Owning a 740 is not for the faint of heart. They are cheap and plentiful for a reason. To keep them running you need deep pockets even if you are one of those DIY guys.
I acquired a 2001 740 IL last summer with only 47,000 miles on it. Five months and 4,000 miles later I have had to replace the differential, the rear upper control arms. the expansion tank and the instrument cluster (BMW paid for the part).
Apart from that it is a pleasure to drive.
I don't know what else I could have done to avoid all this. It was immaculate when I bought it and drove and handled beautifully for the first 2,000 miles.

Well you had 2,000 miles at least.....I have had 24,000 in the last 6 years on my '01 40 Sport.

If you don't count mods - it has been 2 sets of tires and a set of brakes. Oh, and about 5 oil changes. I am happy!!!:buttrock:alright:buttrock:alright

I acquired a 2001 740 IL last summer with only 47,000 miles on it. Five months and 4,000 miles later I have had to replace the differential, the rear upper control arms. the expansion tank and the instrument cluster (BMW paid for the part).

Hmmm, the diff and rear upper control arms at 47K is NOT common or usual. Not saying its not heard of...just not common.

Now, the expansion tank and instrument cluster...now THAT is common...and if the radiator hasn't already been replaced...EXPECT to do it within the next 20K-40K miles. That is a given! :stickoutt

Sounds like a previous owner may have been a bit on the rambunctious side...and perhaps rode her hard and put her away wet on occasion. If you keep up with normal preventative maintenance, and drive the car like a reasonable person...you may get a reprieve in costly repairs. Understand, at 47k, you do have some normal and common repairs in the future. Again, the radiator, and probably the power steering hose(s) are going to be a given. A few other "common" failures may occur but many tiimes that is a mixed bag of consequences some owners suffer with and some don't.

Stay on top of situations...ignoring them does NOT make the situation any better, and it will not "magically" cease to exist if you ignore them. They will continue and worsen with the more you neglect to take care of it.

Good luck and welcome to the club. :)

Thanks for your advice. I will watch out for the radiator and power steering hose among other things. I believe I take good care of my cars. My last car was a 1992 Acura Legend LS that I bought new and put 190,000 miles on it before I sold it to buy this car which has cost me more in 5 months than the Acura did in 15 years. Ofcourse I did my homework and I new the track record of the 7 series. Consumer Reports has consistently given them bad marks for reliability and maintenance. But I still wanted one and I got one.
Thanks again for your advice.

Thanks for your advice. I will watch out for the radiator and power steering hose among other things. I believe I take good care of my cars. My last car was a 1992 Acura Legend LS that I bought new and put 190,000 miles on it before I sold it to buy this car which has cost me more in 5 months than the Acura did in 15 years. Ofcourse I did my homework and I new the track record of the 7 series. Consumer Reports has consistently given them bad marks for reliability and maintenance. But I still wanted one and I got one.
Thanks again for your advice.

Welcome to the club. :)

I just got rid of my 92 Acura Legend Coupe. Great car. Were you a member on acura-legend.com?

As far as Consumer Reports, I did some research too before I bought my "7" but it didn't deter me from getting mine. I've loved these cars since the mid 90s but never could afford one. After spending having mine for a little over 4 months, I don't care about the higher maintenance cost. This car is a joy to drive.

:lol i still got my legend. 251,500 miles and still no issues. i've had a few small ones in the 7 already. been thinking of sellin it and getting a new legacy or forrester sport (suby lover...)

I didn't know about the acura-legend.com. I wish I had.
I agree that the car is a joy to drive. So I am going to try to keep ahead of it as far as maintenance is concerned. I also forgot to mention that the power for the driver seat, steering wheel and left side view mirror also failed but I was able to fix it myself thanks to help from this forum and the shop manual which I had purchased. I think having the Bentley repair manual is very useful when you are trying to troubleshoot. I got it from Bavarian Auto Sport.

No matter what you drive there will be a problem somewhere. I guess the more a car costs when it's new you just have to expect to pay more for parts and repairs...it's a BMW not a Ford...everything is just more involved. That is why people should research a car before they buy it.

Perfect Example - I had a problem yesterday where I could not shut my car off and then could not get steering wheel unlocked or shifter etc...but I figured it all out in 24 hours...I like to learn...I like to take things apart and put them back together. If you never try, you never learn.

BMW = x(124 - n)7 3(y-n4) n(3n+xn)

Ford = 1+1=2

Amen to the above. I am all for learning. This is part of the fun of owning one of those cars. There is so much to learn and so much available help and info. As a newbie I am beginning to realize that Bimmer owners are a breed apart.

Amen to the above. I am all for learning. This is part of the fun of owning one of those cars. There is so much to learn and so much available help and info. As a newbie I am beginning to realize that Bimmer owners are a breed apart.

