1998 BMW 7-Series

4.4L V8

WBAGJ8329WDM24847

Clear

I am THOROUGHLY excited to offer for a sale this beautiful 1998 BMW 740il! It has been very well cared for, drives like a DREAM and looks absolutely stunning in Jet Black over Black leather. This is a long ad, but please be sure to read the entire thing - there is a lot of wonderful detail to cover! Let's dive right in! Background: Designed by the legendary Boyke Boyer, who penned the legendary E36 BMW, the E38 740il was the flagship car from BMW. And what a flagship it is! This was a generation of BMW that featured incredible build quality, stunning exterior design and an incredible durable powertrain. This car is the last of an era of true beauty before the Bangle-era cars started in 2002. Power windows, power locks, power seats, automatic climate control, copious leather and wood, cruise control, power mirrors, power sunroof, premium Philips sound system and many more wonderful features graced this sleek 7 Series. This car was an instant classic! So much so before the new 2002 model came out of the 7 Series, sales spiked upwards as buyers clamored to buy the remaining models. This was THE BMW. Under the bonnet of this beauty is a 4.4L V8 engine married to a five speed automatic transmission. It make approximately 310ftlb of torque which is almost entirely available from idle and continues almost totally linearly to near redline. It is way these BMW with little effort seem to continue to pull and pull without ever weezing. Let's talk more about this car specifically. This is a ONE OWNER car. Carfax will note an ownership change, but that was from business account to personal of the same owner. Bought brand new, this beautiful 740il was delivered to Southern California where it has lived an easy, dry, rust free life. This car is in very nice shape and is fully functional and ready for a new home. An aftermarket warranty been purchased on this car, keeping it well covered for most of its life. After its expiration, maintenance and care were kept at the same regular intervals. Let's chat more about the condition of the car! The Condition and Service: This beauty just came back from a very well known independent BMW service facility for a pre-sale inspection and preventative maintenance and has a wonderful clean bill of health! It has spent its life serviced by an equally well known BMW experts here in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. This 740il has been extremely loved and cared for and shows it both visually and in the experience. This car has been ENTHUSIASTICALLY and PROFESSIONALLY maintained and serviced and is a high standard for BMW service! Let's start on the engine and drivetrain: This engine has LOW miles for the year (an average of about 4,700 a year) and only 81,000 miles appear on the odometer. It was driven and enjoyed as it should be, but being owned by someone who wanted to enjoy it for decades, it was showed more than generous preemptive care. Often times people are attracted to the unreasonably low mile cars of 25k miles, but those cars always scare me. Over the course of the 30 years they have spent most of their life sitting without the oil circulating. The cylinder walls get washed of oil, every start is hard on the motor. The rubber seals of the motor and trans degrade, etc. Unless they had LOADS of storage style care, they will be a head ache. This car has been driven just the right amount. It was enjoyed regularly, but still features low miles. The motor is very healthy and has loads of smooth power! And a happy BMW will go and go and go happily for hundreds of thousands of miles. And this happy BMW has received LOADS of regularly scheduled maintenance to make sure of that. The car has never needed any major service according to its mechanic, and has only needed minor serviceable items outside of its regular maintenance. It has always passed California smog with flying colors, with not failure on record. And THIS is the motor to have in terms of ease and reliability. This engine is the M62B44, not the M62TUB44. What is the difference? The latter engine featured something called VANOS, which was the BMW version of variable valve timing. While it added a hair more power, it also added complexity and unreliability. VANOS could possibly be one of the number one modern BMW issues and this engine does not have to deal with these issues all while making nearly the exact same power. 1998 is widely regarded as one of the best years for E38 BMW. -ENGINE The engine comes to life immediately with a twist of the key. With even a crack of the throttle it, the BMW feels torquey, smooth, loves to rev, and effortlessly pulls away! More then a leisurely drive? Keep your foot in it and the real thrill of the engine comes to life! The engine continues to pull seemingly endlessly as you comfortably and quickly pull away from your fellow drivers. It really is a quite a special engine. The engine is free of any issues, starts right up cold or warm and settles into idle quickly. No knocks, bangs or ticks. No timing chain guide noise. BRAND NEW oil. A wonderful stunning engine! There is some minor moisture from the power steering hose, which is very typical. Check out the engine bay pics! Clean, tidy and well cared! -TRANSMISSION