Just been offered an old Bmw 735 E32 1988 7 series for about £700. Tempted to buy it as a second car for a bit of fun, however the car by car breakdown doesn't seem too happy about these cars, suggesting I should get it checked out by a specialist before I part with any money.
All well a good if the car cost 10 times as much, but not at this price.
Other web sites have been a little more encouraging, basically saying that if you stick to using specialists, don't worry about every little thing (heated cup holders and the like) and as long as the engine and gearbox are in good working order and you check the obvious, the costs should be pretty low (as long as you ignore the oil well draining thirst).
Anybody got any thoughts on these cars?
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For 700 quid ! you pays your money and see what happens different story if there was an other 0 after it!
If its what you want got to worth a laugh
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It if goes belly up it will break for what you paid.The insurance may be steep though.
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A friend of mine bought one of these for £3000 a few years ago - not sure of the E number, but it was an old 7 Series.
The climate control went bonkers and would only output maximum heat air - cost to fix: £3000. Last I heard he was driving everywhere with the windows wide open!
The other issue I remember was that it has metric diameter wheels, so replacing the tyres was expensive (as not many manufacturers wtill make them). The solution was to get new (or used) imperial diamter wheels.
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Do not, repeat **do not**, buy the car. You will not break it for £700 (and do you want all the bother of stripping it?).
I have had more involvement with these cars than I care to think about (mostly the nightmare electrics). I can 100% guarantee it will be a dog and you will be sorry - they were a dud secondhand buy in the mid-1990's, and 10-years on they won't have improved.
If you want a prestige car of this vintage then a Mercedes would be an infinitely better choice.
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Do not, repeat **do not**, buy the car. You will not break it for £700 (and do you want all the bother of stripping it?). I have had more involvement with these cars than I care to think about (mostly the nightmare electrics). I can 100% guarantee it will be a dog and you will be sorry - they were a dud secondhand buy in the mid-1990's, and 10-years on they won't have improved.
Wow! glad to hear that BMW's of a certain vintage are carp & not just Jaguars of this era which seem to come in for a lot of flack!
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With the possible exception of this case, I would say that big, luxury cars do present excellent value for money, provided that you make your choice carefully.
Some could well be (as above) a money pit, but there are others, like the Lexus LS 400 that seem to have a reputation for superb build quality and longevity.
I am seriously considering a used LS 400, probably about 8-10 years old. You can pick up one of these for less that 4K and as long as you are prepared to take a reasonable approach to maintenance and repairs I believe that they offer very good value. For example, if you are reasonably mechanically competent you could well do a lot of the maintenance yourself, most of these cars come with a full Lexus service history. If you are going to be this vehicles last owner it's not worth keeping this up but monitoring the schedule yourself and getting work done at a Toyota specialist or even MD and using Lexus at a last resort due to the high servicing costs.
I always have a chuckle at some of the posts on this board where people are complaining about high costs for a BMW/Audi/VW dealer charges for simple stuff like oil changes, I firmly believe most newer car owners are so wrapped up in fractions of a Mile per Gallon they achieve and how fantastic modern diesels are they forget the massive hit they take when it comes to trade in time.
Sensible money is with sensible people making sensible decisions about sensible cars. Not trying to keep up with the Joneses and paying through the nose for servicing.
All the above is symptomatic of the way this country has gone with the loss of skills, etc. and very sad if you are one of those who has to visit a dealer every time a bulb needs replacing.
Anyway, back to the above BMW. I would say that if some of the electrics can be bypassed and the engine and transmission are strong, £700 could still be a risk but only a £700 risk for a throw away car if the worst comes to the worst. Is it possible to run a car like this with most of the troubled systems disabled? For example if the A/C packs up could this system be run as a 'bare bones' system? What I am getting at is the question of buying it with the intention of having a large safe powerful but basic car.
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One thing you have to consider is the fuel comsumption as well as the insurance, but if you have the money to run these old luxurious barges then go for it!!!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I do not have personal experience of these, but I do know two people who bought, respectively, a 540 and a 740 in 1993/4 as executive 'bargains' at a fraction of the cost new when they were 3 or 4 years old- both very nice cars with full history. Until then, I had no idea that one car could have so many things go wrong with it. I have always wondered if they were just unlucky but reading Aprilia's comments makes me glad I resisted the temptation to try one myself.
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I own two old MBs, so it will surprise no-one when I suggest that they are good candidates in this category. However, some of the reasons for my bias are:
* There are plenty about and therefore plenty of independent mechanics and servicing garages who operate with great competence at reasonable prices (half dealer rates). This stands in contrast to Lexus, for instance. Add to this a large and thriving owners club packed with expertise and experience, and the environment is pretty comforting.
* Spares are not as expensive as you might imagine, and there's Euro Car Parts and GSF to boot. This is another point of contrast with Lexus and, I believe, the top cars from the other Japanese manufacturers.
* Spares availability from MB is superb, covering cars going back decades.
* The numbers produced (2.8 million W124 E-Class, 800,000 W126 S-Class) mean that there's a wide variety of specs out there, so there's is a good chance for you to get exactly what you want. Thus, I am delighted that my W126 300 SE doesn't have one of the complex and costly-to-maintain V8 engines that seduce so many people; it doesn't have A/C to go wrong expensively; it doesn't have a cat to need costly replacement; it doesn't have electric seats to go wrong (and without a memory setting they are a pain anyway); and it doesn't have airbags, which are supposed to be replaced every ten years. Thus, as an old friend in the motoring trade says, it doesn't have "too many things to go wrong".
* The reliability and durability of the pre-1997 MBs is well known.
They are not perfect and they do need repair, but they are a pretty good bet if you want luxury motoring at reasonable cost for a long time.
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with so many "doesent haves" It "doesent have" luxury motoring.
IMHO, anyone who buys a car with no airbag as primary motoring is compromising their own safety.
{post edited to prevent anyone from taking offence at Rf's TVM's original comment - DD}
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I disagree, I would rather drive an E32 with no airbag, than say a Daewoo Matiz or Perudua Nippa with.
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plus you don't want the damn thing triggered by yr pacemaker and go off for no reason mashing yr stogie in yr face
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I would suggest anyone who buys a 10 yera old car fitted with an air bag that has nevr been replaced, may be as well driving a car without one..
madf
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Nope - they have tested +10 year old airbags and they work fine. In fact the major airbag manufacturer is thinking of doubling the replacement interval.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Many of those manufacturers who originally quoted 10 years have revised the figure up to 15 or even 20 years.
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Near you there will be one or more independant BMW specialists.
These people know more than some BMW dealers,the one near me gets more calls from our local BMW dealer than he makes to them!
See if they can keep the thing running for a year whatever the electrics do,you might have to get secondhand parts for them to use.
But what a lovely,lovely car for the price of a long weekend in Paris.
Robin
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