I bought my first BMW today, a 1997 740i with 132,000 miles. It is well taken care of with a new radiator and water pump. The engine and trans is working great. There are only a couple of issues, very minor missing pixel on the radio display, the air bag light is on and a very, very mild tire shake at about 50. I am sure that is either tire pressure or balance. Other than that I am loving the car, although I was nervous as a schoolgirl on prom night when I left the lot. I kept waiting to hear rods knocking, pistons slapping or any other catastrophic failure. But I made it home so if it blows up tomorrow, it will look good in the driveway. lol. I paid $5800 for the car and it has all the extras including phone, flashlight, tool kit spare tire etc. Did I mention that I cannot stop grinning. I will post some pics when I get to the magical plateau of 20 posts.

congrats!
the phone makes a great paperweight.

Your new home page should be www.e38.org

Wtg on your purchase. looking forward to the pictures

I bought my first BMW today, a 1997 740i with 132,000 miles. It is well taken care of with a new radiator and water pump. The engine and trans is working great. There are only a couple of issues, very minor missing pixel on the radio display, the air bag light is on and a very, very mild tire shake at about 50. I am sure that is either tire pressure or balance. Other than that I am loving the car, although I was nervous as a schoolgirl on prom night when I left the lot. I kept waiting to hear rods knocking, pistons slapping or any other catastrophic failure. But I made it home so if it blows up tomorrow, it will look good in the driveway. lol. I paid $5800 for the car and it has all the extras including phone, flashlight, tool kit spare tire etc. Did I mention that I cannot stop grinning. I will post some pics when I get to the magical plateau of 20 posts.

Congrats. :) Color?

Do a search on "pixel" for the display issue and do a search on "shimmy" for the tire shake from 40-50mph. Lot's of discussions on both of these topics which are common to these cars.

$5800.......nice price.:)

The color is arctic silver with dark grey interior. The othoer small issue is when turning the wheel a full turn the steering wheel makesa sqeak like rubber on rubber. Just a little annoying.