The more you read this board and e38.org the more you will realize that working on this car is not that difficult. For instance, changing spark plugs on my 98 Pontiac GTP was a nightmare. I had to remove the front engine supports, tilt the engine forward just to get to the rear plugs. Busted up some knuckles doing it to. Whereas changing plugs on this car is fairly easy and quick. Another example; my Nissan Murano. To change a stupid tail light bulb would have required a trip to the Nissan dealer because I couldn't figure out how the hell to remove the bulbs. It's a good thing I'm a member on the Nissan Murano forum because they told me how to remove it......which is not consumer friendly. Once again, changing the bulbs on this car is a breeze. As you continue to learn more about this car you will appreciate it more and will become less intimidated.

One of the things that amazes me is some of the wiring harnesses and electrical connectors and how they are engineered.

Some of them are daunting when you first look at them...or even try to undo them. But if you take your time and look at it...many time you'll find a lever or tab that gets the thing started. And if its one that has a lever...I usually get a thrill in how its design is trully overboard.

For example, the connector on the back of the tape cassette deck...your presumption is that it is inserted straight into the cassette unit...but there's an icon on the top of it that indicates that the harness should be pulled upward. When you give in and do what the harness says to do and pull upward...as you pull upward, the mechanism pushes outward on the harness which pulls it out of the cassette unit.

Thanks for the info about the cassette deck. Mine is broken and I wasn't going to bother with it until I discovered I needed a working cassette deck to hook up my iPod. I have been using a wireless setup using an FM radio station but that doesn't work too well on a road trip when you keep losing stations.

Thanks for the info about the cassette deck. Mine is broken and I wasn't going to bother with it until I discovered I needed a working cassette deck to hook up my iPod. I have been using a wireless setup using an FM radio station but that doesn't work too well on a road trip when you keep losing stations.

I just bought a cassette adapter at Target for $10 for my iPod and it works pretty well. I did notice that the songs that I actually got from iTunes sound better than the other songs that I downloaded from limewire.

That is what I would like to do but first I have to figure out how to remove the cassette deck and repair it otherwise I may have to hardwire the iPod to the sound system and the kit for that is pretty pricey.

I suddenly remembered. I used to have a 73 Jaguar E-Type V12 which was another maintenance headache. It constantly leaked oil and the electrical system was a mess. It was a Lucas system which most British cars had at the time. It was popularly referred to as "The Prince of Darkness". The car also needed leaded gas to run well. One day I decided to put 100LL from my plane gas tank into the car. Wow did it run.
I wonder what would happen if I did the same thing to my 740. I suspect leaded gas would do bad things to it besides being illegal. Has anyone tried fooling around with different gas mixtures or additives?

Welcome to the club. :)

I just got rid of my 92 Acura Legend Coupe. Great car. Were you a member on acura-legend.com?

As far as Consumer Reports, I did some research too before I bought my "7" but it didn't deter me from getting mine. I've loved these cars since the mid 90s but never could afford one. After spending having mine for a little over 4 months, I don't care about the higher maintenance cost. This car is a joy to drive.

I still have my 1991 Legend Coupe with over 289K one her. I purchased my E38 new and the maintenace is by far greater than the Legend. Yea yea I know about the costs of a more expensive car and I knew what to expect with this 3rd BMW. The engine and tranny are rock solid but the other parts are the ones that are a maintenance nightmare that I did not have with the Legend. My radiator on my E38 went at around 40K.. That's just not right. BMW produces a better technological driving machine but then wraps it up in parts and components that are less than superior quality and that is where your trips to the $tealer add up.

I suddenly remembered. I used to have a 73 Jaguar E-Type V12 which was another maintenance headache. It constantly leaked oil and the electrical system was a mess. It was a Lucas system which most British cars had at the time. It was popularly referred to as "The Prince of Darkness". The car also needed leaded gas to run well. One day I decided to put 100LL from my plane gas tank into the car. Wow did it run.
I wonder what would happen if I did the same thing to my 740. I suspect leaded gas would do bad things to it besides being illegal. Has anyone tried fooling around with different gas mixtures or additives?

leaded gas will

Kill all the lambda sensors (so thats 2 or 4 depending on the year)
Polute the cats

And unless it was high octane you probably wouldn't notice any difference

Yea, I guess you are right. I really wouldn't notice the difference. Aviation gas is 100 low lead octane not that much more than your premium. Maybe it was the lead that made my Jag run better. At that time the Jag people recommended that you use leaded gas.
As far as 7 series BMWs are concerned. I have had three and this is the first one I haven't bought new. I had a 84 733i which gave me very little trouble. It had 95,000 miles when I sold it. The next one was a 89 750 iL. It was nothing but trouble from day one. I sold it as soon as the warranty ran with only 36,000 miles on. I took a beating on the depreciation. This one that I have now is starting to look like the 750. The only difference is that I am tinkering with this one and doing some of the work myself and enjoying it.