I just bought a very clean 98 740i with 83,000 miles. What would you do as far as preventative maintenance right off. I'm going to change the oil, coolant, trans fluid and power steering fluid. Or am I being too anal? I have heard the nightmare stories from unhappy Bimmer owners but I have always wanted a 740i, so here goes. I have been working on cars all my life and am not afraid to get dirty. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!
First time Bimmer owner needs help
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Great car and low miles... Congrats!!! I don't think you can be too anal with PM and unless you know the specific service history of those items, I say go for it.
As far as big stuff, I own a 750 so there are smarter people here than me for your car. However, it is likely that your timing chain guides have not been done with that mileage, so my understanding is that you want to help prevent issues by replacing the timing chain tensioner on a regular basis.
With proper care and maintenance you can have a long and enjoyable ownership experience. You can always find unhappy people regardless of the make / model of car, so why not drive an amazing looking, driving, handling car!
Oh and post pics too!
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As far as big stuff, I own a 750 so there are smarter people here than me for your car. However, it is likely that your timing chain guides have not been done with that mileage, so my understanding is that you want to help prevent issues by replacing the timing chain tensioner on a regular basis.
With proper care and maintenance you can have a long and enjoyable ownership experience. You can always find unhappy people regardless of the make / model of car, so why not drive an amazing looking, driving, handling car!
Oh and post pics too!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Wow nice car. Yes the oils and coolant r essential. Especially the transmission oil. Motor oil should be every 5000 or less miles. The tensioner is a good idea. Power steering lines will leak at the connections so u will need to address this also sooner or later.
Stay online with us as u enjoy your car and we will help.
Stay online with us as u enjoy your car and we will help.
Tom is absolutely right about the power steering lines. I am facing the prospect of replacing the power steering lines on my 740iL. Also, trying to tackle a leak problem with the power steering system at the moment. Keep an eye on that system.
The 740 (E38) is an absolutely fantastic cruising car. It is however, the MOST technically designed model of its kind & heavily wired -- best thing to keep it running smoothly is maintenance and if you can, keep ahead of any typical issues seen in this model by getting your hands on those parts at your local wreckers or OEM website.
BMW's in general are their own kind of animal. I have had to learn quite a bit about my car in order to address/understand mechanical issues and save some cash along the way. Sometimes keeping the car away from the dealership will be the best thing for smaller things that are easy-ish to DIY. For example, the blower motor for heating/AC went on my car and I replaced it myself, saving over $1500 in labour costs alone, because its under the centre of the dash. It took some patience and troubleshooting to get to the old blower motor, but it was worth the elbow grease.
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