2002 or 2003 .

iI ve narrowed it down between an 02 with excellent service recorded , private party , all upgrades done & 03 from a ford dealer (out of all places) .


the 02 is in slightly better condition the the 03 .

can probably get the 02 for $34k . 03 they want $39 to 40K


BUT i really want to use my cell phone (bluetooth ) with the car . the 03 offers the upgrade for $200 . No upgrades for the cpt8000 yet.


the 02 also has the Logic 7 . I could care less about the wheels . I m upgrading .



WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK ?

Ooo, thats a tough one. I'd go for the 03 if I didn't really care about the stereo sucking bad and if it isnt that much worse than the 02, plus the 03 has a longer warranty, good plus.

I'd go for the 02 because it has the Logic7, sounds fantastic for factory radio, and its in better condition.

Got some difficult trade offs..

Get the 03 and make them take $4k off the price, cause no Logic 7 and not that good of condition.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by BmW745On19's

Ooo, thats a tough one. I'd go for the 03 if I didn't really care about the stereo sucking bad and if it isnt that much worse than the 02, plus the 03 has a longer warranty, good plus.

I'd go for the 02 because it has the Logic7, sounds fantastic for factory radio, and its in better condition.

Got some difficult trade offs..

Get the 03 and make them take $4k off the price, cause no Logic 7 and not that good of condition.

Good luck!

thanks for the tip .

Yeah I m thinking . The 02 is everything you can except from a used car( service record , the right type of owner etc....) . I m waiting on the 03 to get back to me with a counter offer. I think an 03 is worth an extra $1500 and nothing more .
same mileage on both cars.

may I know what options, color and mileage on both cars?

I also in the same condition as you.

2002 black on black, 64000 mileage, full option except sport package, good condition $37k
2003 toledo blue on tan, 64000s mileage, full option except sport, good condition $39,950

I am leaning towards the black for now if I can get it for $36,000 (or should I go lower? like yours only $34k)

so maybe if you take the 2003, I can take the 2002 with $34k tag.

To reply your question, i think all 2002 7 series now have 6/100,000 waranty upgrade from the bmw. I dont know if its the same case with 2003.


anyway, may I know what options, color and mileage on both cars?

I also in the same condition as you.

2002 black on black, 64000 mileage, full option except sport package, good condition $37k
2003 toledo blue on tan, 64000s mileage, full option except sport, good condition $39,950

I am leaning towards the black for now if I can get it for $36,000 (or should I go lower? like yours only $34k)

so maybe if you take the 2003, I can take the 2002 with $34k tag.

Originally Posted by Patina

To reply your question, i think all 2002 7 series now have 6/100,000 waranty upgrade from the bmw. I dont know if its the same case with 2003.


anyway, may I know what options, color and mileage on both cars?

I also in the same condition as you.

2002 black on black, 64000 mileage, full option except sport package, good condition $37k
2003 toledo blue on tan, 64000s mileage, full option except sport, good condition $39,950

I am leaning towards the black for now if I can get it for $36,000 (or should I go lower? like yours only $34k)

so maybe if you take the 2003, I can take the 2002 with $34k tag.

check my previous post "window shopper" for the 2002 I was looking at .

they are both identical in color and options except for the 03 has the 19 in wheels which I could care less about caus I m upgrading to 22s
they are both black on black.

I would assume blue would be worth slightly less I think again u can almost never go wrong with a black car.

Originally Posted by Patina

may I know what options, color and mileage on both cars?

I also in the same condition as you.

2002 black on black, 64000 mileage, full option except sport package, good condition $37k
2003 toledo blue on tan, 64000s mileage, full option except sport, good condition $39,950

I am leaning towards the black for now if I can get it for $36,000 (or should I go lower? like yours only $34k)

so maybe if you take the 2003, I can take the 2002 with $34k tag.

get it as low as you can , 37k is still a good deal .
I m working on getting mine to 34k . owner is will to substract a $400 fee for coolant flush + oil change that is due.

Are you planning to buy or lease? Leasecompare often has sweet deals on these cars since the retail value is much higher than what you are paying. And then customize the lease so that the lease ends when the warranty ends. The 2003 will have a longer warranty and by leasing you save on sales tax (which is 8.25% here in CA).

Since all 2003 cars came with 4yrs/50KMiles of scheduled maintenance, you should not worry too much about missing records. You can also get the maintenance records from your local BMW dealer. The 2002s came with 3yrs/36K of scheduled maintenance though most selling dealers sold the upgrade to 4yrs/50K to correspond with the factory warranty along with the car.

BTW, if the car has less than 50K miles, I would definitely get the BMW maintenance plan extension. It works great with the bumper to bumper warranty.

You can do a lot better than that mileage, I bought my 2002 from Expo MotorCars in Houston TX for 38000.00 it had 31000 miles and I extended the service package to 100000 miles to match the bumper to bumper warranty on the car.
Check out the web page and they can ship to your door. Mileage is an issue even on these cars for service issues so be careful. look for as low as you can find and don't limit yourself to local dealers. I got a baseline for price in Houston and then looked on line for cars 2002- 2003. On Ebay I found one listing and it ended up being my dealership in Houston.
Black and Gray, and hard to keep clean , but driving a dirty 745 is a sin for which there is no forgiveness.
Take your time in your search and choose wisely


http://www.expomotorcars.com/Expomotors.htm

Is the OP looking at the Li or the normal car? The LIs with less than 50K miles can be had for less then $40K and normal ones for less than 36Ks. He just has to look around.

