fall in love, I keep it. If not, well I hope to not loose money in the process. It's like a long term test drive with option to buy. I'm lucky to live in a low sales tax area so my registration costs are small.
I got my MK4 Nav working and parts for bluetooth are coming in. Found the first thing wrong the other day. The little rear quarter window shades weren't working. Upon inspection the roller axle had broken it's plastic mooring, common problem. Since the shade would no longer retract the P.O. just tore the shade part off the roller. It was missing entirely.

[victoriabmw27]

How many of you guys telling the OP to drive the wheels off his new Imola red sport are driving high mileage E38s? I'm just saying that there is plenty of enjoyment in preservation and show/pride vs. daily driving the hell out of an otherwise well preserved classic.

Still waiting for the OP's comments on this engaging conversation!

Although I clearly fall into the ‘drive it’ camp, I don’t think anyone here has said, or is advocating for the OP to ‘drive the wheels off’ or to ‘daily driving the hell out of’ it. As stated previously by myself and to your above question, I also check the high mileage, prefacelift, not the cool sport package box as well (hey, at least I am not the boring long wheel base 😬&#128514. Doesn’t mean I don’t care or attempt preserve my car. I am very proud of my high mileage, daily driven by me for 13 years (I got it when I was 16) e38 despite its now incredibly low value and almost endless flaws. I also know a thing or two about garage queen preservation based on my M that gets maybe 2,000 miles a year. Personally I just don’t see the e38 value jumping off the chart and think they are cars well worth driving while you can, but to each his own. The OP ultimately makes that choice and I hope he gets enough no matter if that is by driving it once or twice a month or two or three times a week. Just enjoy it!

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Although I clearly fall into the ‘drive it’ camp, I don’t think anyone here has said, or is advocating for the OP to ‘drive the wheels off’ or to ‘daily driving the hell out of’ it. As stated previously by myself and to your above question, I also check the high mileage, prefacelift, not the cool sport package box as well (hey, at least I am not the boring long wheel base 😬&#128514. Doesn’t mean I don’t care or attempt preserve my car. I am very proud of my high mileage, daily driven by me for 13 years (I got it when I was 16) e38 despite its now incredibly low value and almost endless flaws. I also know a thing or two about garage queen preservation based on my M that gets maybe 2,000 miles a year. Personally I just don’t see the e38 value jumping off the chart and think they are cars well worth driving while you can, but to each his own. The OP ultimately makes that choice and I hope he gets enough no matter if that is by driving it once or twice a month or two or three times a week. Just enjoy it!

I stand corrected, someone did say ‘drive the wheels off of it,’ you are right there.

[Schroedog]

Im sure its been said but you dont buy an e38 as a financial investment but as a fun investment. The cost just to keep it on the road, regardless of how much you drive it, means you'll probably be better off financially dumping the cost of the car and associated maintenance costs in a mutual fund or something. If you can flip it today for 5k profit you have to decide if you prefer the money or having a cool unique car that pretty much no one else around you is driving and you're already in it for a low entry fee. I personally would be happiest driving this car as my weekend cruiser and pick up a second more reliable car as my daily.

[purplecty]

I see you are in IL! Imola is beautiful...

[Scuds31091]

Still waiting for the OP's comments on this engaging conversation!

See comment #15. I'm having issues posting. Each time it needs to be reviewed. So by the time it actually get's posted, it's buried by others.

[Chamberlin]

See comment #15. I'm having issues posting. Each time it needs to be reviewed. So by the time it actually get's posted, it's buried by others.

Just saw your post pop up....I guess it's just a new member thing. Maybe the moderator can 'green light' you now.

Anyway, I appreciate you considering the preservation route, whether or not you decide to flip it. There's going to be a money and time investment regardless of you deciding it being a DD or a show car; the difference being the level of urgency when a repair is needed. On the selling side, the low miles tends to relieve you of having to prep the car top to bottom as opposed to someone trying to get top dollar for a super clean 140k mile car.

If you decide to keep it as a fun weekend car and hobby car, I will say that the BMWCCA is a great community to join, if you're in to such things (https://windycitybmw.org). And of course we're all here as your support group when you decide to tackle some service work yourself.

Good luck in whichever route you choose!

[Myro]

If your going to sell it don't drive it if your not going to sell it drive the tires off of it

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[740ilDuke]

When you reach the end of life...flash back on experiences...faces..cars...will you be happy that you let it sit or that you drove it and enjoyed it?

He who has the least amount of miles loses.

ENJOY IT!