>> about a 2001 BMW 728i Sport 4 Door Auto Saloon
www.meeknet.co.uk/E38/bmw_e38_buying_guide.htm
That guy details it all way better than i ever could. Key points for the sport model -- make sure it's a real one and not just had mpars and badges stuck on :-)
Make sure you hear it from a cold start up, listen in the front offside area of the engine bay as it's starting for any strange noises (AC pump & secondary air pump, both can fail, both in that area). Then go round the back for smoke.
The PDC sensors are difficult to source 2nd hand, i needed 3 at one point! 120 each from a dealer. If one goes bad, all the PDC will refuse to work. Eventually got some off a scrapper.
Parts can be had cheaply with a few know how's, if you do go for it i can email you a list of known good suppliers and what parts to use each of them for. I have an elaborate system of bouncing price matches off one and other :-)
Sagging self levelling suspension (not to be confused with EDC) often means ripping out SLL and replacing with normal shocks and springs at the rear. Choice of parts, sachs / boge oem are the same price as billstein aftermarkets. Rear shocks change on this car is not a job for the feint hearted!!!
Bit of a brain dump but that guy's site is ace. There's also the excellent www.e38.org
EDIT: The timing chains are reliable, and the dual vanos is fine on this engine (it'll be the TU like mine), but there's a (rare) known weakness with the left handed thread on the oil pump sprocket. I dropped my sump to check it and mine was fine. If you get an oil starvation message and shut it off immediately, if there's still oil in the sump then drop it and check the pump before starting it again.
Last edited by: Skoda on Sun 21 Nov 10 at 23:16
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