So, as some of you know I have been looking for a luxury barge to waft about in as an alternative to my Kia Cee'd. Well yesterday I went and collected this beauty...

She is a 1998 BMW E38 740i in Orient Blue with Grey Leather.

Optional extras fitted from new:-

-Communications pack including TV, SatNav, Built in phone, on board monitor

-Heated Front Seats

-M Sports Steering Wheel

Standard Equipment

-Cruise Control

-Heated Mirrors, Wiper resting points and washer jets

-First Aid kit in rear middle headrest

-6 CD changer in boot

-Loads of other stuff...

Oh and one other thing...A 4.4 litre V8 mated to a 5 speed auto tiptronic gearbox with sports function.

Two words...oh god. It is immense. The torque and smooth delivery is addictive, and the noise. Sports mode, kick down....heaven.

She needs a bit of work, the cruise control isn't working and she cuts out on startup occasionally (I'm told MAF is likely cause)

A bit of a project, as I want to fit the flappy paddles onto the steering wheel and possibly upgrade the stereo and nav to something a bit more modern. Going to keep her as OEM as possible, apart from maybe some HIDS and LED bulbs.

Drove home from Scotland (380 miles) and it cost £90...gulp. Smiles per second though. It seems people assume the 740i badge is just stuck on the back of some little 728i and have a go...until you leave them standing or they hear the noise!!!!

Can't work out how to make the images show up in the post...

Edited 10 February, 201313 yr by chris_1d

Looks very nice, must be very nice to waft around in,

Great project.

Re the HIDs. Hella did a genuine xenon conversion for the e39. I fitted them to my first 523i touring, then transferred them across to its replacement, a 530d. They might do one for the e38. Cost me £600 and was worth every penny. I spent most of my time driving it at night, about 30,000 miles per year.

There is a reason why they call them 'the ultimate driving machine'. Everything about the driving experience just feels right.

I always wanted the 540 touring in the e39 shape. Drool!!

The e38 is a great car. Hope you get it sorted soon.

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Awesome, congrats mate Enjoy!

Managed to get the cruise control working for 5 minutes yesterday before it switched off again. Thinking its probably a sensor.

Investigating the stalling issues next week. Probably get a MAF ordered.

So far though its been fantastic. Everything you could ever need in a car...except economy. Average of 23.5mpg so far.

Love it!!!

Managed to get the cruise control working for 5 minutes yesterday before it switched off again. Thinking its probably a sensor.

Investigating the stalling issues next week. Probably get a MAF ordered.

So far though its been fantastic. Everything you could ever need in a car...except economy. Average of 23.5mpg so far.

Love it!!!

Is there a BMW equivalent of VCDS/Vag-com?

I'm surprised by the economy. I thought it would be lower. That's not much lower than the likes of a Superb V6 (think people are getting an average of about 29mpg).

Lovely car anyway. The seats look like armchairs... true luxo barge! lol

You should be able to switch that sat nav system for a newer model. All BMW's since the early 90's use the same communication system between all the cars electronics (bit like CAN on vag cars) so you can put a later system in from like a 2004 BMW. I think it's commonly referred to as "the widescreen unit" because it's a bit 16:9 widescreen monitor.

Do the headlights have projector lenses or are they reflector type?

Phil

Is there a BMW equivalent of VCDS/Vag-com?

Not sure if it works on the e38, as I don't know if it's fully OBD-II. However, there is;

• PA soft
  
• NCS
  
• INPA
  
• SSS Program/DIS
  
• Maybe more I've forgotten
  

?PA soft is 3rd party, the rest are BMW factory or dealer tools. Cables can be had for about £20-£30 on eBay, and come with the software.

PA soft is coding and dianostics

NCS is factory level coding

INPA is diag

SSS/DIS do both IIRC, but code at a 'higher' level, so can't do quite a much (could be a bit out on that though)

(I tend to stick with NCS/INPA so not 100% on the others)

I'm pretty sure it's either CANBUS or i-Bus on the BMWs, both ring a bell but I can't remember why/

Looks nice though, some clear indicators and shadow line trim would make it look a whole lot more modern IMO.

Edited 12 February, 201313 yr by TriggerFish

The nav upgrade is on the list of things to do but its a big cost. The widescreen is around £300 and has to have come out of an E38 due to the way the vents in the car are etc. The nav unit is then another £300 or so. Then the tv tuner has to be upgraded to allow 16:9 as the existing one would still display is 4:3.

Lots of £££.

The list so far is

-Fix starting issue

-Fix cruise issue

-New tyres

-Attend to tiny rust spots on rear arch

-Service

-Nav/ICE Upgrade

-Detail (The swirl marks and general paintwork are poor!)

Oh..and drive her!!

SSS & DIS are actually the old dealer tools

DIS is used for diagnostics

SSS is used for programming.

DO you have the usual V8 rocker oil leak?

Check vacuum pipes for blockages & breakages. The pipes can become brittle and usually crack causing running/cutting out issues.

Ant

No nope oil leaks. Its been pretty well maintained to be honest. The MAF seems to be the culprit as judging by the forums they last about 100k. Mine has 131k on.

Also forgot, loosing most of my pixels on the dashboard. Gotta send it away to be sorted.

So, having had the car for nearly 2 weeks I have started prioritising jobs to do.

March.

-Tax

-Investigate MAF/Replace

April

-Cruise Control fix

-Get pixels fixed

-New tyre

May

-Service

-Lighting Upgrades

-Detail

Gonna be an expensive few months but hopefully she will be running spot on for Briskoda National Meet.

Just taken her out for a quick blast. Gave her a wash at work. Baring in mind she hasn't been anywhere really (10 miles in 2 weeks) she was filthy!! 15 mins of jet wash and she looks amazing. Brought her home tonight as the mrs is away (not broken the news yet....) but then felt the urge to take her for a quick blast. In normal auto mode she is quick, refined and comfortable. In S mode, the changes are so quick and slick...she flies and before you know it your at national speed limits. For a bit of fun I can turn her into a manual and control the gears myself, again it's so quick and responsive you can't feel the changes!!

I'm thoroughly in love, apart from fuel bills. £30 for 100 miles roughly. Can't put a price on smiles though!!!!

So all has been going well, the starting problem has not reared its head for a while either. MPG is sitting around 20mpg but most of it is town driving. I'm planning on going to a 7 series meet on Sunday which is a bit of a distance for it to stretch its legs.

Still loads of smiles

Unfortunately due to a change in circumstances the beast is now for sale :(