The 5 speed transmission is in FANTASTIC shape. Tight, confident shifts. The shifter eases into gear without any drama. -SUSPENSION No bangs, no rough ride, no clunks! The car is tight in corners, and comfortable on the straights! It truly rides like a brand new car. I have spent plenty of time in brand new high end luxury cars and this car rides just as well. -BRAKES Confident pedal, great pressure with a firm positive stop. Great pad life left! -STEERING Steering feels wonderful with no excessive vibrations or play. Let's continue to the exterior: -PAINT and BODY The paint is quite nice! It is a 8 out of 10 easily. Shiny, beautiful, Jet Black paint was recently polished, finished and waxed by a highly acclaimed detailer here in Los Angeles and looks wonderful! The paint appears deep and lustrous! Flaws are minor at best and would represent a car that was well cared. It is the original color and original paint. I can find NO rust on the car. Clean trunk, floors, shock towers, cowl, etc. There is a small ding/crease on the passenger rear door just below the lower trim, a minor scuff mark on the drivers rear bumper and a few small chips, scratches, very minor dings, minor flaws, etc. But they are minor and WELL above any expectation level for near 20 year old car. Because the sun was so harsh when the pics were taken it actually makes the paint look not as nice as it really is. It really is quite beautiful. Look at how clean even the gas filler area is! NOTE: Just before taking the pictures for the car, a clip broke on the drivers side front grill. You will notice there is a temporary tie to hold it on for the pictures. A new OEM grill has been ordered and will be installed before delivery of the car. These grills are notorious for breaking the trim clips, so I am glad it happened on my watch rather than with the new owner - poor timing for pictures though! -WHEELS/TIRES Newer tires. 75% tread. Good shape wheels that shine wonderfully and have some minor flaws and minor curb marks. Nothing which would take away from the overall beauty of the wheels or car. -BUMPERS and BRIGHT WORK The bumpers are in wonderful shape! No dents, cracks or issues! Minor scuff on the rear bumper as mentioned. -GLASS/WINDOWS Not to let a pebble defeat this car, the windshield is great shape, with no chips or sandblasting. The door and rear glass is wonderful shape! Clear and clean! Onto the cabin: -SEATS The Black leather seats are in WONDERFUL shape! No splits, no worn spots! No tears, no dark spots! Look at the pictures - they are stunning looking! Rear seats are in great shape and look and feel unused. THIS IS A NON-SMOKERS CAR! These seats are EXTREMELY comfortable as well. I, with deepest sincerity, LOVE driving this car. there is a crack on the side of the plastic seat cover which houses the power seat controls on the driver's side and it is a little loose, but totally functional and hard to notice either of these. Memory and all power functions work perfectly. -DASHBOARD Absolutely stunning dashboard. No cracks! The wood is near pristine, the dash carpet is unstained and beautiful, the gauges and binnacle are clear and totally functional including the clock! Near factory perfect. -DOOR PANELS Near perfect door panels! No stains, tears or issues! Clean door pockets and cubbies with no wear! -CARPET VERY nice carpet in the car! No meaningful wear or stains. Floor mats are in good nick, with only minor wear. -HEAT/AC AC is fully charged is arctic cold and the heat is earth core hot! The automatic temperature control works perfectly and adjusts fan speed based on the temp you set. Dual zone fans, level control and automatic settings make for a great experience! No LCDs out! -WINDOWS Windows roll down and up with no issues and quickly. Good tracks and no dead rollers. Smooth functionality on all windows. Check out the power window buttons - ZERO wear! -HEADLINER BRAND NEW headliner! These E38 BMW are known for a sagging headliners - fear not with this brand new replacement! -CONSOLE The wood on the console is near pristine! Deep and glossy without any chips or fading. BMW built this car to last! The shifter is in wonderful shape! Unused ashtrays and lighters. -DOOR JAMBS Take a look at the pictures below - super clean door jambs. No chipped paint, rust, dirt or grease. Just a well cared for California car! -POWER MIRRORS The power mirror works perfectly and reverse dip function works as designed. -POWER LOCKS The locks work perfectly on all doors! The passenger front lock knob is missing it's little top cap - they are a couple bucks new from BMW and I may have one before the auction ends anyway. The car comes with three keys. The keyless and alarm system work as designed, though the buttons are a bit worn on the keys, they still work just fine. -POWER SEATS All power seat functions on both front seats including memory. -PARKING DISTANCE CONTROL Gives an aural beeping based on proximity when reversing and works perfectly! -RADIO Original Philips radio sounds wonderful! Radio turns on and works with all functions, 6 Disc changer in the trunk includes several extra changer cassettes so changing CDs is as easy as replacing a whole cassette instead of one by one. The car also has a tape player which can be