BMW need to know....

[grantii]

Hi Board,

I am a complete newbie...so please forgive me if there is something that has been addressed elsewhere. I am not a BMW owner....yet. I have long admired the car and by far I love the 750iL....but I am a mere grad student, and to purchase a 750 is kinda out the question...well maybe not so.

In any event I have come across a 2001 740iL with approx 52K miles. Being that I've never owned a bimmer, I'd like know what are some things that I need to look for in seeing if this car is worth its pricetag....which is a little over 19K. Going into this car would be stepping upwards from my '02 Millenia, but I've purchased out of my realm and been burnt very very badly. I bought a '98 Catera and spent a TON on repairs and I really don't want to go back down a road of dispair if I can help it. Currently there is nothing wrong with my mazda...and getting it repaired is quite simple, considering its technically a foreign car. My biggest concerns are what are the typical repair bills for this car? What are some common problems? What kinds of maintenance outside of typical oil changes and the like are required for this car? What kind of gas does this thing take - and please don't tell me 92!?

Now I haven't committed anything at this time, but it's such a beautiful car......green ext and tan int (while I would prefer black on black....but it's used, so can't be picky) and personally I wanted to get a bimmer once I got out of my MBA program....but this could be a start. Let me know what I need to heed. If the bill isn't more than my caddy or avalon (another car that took a toll on the pocket) then I might give it serious thought.

....oh, in case anyone wants to read about the car in question...here's a link to the PDF of the car in question
http://www.autotrader.com/ac-servlets/vehiclebrochure/brochure.pdf?car_id=225300627&dealer_id=262227

[bmwdance]Thanks for your help

 

[Big Daddy]

Welcome, the price quoted is about average for the car, but I think with the low miles I would be inclined to look hard at this one. The 750's older V12 models were very repair intense and expensive to repair (I owned one). Yes they use Premium fuel, 92 Octane would sound correct. Sounds like a nice car.

 

[MTBL525i]

I think at that price and low miles you'd be getting a deal on the car. The carfax report seems to suggest everything is in order but I'd expect it to cost a bit more with the miles being that low. Maybe see if you could find the dealer that serviced the car in NJ and verify its history? The car is not a cheap car to maintain, not that it is problematic but the repair costs if/when things go wrong are not cheap. I looked into getting pretty much the exact same car before settling on the 5 series. If you do decide to go with the car I'd suggest getting some kind of warranty for at least a couple of years( there are a bunch of decent third party ones out there). Also if you haven't done so already look into how much your insurance bill would be as well - when I checked it was way more than any other car I was considering at the time, way more.

It is a very beautiful car though. Good luck!

 

[Abdoman]

The 740 is a great car and with only 52k, I would think you would get at least 50K more miles without any major repairs. There is a great web site devoted to common repairs and maintenance of the E38. http://www.e38.org/ I have owned a 740 and loved it but when it was time to repair it.....

On a more opinionated note, If I were a student, I would stick with the mazda and get a Bimmer after you graduate. The repairs can be very costly if something did go wrong.