750il, good first car?

[flight567]

hey guys. a friend of mines dad is leaving for Florida in two weeks.
he's selling all of his cars (cherry 68 Mustang. two work vans, a 2008 Ram.... ect.)
but he is also selling a BMW 750il. i asked him about it a week ago and have had it checked by two mechanics. it's perfectly fine. he's selling it for 4k, and it's a 2000 model. a small ding on the hood when he dropped his tool kit on it and the drivers seat is a little cracked but it runs well. new tires new oil all good things.

i know that BMWs are very expensive to maintain. so for a 17 YR old. is this a good buy? any thoughts?

Thanks
Sincerely
Tyler.

[lincolnmaster80]

Damn son! That's one hell of a deal! I would definately jump on it if you can. There's plenty of info out there to help you diagnose and fix your own car when problems arise. And if two mechanics said it's in top nick, then there ya go. You likely won't have issues for a while yet. These things run pretty well, get pretty decent fuel mileage (contrary to popular belief...I know, I also own a 750iL), and they are straight balla! Plus it's a V12 model. How many 17 year olds can say they have a V12 in their car? Mostly kids with wealthy parents! If you ain't down with the ladies now, a few would definately turn their heads when you get this car!

Plus it's a big, German tank. If you were to have a bang up, you would come out alive, no question about that. They are very safe vehicles and you just simply cannot go wrong with German engineering. Anyone who drives a BMW, swears by them.

[lincolnmaster80]

On the more practical side, if that's how you want to approach it, see the links in my signature below, particularly the E38.org link. (BMW's names their chassis models/body styles by Exx. The 1995-2002 7-series were E38's).

Do your research, definately, before you get into one of these cars, because these cars seem to have the technology from the space shuttle. It's not hard to fix yourself, but it can be quite tedious if you don't have that experience to DIY.

[dizzle1]

If you don't have a garage and alot of common DIY tools I'd advise that you don't buy this car.

To me the savings of working on your own car makes up for the premium price of bmw parts vs the dealer/shop parts+labor and you get yourself some new tools in the process and some upgrades. But these cars aren't cheap to run unless you have a fair enough income so you can actually drive places like a guy would in a Honda Civic.

[Daddyo_8]

Flight567, if your goal with this e38 is to learn German engineering, then go for it. There are plenty of youtube posts and vids to learn your machine. It's fun to take them apart and put them back together again. I started with an 1993 e36 in 2003, used it for daily driver from 111000mi. to when it first started to burn oil, at 360000. Still have it for parts for subsequent e36's (2 of them also daily drivers). Moved up to e39(1998 model), then the e38(also 1998). Now restoring an e66. I'm retired so I have more time. Count on spending time like you would a new born baby. Treat it right and you'll reap lotsa rewards.