Thanks to all for the replies so far!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emilime75
About 4 years ago I went on the hunt for a clean E38. Looked at and drove a bunch, even traveled a few hours away to look at some, but they were all rougher than described and none of them were the right car for me. In the middle of it, I stumbled across an E92 335i that was too good to pass on, so I bought that, instead. Now, i do love my E92, but the want for a clean E38 has never ceased. I can't tell you what makes sense logistically, or financially, only you can decide on that. What I can tell you is figure it out and get one, they're only going to get either rougher, or more expensive. As for it being a money pit, that's likely, but also depends on the car and if you can DIY...just like any aging BMW, really.
|
I do all my own work, and if it's something more serious, my friends have car lifts. Having said that, doing the timing chain guides on this would be a decent chunk of work.
Like you, there's just something about E38's, and if I ever got one, it would be one of the few cars I leave bone stock. Maybe this is just a phase where I try one out and just check it off the list, and it wouldn't be a keeper, who knows. I grew up absolutely loving the E31's, and got to drive an "OK" condition one. While I love the way it looked, I wasn't super blown away enough to pull the trigger on one knowing how much work it would have needed.
I've usually stuck to the cheaper/smaller BMW products, so they were the least complicated. I think these 5/6/7 Series would be far more work to maintain due to their complexity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stein_325i
Tough decision. That is a beauty, even in Impala Brown which does give it a classy look, that being said, I would honestly rather try and find a nice E39 or E38 Sporty Shorty if they were to replace the E36.
In the end, its the devil you know (keep the E36) vs the devil you don't know (E38) when it comes to maintenance, history, repairs, etc.
|
That's the biggest thing right there. The E36 is starting to need cosmetic stuff just because of age, and it also does have 142k miles. However, I have a feeling with this E38, I'd be starting from scratch. Especially if timing chain guides haven't been done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frchdragon
I personally would say run... I love the shape and the M parallel, but the V8 requires a lot of maintenance.
If you want something big and reliable look at an E60 Msport (530 would be best and bulletproof) . Sharp looking and the M parallel will fit.
|
Yea, I'm not stranger to cars that require maintenance, but I think this one will beat all my M's. Funnily enough, I found a 2005 E60 530i Msport with a 6MT in Chicago (Autotrader again
), but didn't pull the trigger on it. While you're right about it pretty much being the last of the bulletproof 5/7ers, I just don't think it has the draw for me like the e38/9s.