# Picked up my new car



## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Hi all,

Long time since i've been back on the forums, as i sold my 2001 E38 740i around 2.5 years ago and went to a 320D Touring, but i still had the 7 series bug, but wanted to gain some economy too - would love another E38 740i if fuel was cheaper or it wasn't a daily drive!

I ended up going for a December 2006 Black BMW 730LD with 63,000 miles FSH etc. It's a fairly standard spec SE LD, with High Beam assist and full BT prep being the only options as far as i'm aware - not really sure what's standard on a car like this!

I've had it since mid October and done around 3500 miles and it's just so smooth, comfy and relatively economical for what it is. On a run i'm seeing 35ish on the motorway, but drops around town to around 29-30, but overall i'm averaging 32 so far. Happy with that.

Here are a couple of pics when i got it home back in October;







I wanted to get rid of the yellow angel eyes, so got some LED bulbs and had them fitted to give it a more modern BMW look - pretty pleased.







Apologies if this is in the wrong section - i was toying between here and the projects section, however it's not really a project.:thumb:


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Very nice 

I wasnt a fan of these when they came out, but they have grown on me, and are a massive bargain of a car.

Any thoughts on a window tint?


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## snoopin (Jul 26, 2009)

Nice car mate... you enjoy going back to the 7 series from the 3 ?


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

MadOnVaux - I was in the same boat after the E38. The E65/66 never really appealed, but it's so much nicer and modern, but i do miss the V8 rumble.

I am looking into tints for the rear, as i've seen a few on the web and they look very smart.

snoopin - The 3 series was a nice car, comfy etc but going back to a 7 is completely different. The level of refinement, comfort, toys etc is amazing and economy isn't too bad either.


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## rojer386 (Mar 15, 2008)

Beardboy - regarding option on your car, check out this link for a full breakdown of everything fitted from the factory: http://www.rubmw.ru/vincode/eng/

Hope this helps.


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## Z4-35i (Jun 12, 2012)

Very nice wheels and a great colour combination. :thumb:

Did you go for a warranty as I know the electrics can be pretty expensive to fix on these?


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

rojer386 - Thanks for the link, i'll get the VIN details and see what I have.:car:

Z4-35i - Thanks. It's definitely a nice combo in my opinion too, as it's nice and light inside.

I managed to get the garage to give me a 4* 12 month warranty for peace of mind, and i'll probably get a BMW/Warranties Direct warranty once this one runs out to be on the safe side.

I was unlucky on my old 7 and had to have the gearbox rebuilt, so hoping this one is more reliable. We will see. :lol:


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

Congratulations!! These are great cars. :thumb:

If you enter the last 7 digits of your VIN into this site, you'll get the FULL build spec for your car which will tell you all the extras [or otherwise] specified when built.

http://www.bmwarchiv.de/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html


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## ardenvxr (May 22, 2013)

very nice car


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

beardboy said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Long time since i've been back on the forums, as i sold my 2001 E38 740i around 2.5 years ago and went to a 320D Touring, but i still had the 7 series bug, but wanted to gain some economy too - would love another E38 740i if fuel was cheaper or it wasn't a daily drive!
> 
> ...


Beautiful looking car fella, I think German cars to be the best engineered and built.:car:


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

slim_boy_fat - Thanks fella.

ardenvxr - Cheers.

Soul_boy_68 - Have to agree with you. My last 3 cars have been BMW's and the SWMBO's last cars were 120D Coupe, Audi TTS Cabriolet, A4 S-Line Special Edition and now an A3 Sportback (baby wagon! :lol


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## dandam (Apr 10, 2011)

Lovely - my friends Dad used to run these for his chauffeur company.

I have run Audi A6's for the past 8 years now, three so far. Each time I replace a car I consider a 3 series or A4 given that I don't 'need' a big car but if you are happy with the size of car you get so much more in terms of comfort and equipment.


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

looks a very nice car you got fella


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

dandam - Thanks. Thought about doing weddings at weekends with it, but don't think i ever will. :lol: I don't need a 'huge' car myself, but love comfort, toys, space etc and as it's the Long Wheelbase, there's huge amounts of legroom in the back for my little girl and all the crap you have to take with you. :lol:

bazz - Thanks


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## DebbieOCD (Jan 25, 2012)

Stunning big motors, always been a fan of the 7 series (old and new!)


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

DebbieOCD - Me too.  Would like one of the new shape ones, but that'll have to wait a few more years. :lol:


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## deano93tid (May 8, 2013)

Lovely car you have there. I was looking at a 7 to before I brought my E92 the only reason I didn't go for a 7 was due to the engine size and economy if on the other hand they did a 720D I would have brought one lol.


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## Otter Smacker (Jun 19, 2012)

Lovely car OP. 

I'm amazed at how much car you can get for so little money with these.


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## Jacktdi (Oct 21, 2010)

Nice big old barge is that.


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Thanks guys.

I'm not sure how well a 720D would go, but i guess if they did one you could always remap it to get a bit of extra grunt. :lol:

You do get a huge amount of car for the price of a fiesta/golf type car - crazy to think it's depreciated by £50,000!

It's if anything goes wrong that i'll have to worry, as my last one had a gearbox go so that was £2,500 for a rebuild. Time will tell! :lol:


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## Ant21 (Oct 12, 2013)

Very very nice


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Thanks Ant21


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## Otter Smacker (Jun 19, 2012)

I keep sniffing at the 7 series, but I also look at the 6's...









From the piccies it looks as though someone from here currently owns it...
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...---------------2006/2013142?isexperiment=true
Like the 7 series, amazing value for money!


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

The 6 series is a nice car too, but suited for a different use completely IMO.

I did toy with a 6 as a weekend car and getting a 5 as a daily drive, but went for the 7 instead and now don't have a weekend car. :lol:

Will hopefully get one one day though.

I'd imagine the 6 is a pretty comfy cruising machine but not sure on rear legroom in them. We have a 17 month old, so needed to be able to get a baby seat in the back and have enough room for all the stuff that goes with them!


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## TheGruffalo1 (Dec 11, 2013)

Very nice car mate, love dash board, looks really smart. :thumb:


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Thanks TheGruffalo1. The dash is even cooler when the ignition is on or the engine is running. If you have a route programmed into the Nav, it gives you instructions in the rev counter cluster, so you don't have to look at the Nav screen.


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Nice choice Mark, lot of car for no £!...I went down the A8 route to scratch my bargain barge itch.

Enjoy:driver:


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## e32chris (Sep 21, 2011)

tint windows and shadowline trim :thumb:
lovely car but prefer my e32 740, cant beat a bit of retro 
enjoy wafting along in complete comfort


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Summit Detailing said:


> Nice choice Mark, lot of car for no £!...I went down the A8 route to scratch my bargain barge itch.
> 
> Enjoy:driver:


Thanks Chris. I did toy with the A8 as the same garage had a 4.0TDI for sale, but stuck with BMW in the end. Both great cars though.

e32Chris - I had a 'retro' before in E38 740i form, so know where you're coming from and i do miss the old 4.4 V8 rumble, but don't miss the economy! :lol:

Tints are on the shopping list at some point but not shadowline trim, as i like the matte silver myself


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## beardboy (Feb 12, 2006)

Small update. Windows are now tinted at 15% so should keep the sun off our daughter and also look good!


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