Hello All-

Finally got some pictures of my '01 Sport I picked up in Feb posted on cardomain. go checkem out!

http://www.cardomain.com/id/red740is

These are "before" pics because it is in for a new windshield as I type this and is going to the body shop next week for a repaint of the entire front plus the rear bumper cover. All parts are being disassembled for painting and he hood will be stripped. Look for those "after" pictures in a couple weeks!

I am bent on getting this car as perfect as possible, and am pissed off at my self for not instecting the car in better light of having it washed (had road dust on it) before buying it. Somehow, the detailer had some magic to make these chips not look so bad (including touch-up). But after I buffed the hood because of the "cat" (long story), the "magic" vanished!

Lesson learned, and now I will pay for it *but* it will be mint (or damn close) when I'm done.

Here was done already along with the plan:

Purchased Feb '04 - 54K miles, $32K dollars
Had inspection I and II done (stamped in book).

In looking for car realized 90% or more of these 7's are leased and people that lease do not "baby" a car like someone that owns it (lays out the $75K)

Completed tasks done by me:

-Replaced pitted headlamp lenses
-Replaced front brakes/rotors (OEM parts)
-Replaced traction struts
-Upgraded NAV software to V22 (very cool)
-Polished out all scratches on center console wood
-Polished out pitting on front signal lenses
-Replaced bank 2 cam position sensor (engine light came on)
-Replaced radiator expansion tank / coolant flush
-New belts
-New tail lenses (goodwill warrantee, BMW dealer)
-Replaced center rear door moulding (old one dinged up, - only one though!)
-Replaced all 4 plastic jack pads (all 4 were missing!)
-Replaced broken deflector infront of right rear wheel.


To do over next month:

-Paintwork
-Replace windshield (in progress)
-Replace pitted kidney grills, hood emblem and fog lights (after paint)
-Replace center console phone tray with plain one
-New rear brakes/rotors
-New floor mats
-Replace microfilters and cabin filters
-Take "after" pics while she still looks good!

Very nice man, I love that color.

Oooh.

Gaw-Jus.

Sweet Color :redspot

Hey - you got the car for a great price so don't beat yourself up too much about it not being perfect. :D

How did you polish the center console? Car looks great BTW.

It is tough to find any car in perfect condition. Settle for "pretty close" and correct the problems of live with them. Waiting for a car with no flaws with the right color combination could take a while. None of the cars out there are getting any newer and few are likely to somehow get in better condition than they are now.

I just realized that I may have some people scratching their heads as to why an 5 series guy is posting/trolling the 7 series forum. I've been checking them out for the past week or so because I'm in the process of buying a 740iL locally. I should have the deal closed the first of next week, just waiting on the check for the financing.
In reality the car will be my wifes so the E34 will be gone, but I drive everytime we're together so I'll get plenty of seat time. :redspot

I look forward to spending some time learning about the 7s.

Dave-

Your right about trying to find one perfect. With the newest model year for an E38 being 2001, they are just getting older and more used .. that was my logic on pulling the trigger on this one, figuring the price was not too bad so I could put a few $$ back in. The paintwork ($3K) wasn't in my plan, but I really like the car and will keep it for a good long time making it worth it.

Tony-

I took the wood console parts out of the car (big center thing, ashtray and storage box door) and then wet sanded them with 1500 and then 2000 grit paper.

The wood has a very thick acrylic coating, so this is OK as long as you take care at the edges and don't over do it. I then performed a l-o-n-g multi-step hand polishing process with micro fiber cloths. Probably could have skipped a few steps, but this is what I did:

Rubbing Compond
Polishing Compound
Swirl mark removing compound
3-M hand glaze
Meguires plastic cleaner
Meguires plastic polish

Took allot of time, but came out real nice. I think the big wood piece part alone is almost $500, so the effort is somewhat worth it. I have pictures (not before, though) on my other computer if you want to see them.

Ray

Great color!!! If I missed it somewhere, many apologies, but what is this color?

Also - Scott - welcome and good luck on your search!

very nice. u'r hood almost has as much chips as i do on my cosmos black. =)
you should come down to our next meet and show that puppy off after it's all done.
-j

FlyingHigh-

Thanks.. and the color is Royal Red. I never payed much attention until I got this one, but this color does not seem to be that popular on these cars.

Sweet color, and you're spot on correct in having that stuff repainted where needed. There's nothing worse than tons of pitting and stone chips to detract from the beauty of that gorgeous beast.

It'll be awesome when it returns. I just went for a ride in my ole 95 740i as I sold it to a friend. He's had it 3 months and he FINALLY got his license back to drive it! He couldn't even legally drive it when he bought it from me in January. It looks amazing, because I also had the stone chipped front and sides in parts repainted. Also had the back bumper repainted. It looks new with 121k miles on it!