hidden away behind a wood and plastic panel. No LCDs out! OEM cell phone works perfectly and projects through the sound system as it should. Perhaps could be reactivated and used? -STEERING WHEEL The wheel is in great shape with no major defects or cracking! No pieces of foam missing, no wear on the wheel - as if it was driven with gloves on! Smooth, comfortable and feels wonderful. -SUNROOF Sunroof slides back with a touch of a button! No leaks and good headliner! -CARGO AREA The trunk is wonderful shape featuring a clean gray carpet, original unused spare with complete tool kit. Brand new trunk struts hold the trunk up perfectly. The electronic trunk latch works perfectly and is aligned as it should. -SUNSHADES Electronic rear sunshade works perfect! Rear side window shades are in wonderful shape and operate smoothly. The rear quarter window shades are in good shape, though the passenger side has trouble retracting. The Experience: This 740il is a dream to drive. It is tight, very comfortable, powerful and smooth. I drive a LOT of cars. Sometimes several dozen different cars per week. Some are plain-jane cars, some are extremely high end modern luxury or sports cars. That said, I LOVE this 740il. It drives absolutely fantastic and as good as any modern luxury car. It is by far one of the best cars BMW ever built and truly feels like a BMW should in ever regard. I think everyday for a couple weeks now I have casually slipped into a conversation with my wife that I will keeping this car, which has not gone very well since we have no more space as is. And while she is right, it will pain me to see this one go. These 7-Series are only going to increase in value and finding a clean, well serviced one is hard to find with this low of miles, in a dry state, with one owner. One twist of the key and she is purring along at idle. Press the gas and she effortless takes off! She feels equally as home on the highway as on the side streets and is a wonderful cruiser. It will make you wish for the Autobahn! It is quiet and comfortable at any speed. No clunks or noises over bumps. Speed bumps do not cause any noise or unsettle the car. We just took this car on a 150 mile journey last week and it was such a pleasure, my companions and I talked about the car for a good 50% of the journey...each way! All the while delivering exceptional gas mileage mind you! We saw about 26mpg on our highway trip! Unlike the Mercedes S500 of the same era, these 740il were actually quite stout and reliable cars and despite their opulence, delivered a largely unfinicky and easy ownership experience. Especially since this is a non-VANOS car, there are few things that really went wrong with these cars regularly and with good preventative maintenance, they will last countless years and well over 200k miles. This really is a very special car to drive and with the preemptive care it has received it is ready to be enjoyed for the second half of summer and fall! These E38 BMW are renowned for their driving experience, and this particular example is a treat to drive. Feel free to ask me any questions at all. Residents around the country I am happy to be flexible for your arranged shipper so that you can get your new car as soon as possible. California residents please note the original blue and yellow personalized plates will not come with the car. CA residents, this car is clear and clean to register in state and has lived here its whole life. NO grey-market headaches! My standard disclaimer/mantra for any car regardless of service or price: The car is sold with no warranty. You are buying a used car. Eventually every car will break, if you find one that doesn't please let me know. I do my ABSOLUTE BEST to offer only cars that are of TOP NOTCH service. I am not a dealer, just a guy who loves BMW (among other cars) and hope to pass along my passion and fervor for these cars. That said if ever you encounter an issue I do my best to provide advice, direction or even parts if I have them. Please understand that it is a used car and will have minor signs of use. That means please do not expect a showroom brand new car. Please adjust your expectation level to that of a 17 year old car, but however is well above average for it's year/miles. This is very nice condition for a BMW of this year, but please just remember that no 17 year old car is perfect. It is though a great BMW! Please only bid if you intend to buy. If you would like to have an Ebay 3rd party mechanic service check out the car I MORE than welcome it. Please have the car checked out BEFORE bidding and not after, if you intend to use that service. And please, if you would like to utilize this service, contact me with more than a couple days left in the auction so we can arrange schedules. Please check your local laws and registration procedures before buying. Buying over the internet can be scary sometimes! I get it, because I am an enthusiast too!! For that very reason, I am more than happy to answer every and any question you may so you know 100% what you are buying. But, please ask any and all questions ahead of purchase! All sales are final, you are buying as-is, the sky is blue, etc, etc. Sorry to have to give the boring speech. Please feel free to ask any and all questions!!