Since these cars come with free warranty and maintenance, in general, records are not that essential.

My E65 745Li Story
A No Reserve Auction based in San Diego

Expo motors is not the cheapest but they have a good inventory.

thanks for all the info guys , very helpful.

The ebay route is definetly not the way to go for me .
I saw a car on ebay once. Drove 200 miles to check it . It had a front fender damage , only a trained eye could see it . The car drove horrible . The wheels wobbled, the brakes were not good . I mean the average person would have thought the car was great and they got a great deal on it . The seller was a platinum ebay . Auction cars , are a hit or miss. I ve seen great auction cars and I ve seen horrible ones too. + sometimes u dont get what u want as far as option . (logic 7 etc....)

I dont mind paying an xtra 1k if i get exactly what I m looking for .


The lease option is definetly a good thing to consider . I dont think I would be a great candidate for it . I drive 25k miles a year.

Well , i took u guys advice to do some more research .

I backed out of the deal because of $600. aint that funny /

we agreed at 35k . then today we are signing transfer paperwork. seller mentioned an issue with the fm station . plus the oil , coolant flush service is due so I had to pay for that . I asked him to discount 600 bucks for me to service the car.

i showed him couple of listing of what 7 s are going for . I said 35k was nothing but an ok deal and at least he should discount 600 for me to service the car.
i can get one from the auction this thursday for 34k with 40,000 miles on it .



He walked out . Said good luck . .For 66k miles and only 18 inch wheels +small scratche on the back bumper, this dude has been trying to sell the car since december.
Not a good business more from his side . Maybe he is rich.

Hey , there are many 745 for sale and not enough buyer .

I ll wait for the right one to come along.


thanks guys . Your replies helped me a lot

If you have access to dealer auctions definitely go there. Many car brokers will take you there. Make sure you get a car under original factory warranty (50KMiles). That way you are covered. I have seen 745s with much less miles go for the price you were paying on EBay. Also check out craigslist in your area.

I agree with you that you have to be careful on EBay like anywhere else. Always run Carfax and get service records from a dealer. Chances are that if a new under warranty car was involved in an accident the car would have gone to a dealer for service etc.

Originally Posted by hionbusa

Well , i took u guys advice to do some more research .

I backed out of the deal because of $600. aint that funny /

we agreed at 35k . then today we are signing transfer paperwork. seller mentioned an issue with the fm station . plus the oil , coolant flush service is due so I had to pay for that . I asked him to discount 600 bucks for me to service the car.

i showed him couple of listing of what 7 s are going for . I said 35k was nothing but an ok deal and at least he should discount 600 for me to service the car.
i can get one from the auction this thursday for 34k with 40,000 miles on it .



He walked out . Said good luck . .For 66k miles and only 18 inch wheels +small scratche on the back bumper, this dude has been trying to sell the car since december.
Not a good business more from his side . Maybe he is rich.

Hey , there are many 745 for sale and not enough buyer .

I ll wait for the right one to come along.


thanks guys . Your replies helped me a lot

sorry about that. but, arent those things covered by the waranty? if you buy the 2002, I think all of them get upgrade to 6/ 100,000 waranty by the bmw.
I just bought 2002 745li today

if you want, my dealer has 2002 745li black on black with all options except sport for $37k. mileage about 63,000. if only he accepts AMEX, i would buy it.

Originally Posted by hionbusa

check my previous post "window shopper" for the 2002 I was looking at .

they are both identical in color and options except for the 03 has the 19 in wheels which I could care less about caus I m upgrading to 22s
they are both black on black.

I would assume blue would be worth slightly less I think again u can almost never go wrong with a black car.

If you are going to invest in 22" wheels you will spend a lot of $$, perhaps $5000 including tires.
let me recomend not to buy either car and spend the wheel money on a 2004 with half the miles. You will never get the wheel money back when you sell the car, most people don't like the low ride or looks of such a car, so on resale it will be very hard to sell.

Originally Posted by Patina

sorry about that. but, arent those things covered by the waranty? if you buy the 2002, I think all of them get upgrade to 6/ 100,000 waranty by the bmw.
I just bought 2002 745li today

if you want, my dealer has 2002 745li black on black with all options except sport for $37k. mileage about 63,000. if only he accepts AMEX, i would buy it.

no they are not . The 100k miles warranty only covers certain things.
Maintenance is still out of your pockets which ends up costing a fortune hence,
bayareafan recommending to get a car undr 60k to get a maintenance plan on it .

congrats on the new ride. post some pictures

Originally Posted by 2006_750Li_ED

If you are going to invest in 22" wheels you will spend a lot of $$, perhaps $5000 including tires.
let me recomend not to buy either car and spend the wheel money on a 2004 with half the miles. You will never get the wheel money back when you sell the car, most people don't like the low ride or looks of such a car, so on resale it will be very hard to sell.

750li,

thanks for the advice . If i could find a 745i 2004 or 2003 with only 5k difference in price . I would be all over it .
this is what I m looking at :

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/car/153329683.html

offered him 40k , told me to go fly a kite.


I wanted to understand why ur recommendation for a 2004 ?

To the best of my knowledge, there isnt much difference .
2002 we are talking mid 30 to 40k
2003 we are talking mid 40k
2004 its still 50k for the same car .

I nver consider wheels an investement. If we were thinking from in investement stand point ,then we should all be driving LEXUS LS 430 . Jd power award and hold most of its value.

The 745i took a nasty depreciation within the past 3 years. I m not sure I want to spend more then 40k on one.