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      03-14-2013, 10:58 PM   #6
frieseke
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Drives: BMW 750li
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Saskatchewan

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I had one, and to be honest they cost about 300 bucks a month in maintenance. Sometimes more sometimes less. At about 150k I'd seriously suggest changing the transmission oil because BMW thinks they are lifetime units. They are wrong. At about 270,000km the tranny went on mine and it was because of the oil never being changed on it. Another thing I'd look for is the front radiator. The front reservoir is really prone to breaking and failing. If its leaking its about 1000 bucks to fix and probably not worth it. If it looks clean without leaks - great! If it looks like there was a spill and it was fixed - great! BMW redid the coolant reservoir to not fail like the old ones were prone to do.

A couple other little things, see if there is a shimmy at around 80 kph (50 mph). Most e38s had it and they varied in how bad they were. Some of them were terrifyingly bad and I would suggest avoiding it, others were barely noticeable to just not being there. Find out what you can live with and go with that.

The e38 radios sometimes work and sometimes they don't. Make sure that the radio works before you get it. It is usually a problem with the tape deck and costs about 100 bucks to fix.

Make sure the steering linkages and suspension are good and there are no leaks - they can get pricy to work on. Check the seals and gaskets on the engine - they can fail and cost a few hundred bucks. And finally, if the check engine light is on, make sure its something small like a gas cap or an O2 sensor not something big like a Vanos or worse.

Mine gave up the ghost after about 440,000km from brand new. The stuff I did to that car and it kept on going was incredible. I only had to tow it away once - it always got me where I needed to go. They were the best cars around and every once in a blue moon when I see one I think to myself man, that was just such a good car.

If you can put up with the quirks and odd little thing going and are at all handy get the 7.
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