Luxurious car but be prepared to pay a high price to maintain it

I am the second owner of this car and since I've owned it (5 months), I've had mixed emotions about the car. While the car drives superbly, there is a very high cost of maintaining the car and in general, there are too many gizmos which can go wrong in the car. I may take some pictures of the car so when I do, i'll revise this comment so you can see what it looks like.

SPECS:
1995 740iL Black w/chrome trim (e38 body)
- black leather interior
- DSP sound system (8 speaker sound system w/digital signal processor, equalizer, in-dash tape deck, and 6-disc CD changer)
- V8 Engine (approximately 283HP)
- Long wheelbase for extended legroom (IL model)
- Homelink system (programmable 3 button controller for garage/gate/etc)

UPGRADES:
- Precision Power PCX-250 200W Amp
- JL Audio 12" 250W Subwoofer in JL Audio ProWedge Enclosure
- Tinted windows
- 18" M-Parallel alloy rims
- K&N Performance Air Filter

Upgrades available but not in my car:
- Mobile phone system
- Heated seats
- Sport package (lower ride, different tranny ratios)

PROS:

1. Superb luxurious ride. Rides and feels like the car is effortlessly gliding on the road.

2. Very comfortable seats and tons of legroom in the back. Everybody who sits in the back tells me they feel as thought they are sitting in a limousine. The leather in the 7-series is distinctly softer than other BMW lines and is only available for the 7-series. Some models even come with footrests for the rear passengers.

3. Separate climate control settings for the driver and passenger!

4. At high speeds, it doesn't even feel like you're going 90! :) Like I said, the car glides along effortlessly.

5. Body style has been the same for almost 6 years. With the exception of some lighting differences and rims, the 2001 model and the 1995 model look identical. However, the new 2002 e65 7 series looks drastically different and many 7 series owners can only say negative things about it. Many people purchase older model 7-series and perform a "facelift" by updating the lights and rims.

CONS:

1. The major problem with this particular year and model of BMW is the engine block (M60 Engine). The 1995 7 series engines and the 1995 5 series short blocks tend to experience corrosion from high sulfur content in American fuels. Essentially, without going into too much technical detail, the engine tends to perform very poorly while the check engine light comes on. BMW has recognized the problem and decided to help their customers by extending the engine warranty to 60,000 miles or 5 years from the date of production (whichever comes first). By now, if you are interested in purchasing a 1995 740iL, it is certainly out of warranty. Thus, if you are interested in purchasing this car, check with the owner and ask whether the engine block was ever swapped out for the new one. While some cars are wholly unaffected by this phenomenon, some may develop the problem at any time. My car exhibits some preliminary signs of it but I cannot get BMW of North America to help me. For detailed explanations on why this occurs and what you can do, visit: http://www.530i.org/530i-Test.htm

2. Very high cost of maintainence and very frequent trips to the mechanic. Lots of electronics and very specialized parts makes this a tough car to work on. Your labor costs will be higher than normal, whether it's at the dealer or an independant mechanic for this fact. Good tips on maintainence and troubleshooting problems may be found at www.roadfly.org in the E38 forum.

3. Slow acceleration initially. The car totally takes off after a certain point but the car is heavy and acceleration is slightly poor (at least for a v8). However, considering the weight of the car, I really can't expect the car to beat Ferrari's or anything.

Problems I've encountered so far/Costs of maintainence:
- Thermostat housing cracked (repair cost approximately $250)
- Rear armrest latch broke (unfixed--only 1 piece unit is available for $200)
- cupholder misaligned/broken (unfixed--too expensive)
- Driver's side plastic trim with seat control cracked (unfixed--will inevitably break again)
- glovebox pops open when encountering large bumps (tightened latches)
- radio display flickers (cost to fix--way too much)
- "Check brake lining" indicator constantly flashes even though brakes, rotors and sensors were replaced (too expensive to troubleshoot)
- valve cover gasket leaking (repair cost approximately $300)
- tires bald (approximately $250 per tire if you have the M-parallel 18" rims)

Typical mechanical issues with the 7-series

- Oil pump housing - At some point, many 7 owners have reported having bolts from the oil pump housing literally fall off and rest on the oil pan. Some have been unfortunate and had the bolts circulate around in the oil causing thousands of dollars of damage. Many 7 owners urge other 7 owners to drop the oil pan and torque the oil pump housing bolts periodically.

