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AndyS 
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few
Joined: 21-August-2003
Location: 55 � North
Status: Offline
Points: 1365
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 Topic: E38 728 or 730 ?
Posted: 13-November-2005 at 11:41 |
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Just been looking at a '94 730. It's a 2 owner car with 129k miles
& a full service history. Garage is asking £3499. Seems like a lot
of car for the money.
I know the V8 had bore wear problems like the 2.8 but the question is,
which is the preferred engine? Is the extra 25 bhp from the V8
noticable? Is the 2.8 significantly more economical than the V8.
Would I be better off with a well pampered E32 730/735?
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AndyS Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be. 
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spokey
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Offensive and obnoxious tub of lard
Joined: 02-March-2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1948
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 11:49 |
Well pampered E32 740 or 750 for that kind of money. 
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Ciao,
Spokey
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Drew540i
Really Senior Member II
Available from all good newsagents!
Joined: 15-August-2005
Location: The Mansfield Massive
Status: Offline
Points: 632
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 12:53 |
A well pampered E32 is about £800 worth. They're
good old bangers (I have one as a daily smoker) but
nothing to spend 'serious' money on and the E38 is
much nicer. It's one of those cars that still looks
modern and imposing after 11 years as opposed to
old and creaky. I'm the first to admit the E32 looks
horribly downmarket these days - but I don't care!
It's six or two threes with the E38's. They're all old
enough to go expensively wrong. The V8 3 and 4
litres have the Nikasil issue so make sure she's
had the block swapped. The 2.8 is a good car and
the performance is almost as good as a 730i - a bit
breathless but they wind up okay. The V8 sounds
lovely. Just make sure it's got a proper history with
some nice big bills. Alas, most early ones are
becoming bangers now  .
I shall probably replace my E32 with one at some
point.
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Chas C
Really Senior Member II
Nothing new under the sun
Joined: 15-December-2004
Location: Aberdeenshire
Status: Offline
Points: 1620
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 13:17 |
Agree with Drew. My preference would be for a good E32 735. If going E38, I'd choose the 728 because the V8 is a lot of hassle/expense for little more power (and I'm a fan of 6s anyway).
I'd disagree with what you say on the price of that 730. I wouldn't pay more than £2.5k for a 130k miler and only if I had to.
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Drew540i
Really Senior Member II
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 13:49 |
Andy, look on Ebay. There are loads for under £4000.
1.) 1996 P reg 735i, Oxford green, 203'000 miles,
FSH, with a new BMW engine at 148'000.
a couple of minor problems (1 seat motor cog,
occasional fading dash pixels) but it's £2750 'buy it
now' which means that a bid of £2400 would
probably buy it.
2.) 1996 (N or P) 728i, Oxford green, LPG kit, 187'000
miles but BMW engine and gearbox replacement
under warranty in the past. £3000 'buy it now'. I've a
suspicion this might be Howard Walker's car - it
certainly fits the bill and it's Oop North.
The E38 is rapidly crashing to earth value wise
which in turn has meant that the E32 is worth about
10p and a button.
Buy a decent cheap E38 that runs and drives okay
and spend a few quid getting it up to scratch. They're
such a lovely car - along with the old Audi A8 and
Jaguar XJ (the X300, not the nasty XJ40!).
It's amazing what £2500 can get you these days if
you've got big enough balls to run one! 
Edited by Drew540i
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few
Joined: 21-August-2003
Location: 55 � North
Status: Offline
Points: 1365
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 14:01 |
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Sorry, just realised my error - should have mentioned the '94 730 is an E38.
I know what to expect from the M30 engine power & economy wise but
the V8 is more of a mystery. I know it's supposed to be a lot more
efficient than the M30 but just how much I don't know. Do the benefits
outweigh the (complicated) advantages?
There's an '87 735 E32 with 80k in the Club magazine for £1399. Good,
solid & not to complicated but looking a little dated against the
E38. Probably top money for an E32 but worth paying the extra when a
doggy 730 is £600.
However this is to replace an E30 316 Touring so either would be a step up.
