well, after selling my 2004 M3 2 years ago because of $$ issues, im slowing going to work my way back up
I found a 85 735i with under 100k and has always been garaged. 2nd owner. he was asking $1750 but said he'll take $1400 (i think i can get him down more)not in bad shape. he said it was going to cost 1000 bucks for a brake job (it needs brakes he stated). I think I can do it way cheaper. Other things wrong are the IC is dead and I guess he said the floor gets wet in the rain. to be honest I only saw it rom the road but it looked really good. Im going to go look at it sunday.

See, im new to these older cars, but from what I can tell if I do the job myself and buy from bma I can work on this car fairly cheap. At least I think I can. bma parts from what I see are cheap in price. Why do poeple say it cost so much to maintain these cars? am I missing something? (other than the parts are not bmw oem)

most of us get the cars when they have already "aged" and issues start cropping up. Hence the preponderance of owners with problems .....who also naturally flock to boards like this for help/device. Which further paints the picture that the 7 is costly to maintain - My 2 cents

Parts break like they do in most cars. And prices from stealerships (parts & labor) are more expensive...just like in other makes also.

most of us get the cars when they have already "aged" and issues start cropping up. Hence the preponderance of owners with problems .....who also naturally flock to boards like this for help/device. Which further paints the picture that the 7 is costly to maintain - My 2 cents


That makes good sense. its like I only hear about it when Im doing bad.

Front brake pads for my 733 were $22; new rotors and pads on all 4 wheels would've run me maybe $200 (doing the labor myself, brakes are easy). I reused the sensor.

nice prices... what brand did you use? Were they OEM?

nice prices... what brand did you use? Were they OEM?

Carquest brand lol. They seem to stop the car just fine.

Understood... I've heard the mechanic rumors that to avoid warping, BMW is a must.

Of course, I assumed he was full of it, but had to ask.

The best ways to avoid avoid warping is to not ride your brakes all the time and not over-torque your wheels.

things to watch out for:

Steering box
Front end suspension
AC compressor and blower
Rear suspension
Transmission