- Thermostat/Radiator/Cooling System - Almost every 7 owner I've spoken to has had a cooling system problem. Common problems include: cracked thermostat housing, cracked elbow, leaking radiator, bad head gasket. Many of these cooling system parts are made from a recycled plastic and consequently, the part tends to fail at the seams. Only problem here is that 7 owners are left with the sole option of replacing the faulty plastic parts with new potentially faulty plastic parts which will likely fail once again.

- Cup-Holder - This is a problem which plagues many BMW models. The cup holders in the front appear to work well until you actually put a cup in it. The cup holder is too small to accept anything but a soda can or a similarly-sized cup. When a cup in inserted in the cup holder, the cup covers up much of your controls! Additionally, the edges of the cup holder are so weak that many people break the cup holders accidentally from slamming a cup in there or bending the edges. To replace the cup holder requires a lot of time because one must remove almost all of the electronic components above the cup holder just to remove the cup holder.

- Pixels on the alphanumeric info control panel and dash tend to burn out. This is a problem that plagues many BMWs. There's no solution here except to replace the panel, which is costly.

- "Lifetime Transmission" - While most cars require periodic maintainence of their trannies to include changing the tranny oil/gaskets, BMW describes the 7's tranny as "lifetime." This means that the tranny is non-serviceable and the fluid/gasket should never ever be changed. Some 7 owners have taken preemptive measures to fight a tranny failure by changing the fluid/gaskets with mixed results. Some have reported a decrease in tranny performance and new noises emerging. BMW dealers will strongly advise against a tranny service for this reason. But even if you wanted to go against everybody and service it anyhow, the fluid is a special BMW fluid which costs hundreds of dollars. This is a lose-lose situation. On the other hand, some 7 owners have successfully changed the tranny oil/gaskets w/no problems.

Things to be careful of:

If you are considering a 95 7-series, ask the seller/dealer whether the engine block has been changed. If it hasn't, find out what state the car was driven in primarily. California has very strict emissions laws so the gas here is not very high in Sulfur and the block issue may be moot. On the other hand, other states are not as strict and are bound to cause problems for the engine. Regardless, this issue will surely give you negotiating leverage.

Make absolutely certain that you keep up with the maintainence intervals (30k, 60k, 90k, etc) and perform the inspections as directed. Failure to do so may cost you tons of money in the long run.

The radio antenna is embedded within the rear window. If you are going to tint the car, make sure you get a "dye only" type of tint as the usual type of tint used these days has metallic particles which will adversely affect the performance of your radio antenna.

You may want to consider putting protective coverings on the headlights and foglights. Most dealerships carry a protective clear film which you can heat shrink onto the headlight covers and the foglights to protect them from becoming hazy and speckled as they will evitably become.

CONCLUSION:

Now, I know there have been a lot of negative things I've said here. By now, you may have changed your mind and decided not to purchase that 7 you've been eye-balling. The truth is, my car has not had as many issues as many other 7 owners out there so i've been fortunate. My car has mostly highway miles and the car runs strong and looks fantastic. You can pick up a 7 series pretty cheap these days.

Websites of interest for BMW 7 Series parts and accessories:

Bavarian Autoworks - carries a large selection of 7 series accessories
www.bavauto.com

Bekkers - Carries a large selection of 7 series accessories (offers discounts to Roadfly.com members)
www.bekkers.com

Roadfly - Message board for BMW owners
www.roadfly.com

Circle BMW - BMW dealer website with discounted BMW parts (has online shopping catalog!)
www.circlebmw.com

Performance International - Carries the K&N Air filter for the 7 series
www.performanceintl.com

SoundDomain - Audio website where many roadfly members profile their cars (useful for seeing how modifications were made)
www.sounddomain.com

Headlight Conversion - One 7-series owner's step by step upgrade of the front headlights to the 2001 model headlight system
http://www.fastrunner.at/750.html