I treated the 750 to a paint correction. It looks about the same in photos, but IRL it doesn't have micro-scratches any more. Image Unavailable, Please Login
So weird thing. I had bled this thing over and over to get rid of the check coolant light (with no luck) and today i decided to fire it up and do the fillup in the reservoir near the max line (after the system pulled the coolant down) then put the cap on with no bleeding. Drove it about 22 miles with no warning. Will see how this goes. I probably just jinxed it. LOL.
Hands down my favorite year and trim of the E38. Do the 2001s have puddle lights under the door handles? I know they did in 2000 based on a BMW brochure I still have from the dealer way back then. I haven't seen any ads really mention this feature on any E38...maybe the bulbs burned out and no one realized? Edit: The only thing I don't like about the facelift E38s is the alarm locking sound. Our 1998 had that great beeping sound (wolf whistle). I think I posted a video of it on this thread before. Some people have retrofitted it.
Yes, the door handles light up when you unlock it. I actually didn't know this about my car; I had to go check! There's no light shining down from the side mirror, though.
I don't remember the side mirrors lighting up on my 2001, just the puddle lights, which I got a lot of compliments and "wow!" on. Either they did and I just didn't notice or in true German quality terms they were broken or burned out.
The 2000 MY brochure didn't mention mirrors having lights. I think it was just limited to the exterior and interior door handles. Although I don't know if the interior door handle lights are just on the 750...maybe all of them.
Friend's '16 Mustang has a mirror puddle light... projects the horse logo on the ground... strange...
I was ferrying my folks around town in the car all this week around Charleston. I had it parked on the street downtown. Caught a a glimpse of the side profile and it was truly looking stunning. This car does have more presence than the E39 standard and M in my opinion. Those cars are both beautiful and stunning but not in the same league as an e38 Sport short. It's a classic no doubt about it, but will be a long time until they are rare. Too many made. And alot of them are gone due to people giving up on them as they are complete maintenance headaches. It is getting tricky to find nice examples that are sorted though, especially in the enthusiast colors.
So, I went to open the hood to put the trickle charger on, and the passenger side didn't unlatch. I had to get another person to pull the handle while I pulled up on the hood, and then, thankfully, it opened. What should I do before I shut the hood again? Adjust the cable? Replace? Replace the hood buffer? I've been doing nothing, but Monday I have to take it to get appraised for collector car insurance, so I'll need to shut the hood then.
Hood buffers. I just replaced both of mine. I was having the exact same problem this past year https://vod.ebay.com/vod/FetchOrderDetails?itemid=361449303083&transid=933671812023&ul_noapp=true Surprised they let that car qualify as classic car. Isn't 25 years old yet. Is that the only one on your policy? They typically only accept vintage or very high end cars if you're talking newer.
My policies are all with American Family. It's their agreed value policy I'm trying to get, not collector car policy, I guess. I have my 1991 Miata on agreed value with them. I called and asked the agent if they could do that type of policy with the E38 and they said yes, I'd just have to get an appraisal. I'll try getting new hood buffers. I had already replaced the driver side one, but now I notice it is missing. I guess I didn't screw it in far enough.
https://www.oembimmerparts.com/BMW-Buffer-Stop-W-Ejector-Set-OEM-Pair-of-2-p/51248187291x2e38.htm Like Brad said, hood buffers. My trunk ones would last about a year and I would replace them both at the same time.
At the cars and coffee Charleston last weekend. There was a protection package 750 2000 there. (bulletproof). It is behind my car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's not a Protection 750. The Protection 740s and 750s had the sunroof delete and are all metal up there. I can see it has a sunroof and is tilted open. It likely just has regular 750 "security glass," which is not bulletproof and I can see that as a thick black outline on the rear left window that is rolled down a bit. Protection cars have fixed rear windows and can't roll down at all. Edit: Here are good photos of a Protection. No window buttons on the rear doors and the sunroof is gone. Rear armrest is fixed in down position as they put up thick metal plate behind that for bullets. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-750li-2/
Maybe we could get Dave Rocks to reengineer those hood buffers for us. Brad, your car is looking sharp!
Mid way through the chain guide replacement. Took nearly all of my weight pushing on the end of the 4' pipe to break the Jesus bolt loose. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login guide rail chunks in the oil pan Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have to do mine this winter. I have the gear in the middle instead of the later "U" shaped guide, but the oil pump chain seems pretty loose, so I have a hunch all the chains could use a refresh.
Interesting, I didn't know earlier E38s had a gear in there. My oil pump chain is quite loose as well. Also doing the engine mounts, water pump, valley pan gasket, and probably the radiator while it's all out. Sucks that I did the PS lines just last year, now would have been the perfect time to knock them out. Not rebuilding the vanos units, they weren't that noisy anyway. If you need the special tool set hit me up. I bought this one and also the bar to hold the crank pulley from a guy on Bimmerforum and will be looking to pass it along: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006U5N830/?coliid=I2S0MNI5SG6KIJ&colid=3H862JF7H8XOL&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
How did that job turn out? Rear driver speed sensor went out yesterday. No Speedo trifecta lights etc. 50 dollar fix. Now my comouter is telling me my water pump is bad even though I replaced it about 10k miles ago lol
Late (very) to this thread but OMG I loved my E38 750il. Ran it thru 100k with bmw warranty which cost me £600 per year but cost BMW much, much more ! 2 gearboxes plus many other less major faults. Sold it as soon as I couldn't extend the warranty further.
2 gearboxes? Holy crap! Your story is pretty similar to the people I knew who had these when new. Nobody wanted to give them up. Until the repair bills started stacking up. Same thing with be phaeton and 1st gen. Lexus ls400. Remarkable cars that nobody wanted to part with . Not many cars today being built like that as the quality continues to slide in favor of leases. Alot of people also traded their 95-97 models for 2001 as soon as they saw the new ugly 745 . The bimmer crowd wanted no part of that crappy car. How long did you hang on to yours?
1997 till 2004. It truly was a car I loved and still miss. BMW UK had an unlimited mileage pay to play extensive warranty (£600 per year back then). It covered everything except consumables. Everytime I had the slightest problem it was at the dealer to be fixed ..... eg: dropping led's, heated seats, electric mirrors, audio ( and the 2 x gearboxes @ £4k each ) etc When the pig ugly Bangle design came out the unlimited warranty became 100k miles limited to get us out of the older car. It sure got me out ..... I sold it on in perfect working order but not knowing of course what might be around the corner for the lucky or otherwise new owner .... I got £13k for her.