Cheers,
Steve

In reality the car will be my wifes so the E34 will be gone, but I drive everytime we're together so I'll get plenty of seat time. :redspot


Please just tell me that your avatar is a pic of your wife :redspot
See if you can get the service history of the car in question and I could decode it if necc....
But only if that is your wife.. :eek:

Please just tell me that your avatar is a pic of your wife :redspot
See if you can get the service history of the car in question and I could decode it if necc....
But only if that is your wife.. :eek:

Hahah...no, my avatar isn't my wife, it's Brittany Spears. I love her retro look in this pic. And just for the record I wouldn't trade my wife for her, we just had our 12 year anniversary and the 7 is "kind" of a gift.

Probably the main thing that made me go for this car is the fact that I have all the maint. work from roughly 2002. The car has had literally everything done to it already that I see people dealing with....cats replaced, valve cover gasket, radiator, water pump, etc. It has a new 5k paint job, new brakes all around, new Michelin Pilots, new upper/lower control arms and has been loaded with everything that Dinan offers for a '96 740iL except the supercharger :devillook
The car doesn't burn a drop of oil and is completely dry underneath. Looking at the maint. bills on this thing were quite scary, 2k here, 3k there...(previous owner is very well off). None the less I'm told by my mechanic that it needs nothing and is about as perfect as you can get for a '96 740 with 95k miles on it.
I should be picking it up the first of next week, I'll post some pics then.

I'm stoked! :buttrock

Ray: Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just tape everything as well as I can and I'll try to polish it without removing it. It sounds like I can treat it just like my paint which I deswirled using the Einszett system. Great stuff, BTW. Left my Imola red 740i Sport virtually swirl free.

Originally Posted by Scott528iM
Hahah...no, my avatar isn't my wife, it's Brittany Spears. I love her retro look in this pic. And just for the record I wouldn't trade my wife for her, we just had our 12 year anniversary and the 7 is "kind" of a gift.

What Scott, you don't want to trade in a wonderful wife for a 20+ year old skank ho? The retro look is good. For our 13th I kind of bought the car...for myself. She recieved a card and dinner. Maybe this year for our 14th I might even get her flowers!
Pretty good, '96 with 95k on it with all the problem areas addressed. Hope both of you like it.
Happy Anniversary

For our 13th I kind of bought the car...for myself. She recieved a card and dinner. Maybe this year for our 14th I might even get her flowers!

LOL - I'm guessing your in sales/marketing, Kevin? ....negative on the flowers unless you get a new airplane or something of equal value. :nono You don't want to start a bad precedent...

Why is it that Sales and Mkting people always take a bed rap or seem to be viewed as "unscrupulous". Having spent 25 years in a mixture of both - I ALWAYS sold my cars at a fair price. :buttrock

Why is it that Sales and Mkting people always take a bed rap or seemed to be viewed as "unscrupulous". Having spent 25 years in a mixture of both - I ALWAYS sold my cars at a fair price.

Huh? I was talking about the dinner/card versus buying a car for himself... It was a joke. I have spent my career in sales/marketing as well and was simply admiring how Kevin was able to pull this off :D ...unless I am missing your point... ....which is always possible....

LOL - I'm guessing your in sales/marketing, Kevin? ....negative on the flowers unless you get a new airplane or something of equal value. :nono You don't want to start a bad precedent...
EXACTLY! I don't want to set any kind of precedents. I have been this way since we married 13+ years ago. It really has worked for me.:redspot
Sorry Jack, I am not in sales or marketing. I am the electrician who comes in fixes your electrical and then rapes you and leaves you guessing :(
" I offer minimal services , nominally high prices with semi-satisfactory results."
ibew= international brotherhood of electrical workers
That's me.

EXACTLY! I don't want to set any kind of precedents. I have been this way since we married 13+ years ago. It really has worked for me.:redspot
Sorry Jack, I am not in sales or marketing. I am the electrician who comes in fixes your electrical and then rapes you and leaves you guessing :(
" I offer minimal services , nominally high prices with semi-satisfactory results."
ibew= international brotherhood of electrical workers
That's me.


I was just joking as well....sounds like you have things under control!

EXACTLY! I don't want to set any kind of precedents. I have been this way since we married 13+ years ago. It really has worked for me.:redspot

....I'm guilty as well. I have claimed that I can't cook and don't believe in "Hallmark Holidays" since day 1. It's my story and I'm sticking to it :shifty

Jack,
I have to cook, otherwise it's bread and water. Hmm, wandering thread? Oh,Ruby where are you?? Royal and Calypso best viewed under clear skies early morning or late afternoon. That's my story.... Why does everyone on cardomain who posts a comment want you to look at their car? Post whores? I just want to see what I came for. How about chrome M parallels or polished, anyone?

How about chrome M parallels or polished, anyone?

Didja see my thread (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197489) with pictures of my Black/Black with chrome M-Pars?

Didja see my thread (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197489) with pictures of my Black/Black with chrome M-Pars?
Catul,
saw your post I was looking for more of a close up picture of the chrome wheels. "Making my list and checking it twice.."
Other options for wheels
BMW 101s