I still miss my old E34 & a good 525 auto would still hit the mark
for me. It's just finding one without inter-galactic mileage.
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AndyS Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be.
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Drew540i
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 16:51 |
 AndyS wrote:
Sorry, just realised my error -
should have mentioned the '94 730 is an E38.
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I should bloody well hope so for £3500!!
As you say, you want a step up from an E30 Touring -
no point then in stepoping backwards or at best
sideways into an E34 or E32. They're just old, old
cars now so you might as well move up to
something that's only one generation old as
opposed to three. A nice late model 316i Touring
E30 is still £1000 - £1500 worth so not a huge cost
to change.
I don't know how to post ebay links (I'm fick, innit?)
but check out ebay item 4588730598 - a very smart
Aspen silver 520i Manual E39. I reckon £2500 will
buy that and when you can buy an E39 (or E38) for
so little, why bother with the golden oldies? After an
E30 you may find an E38 is a rude awakening in
terms of running costs, but a manual six pot E39
with a decent history will be a really nice usable car.
Also consider the E36 Touring - again, they're
crumbling down to not more than £2500 for a nice
1995 318i.
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fingerman
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 31-May-2005
Location: Stockport
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Points: 564
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 17:22 |
Yep, I agree to the previous posts - far too expensive at £3500. I got mine for 1k - and very happy with it, although I think I'd like a 750 now though  . But it's always the same when you have a fast car, you always want faster!  The V8 730 is nice, faster then my old e34 525 - sounds better, handles better and was cheaper ! Now thinking of saving for an e38 740 - that would be nice 
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Current: E34 1996 525tds 113-125k
Previous: 9xE34s, 5xE30s, 2xE39s, 1xE32, 1xE36.... phew!
My Ebay bits: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZseany69ukQQhtZ-1
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Drew540i
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Posted: 13-November-2005 at 18:02 |
fingerman wrote:
I think I'd like a 750 now though
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Oh no you don't!  You need an oil
well and very, very deep pockets plus an extra AA
card for one of those things.
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eta.
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Joined: 21-October-2002
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: 14-November-2005 at 10:36 |
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A really clean, detailed, high spec (must be minimum SE and Servotronic PAS and LSD would be good) FSH e32 735 is still a good looking car with many many modern day car features. Particularly if you add some quality BM alloys. Build quality is probably the best that BMW ever produced. They spent £660M (launced in '86!) developing it into a MB breaker and they succeeded.
I would much prefer a 'proper' e32 straight 6 735 (not 730) to a suspect e38 v8. BTW, the rare 735 v8 e38 is meant to be a nicely balanced car.
Sorry if i have added to the confusion.
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few
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Location: 55 � North
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Posted: 14-November-2005 at 13:43 |
I can see the point of the arguments but I'm looking for a work hack rather than a prize possession.
My E30 Touring is a pukka little car with the kind of service history
you can only dream about. I paid £1800 for it a year ago which was
steep but the mileage (65k) & condition made it worth the extra
£500 - £1000 over a ropey tired example.
It only has 3 faults - 2 cylinders short of a proper engine, needs
another litre capacity & it's manual which means more gear changes
than I care for. Other than that it's cost me nowt except petrol &
saves my Six from the daily commute.
I'd rather have a mint(ish) E32 than a doggy E38 & ditto for the
5-series but I'm in no rush as the Tourings rather basic nature means
there's nowt to go wrong. 
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AndyS Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be.
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735owner
Newbie
Joined: 14-November-2005
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Points: 26
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Posted: 14-November-2005 at 15:20 |
Hi, I've had two 735i SE's ( the current one for 7 years ) and I would reccomend them to anyone and everyone.
Having said that, now that I'm looking for a mid-late 90's 7 serries to replace my current 89 model, I've started hearing about some 'niksail' (?) problem with the cylinder head linings which from what I gather were mostly ( but not always ) replaced by BMW as soon as the problem was identified.
Does anyone know what 7 serries models it affected ( or which it didn't ) and from what month-year to month-year.
anything to look out for/ avoid ?
