I've missed my old '98 740iL but always wanted one of the SWB Sport models. Late last week I finally puled the trigger on an '01 740i Sport. $7500, 150k miles, and a laundry list of new parts and service done in the last 3000 miles (damn near the purchase price of the car just in new OEM parts). Owned by a BMW tech. Exterior is nice, and the interior is flawless.
IMO, the best 7 series ever made and one of my favorite BMWs ever. Fast, agile, comfortable. The SWB Sport added a shorter final drive, steptronic manumatic trans, lowered, stiffer shocks and springs, vavona wood, the shadowline blacked out trim, M Parallel wheels and the M sport steering wheel. This car has the newer, fatter, M steering wheel and a few other upgrades.
Only hiccup was that it failed MD inspection for age cracked rear brake hoses, which were obviously original to the car. But the inspection station did comment on how clean and dry the underside of the car was, saying it was obviously garaged and well taken care of. So I have a set of braided stanless steel hoses on the way ($90 for the set) so I can get it re-inspected and permanent registration on it.
Not getting the stellar fuel mileage of the last one, but that's because I've been driving it pretty hard (coming back from Fairfax, VA to Baltimore on I70 I hit triple digits in one spot). It just encourages sporty driving and hard acceleration on on ramps...
Beautiful car, I've always liked them.
I love those cars and those wheels are one of my favorite OEM wheels.
That is very nice, love the color.
Congrats! That's a future classic for sure. Hang onto this one!
dj06482
SuperDork
6/24/15 12:21 p.m.
Nicely bought - I've always loved those cars. I used to see a gorgeous black SWB Sport every day in NYC while I was walking from the PATH to the office.
Chris_V
UberDork
6/25/15 12:54 p.m.
Oooh, got my Flowmaster Hushpower II mufflers and Magnaflow dual tips in, and gonna do a custom axleback setup. Kind of like my last E38 but without the full muffler delete (had a bit of a rasp to it at WOT, though no drone and sounded mean under part throttle acelleration and almost stock at idle). I'm hoping the small Flowmasters will allow it to have a good rumble but not the raspy sound the other one had.
My last E38:
Got the axleback exhaust installed. Had to trim out holes in the rear bumper to fit it, but it looks and sounds great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTK9gwrUfj8
Plus, added a bit of flair in vinyl to the car just for fun:
Wally
MegaDork
7/1/15 9:20 a.m.
Good luck with it. They are such nice looking cars.
Looking excellent! I love what you've done so far and that's the best 7 series to start with. Delicious.
Very handsome automobile.
Nice car! do you know what the sport diff ratio is? 2.93? 3.15? I have a 3.15 LSD large case from my challenge car that I will try to sell off, would be good to know if its an upgrade for these newer 7's as well.
In reply to rcutclif:
The SWB sports got the 3:15. All others were 2.8something, including the 740iL Sport. The 3.15 would be a good upgrade for an iL of any flavor or a 740i non-Sport.
