Acquired My Very First BMW - 1998 E38 740i

[MarcoF90]

Last week I purchased my first BMW a decently maintained 1998 E38 740i in Schwarz Black over Tan Interior.







Only has just over 160k miles on it.

According to the previous owner who was an older gentleman who likes vintage BMWs, Interior is in a pretty good condition despite some minor interior issues. It even has the First Aid in the back seat still intact.

This was what he did during his ownership:

Maintenance
- Changed Power Steering Fluid
- Put on New Michelin Tires (Tread life is very good)
- Replaced the O2 sensors (Apparently not OEM)
- New Battery (From Die Hard)
- Catalytic Converter Replaced
- Timing Chain Guides and Belts replaced 55k miles ago
- Front struts replaced 5 years into his ownership
- Rear Shocks replaced

Add-Ons/Upgrades
- Had a Viper Alarm System Installed (He had this car since 2015 as I know Viper is kinda like a mid 2000s to early 2010s thing haha)
- Pioneer Audio System with Infotainment and Subwoofer (however it looks very mid 2010s)
-Backup Camera installed with the Pioneer System


So far I like driving it and it is pretty smooth once it gets going plus its a comfortable cruiser!

However, it still has some issues that I need to address mechanically and cosmetically. They are listed as follows.

Mechanical Issues to Address/Fixes

- 2 days after buying the car, it began bellowing alot of white smoke through the exhaust system on idle and start up .
(Found out this was the PCV Valve so I went ahead and replaced that which resolved this problem.)


- ABS Light is on previous owner stated that a sensor having to do with the ABS needs to be replaced.

- Check Engine Light is on ( I am going to have this diagnosed today on my Mechanic friend's scan tool. However from the past few days of driving it I have experienced some rough idling and shuddering intermittently while driving. Sometimes the car will stall from a cold start. From my research those appear to be symptoms of the Camshaft Position Sensor going bad thus the main or one of the reasons the Check Engine Light is on.)

- Air Intake Boot Hose is cracked and some outside air is able to escape in. (I have a new one ordered that should be delivered today. This might also fix issues I stated in the point above.)

So far I have replaced the PCV Valve and did a full oil and filter change on the 740i this past weekend and next up is replacing the Intake Boot Hose today.

Cosmetic Issues to Address/Fixes

-Headlights fogged up (I went ahead and got a kit to restore the headlights and was able to restore them to a near new-condition)



- One of the bulbs in the driver side headlight is out. (I plan on either replacing the bulb or swapping in new headlights entirely)

- Left side grille insert is cracked (I plan on replacing the entire grille and chrome surround for it)

- Cupholder in center dash is completely in-operable (not sure what I will do about this yet lol)

- Upper Body of the car on the sides could us a paint buff.

- Glove compartment latch is broken (Previous owner went ahead and had the latch pulled off and had the Glovebox literally nailed shut lmao) I might replace this but it'll be one of the last things I do haha

Any suggestions or helpful advice as I embark on this journey of E38 Ownership?

P.S. I still intend to live up to my username as I still desire to have a modern M5 (or M3)

[SW111]

I love those shorty E38s. Congratulations. Have fun with it.

[cfm56d7b]

This car always generates smiles among those who appreciate E38. Looking forward to updates!

[wizardofOz]

Many congrats on the purchase.

[MarcoF90]

Update

So after replacing the air intake hose, I had a weird shaking when under 2k rpm in D, R and sometimes in P at idle. Check Engine Light had came back on. Me and my buddy ran OBD Scanner and checked the codes, come to find out Cylinder 2 was misfiring and causing the other Cylinders to misfire I think.

Upon further inspection, cylinder 2 wasn't firing at all apparently, thus was causing that rough engine shake issue and also the loss of power I had experienced driving it the past few days. Seemed like the engine was in limp mode.

Changed the Spark Plug as we thought it was the spark plug at first but Cylinder 2 still wasn't firing. Swapped the ignition coil with another cylinder's coil and there lie the issue. Cylinder 2's ignition coil went bad and we went ahead and replaced the coil. Replacing the coil got Cylinder 2 up and going with no issue and power was restored to what feels like full power, V8 sounds nice aggressive again. Cleared the CEL and will monitor now, if it comes back on check for codes, investigate and repair based on codes.

Rinse and Repeat haha

Driver Side Hydraulic Trunk Strut broke on me last week so I ordered a replacement part and got that installed within 5 minutes! Easy fix! See photo below



Next Up

So my next thing to do is replace the center console armrest with the black container as the telephone holder currently in place serves me no purpose. Been looking for a guide to do that. Will try to tackle this task this upcoming weekend.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by MarcoF90

Any suggestions or helpful advice as I embark on this journey of E38 Ownership?

Cooling system overhaul including water pump. Congrats on the car, good luck with it.

[MarcoF90]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

Cooling system overhaul including water pump. Congrats on the car, good luck with it.

You got an idea of how much that might run me price-wise parts and labor?

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by MarcoF90

You got an idea of how much that might run me price-wise parts and labor?

Labor is free my friend! It's not hard, E38s are very DIY friendly. If you can change the oil on it, you can tackle this. Radiator, expansion tank, water pump, thermostat, all hoses. Get parts from places like FCP Euro, Pelican, etc. I worked for an indy many years ago, other than the normal service parts most E38s we saw came in for cooling system failures, valve cover gasket leaks, and misfires due to bad ignition coils. Good luck.

[MarcoF90]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

Labor is free my friend! It's not hard, E38s are very DIY friendly. If you can change the oil on it, you can tackle this. Radiator, expansion tank, water pump, thermostat, all hoses. Get parts from places like FCP Euro, Pelican, etc. I worked for an indy many years ago, other than the normal service parts most E38s we saw came in for cooling system failures, valve cover gasket leaks, and misfires due to bad ignition coils. Good luck.

Funny you say that I just replaced a bad ignition coil! Thank you for the advice and info! I knew about FCP Euro and order from them just about weekly so far. Didn't know about Pelican. Also will check out the cooling system this weekend.

I am also apart of a local BMW Club so they are also presenting as a good resource for assistance too

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by MarcoF90

Funny you say that I just replaced a bad ignition coil! Thank you for the advice and info! I knew about FCP Euro and order from them just about weekly so far. Didn't know about Pelican. Also will check out the cooling system this weekend.

I am also apart of a local BMW Club so they are also presenting as a good resource for assistance too

Not surprised, we did a lot of ignition coils on M62s an M5X engines. That was the first place I looked if one of those cars came in with misfire codes. Between your local BMW chapter and forums there isn't anything on that car you can't do yourself, all of the know-how is out there. Best of luck with it.

[Wolf 335]

18" M-Parallel wheels should be on your list.

[MarcoF90]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

18" M-Parallel wheels should be on your list.

I wanted these (still do kinda) and then I saw the E38 Alpina B12's wheels and fell in love