735on and on
TIA
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few
Joined: 21-August-2003
Location: 55 � North
Status: Offline
Points: 1365
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Posted: 14-November-2005 at 20:16 |
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The bore wear problems affected pre '97/'98 2.8 six cylinders & the 3.0 & 4.0 litre V8's.
3.5 & 4.4 V8's (& V12's) were ok.
Another reason for my hesitation.
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AndyS Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be.
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735owner
Newbie
Joined: 14-November-2005
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Points: 26
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Posted: 15-November-2005 at 05:26 |
Thanks Andy
So you think a '96 735 should be unaffected ?
Regarding your initial query ( '94 730, 130k, £3,500 ) my opinion is like yours, indeed it is a lot of car for the money but If you looked on Ebay you'll find similar or better for at least £1,000 less.
With this year seeing petrol reach 95p+ a Litre ( What a total rip off ) its become a real buyers market in the 10 year old GAS GUZZLER area.
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few
Joined: 21-August-2003
Location: 55 � North
Status: Offline
Points: 1365
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Posted: 15-November-2005 at 14:25 |
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You'll be safe with a 735. Bores were coated with Alusil rather than
Nicasil. I'm no chemist so I couldn't tell you what the
difference is!
One thing this E38 has in it's favour is that it's two owners have
really kept it up to scratch. There's a big sheaf of bills for all work
done. You may well get an E38 off Ebay for a grand less but with a car
like that you could spend twice that on a few little jobs if it isn't
perfect.
This whole "buy a car off Ebay" business has me perplexed! Buy a car
you've never seen from a bloke you've never met!!! Strikes me as
a disaster waiting to happen . . . I'm so last century!
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AndyS Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be.
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Drew540i
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Posted: 15-November-2005 at 18:49 |
I'm not so sure - basically the way I look at it is this;
the car MUST live up to it's ebay desription with ALL
faults declared. Never mind this 'you are bidding to
buy' bull****, if the car isn't accurately described then
it's no go. The green 728i with LPG lives up near you
at weekends - it's got to be worth a look surely?
45-50 mpg on gas :-)
But you're absolutely right about the 730i you've been
looking at with regard to the bills and maintenance.
In the great scheme of things £3500 is nothing for
the kind of car it is and yes, better to have a mint M
plater than a high mileage well used car 2 years
newer. And the end of the day E38's are all much the
same. If you can stomach the fuel and insurance
costs then go for it. What a lovely old smoker!
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M3AG
Really Senior Member II
7 series & e36 m3 registrar! (Madness)
Joined: 17-October-2002
Location: Good Old Hertfordshire
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Posted: 16-November-2005 at 05:21 |
have to echo Drews comments there! So what you gonna get? 
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we're the Sweeney son, and we ain't had our dinner.....
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AndyS
Really Senior Member II
The Last of the Few
Joined: 21-August-2003
Location: 55 � North
Status: Offline
Points: 1365
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Posted: 16-November-2005 at 13:32 |
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As of today we're all on redundancy notice.
This has kind of screwed my plans for a comfortable waft to work.
Just have to wait & see what happens.
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AndyS Live each day as if it's your last - one day it will be.
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eta.
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 21-October-2002
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 599
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Posted: 17-November-2005 at 05:50 |
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Sorry to hear your news, I've been through that a few years back, not nice. Still, the Bank of England Chairman says the economy's in good shape and we are going to have a record 2006 - now that is reassuring!
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Chas C
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Nothing new under the sun
Joined: 15-December-2004
Location: Aberdeenshire
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Points: 1620
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Posted: 17-November-2005 at 09:18 |
eta. wrote:
Still, the Bank of England Chairman says the economy's in good shape and we are going to have a record 2006 |
That was probably after the banks remuneration committee had decided on his fat cat bonus for the year. Anyone who believes we're booming just now doesn't live in the real world.
Sorry to hear about your job Andy. Been through it a few times and it can actually be very beneficial if it's handled correctly and there's other jobs on the go.
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E38 728 or 730 ?
