1988 (F) BMW 730i SE Auto E32

Thank you for taking the time to view this advert. I've owned this 7 series for a little over one year. I purchased it with around 75. 00 miles on the clock and it now sits at around 81. 00 - I do use the car so this is likely to increase.

Anyone wishing to contact me about the car. to save having to go through the ebay messaging system. email me:        thomaswebber36@virginmedia. com

I'll give you a quick round up of any good and bad points before the full description so you don't have to trawl through

BAD

*Outside temperature sensor doesn't work

*Paint a little thin on the tops of each front wing

*Small dent to drivers door. lower quarter

*Small amount of rust below boot seal

*Non-original radio

*Headlining starting to drop

*Chrome trim would benefit from a good polish

GOOD

*Lower mileage than many backed up by almost full MOT history

*Other than mentioned (wings) paint is good

*Some rust attended to

*Over £1000 spent maintaining in one year - receipts for most work

*3 keys

*Just serviced - oil & filter. plugs. cap & arm. battery. rear pitman arms

I hope that gives you a quick round-up and answers the obvious questions. Full description and detailed service records below.

As I said in the introduction I have owned this car for a little over a year and it's been fab. Moving from an E28 5 series into this E32 7 was like stepping into the future. I can't imagine what it would have been like in 1988 when my car was purchased! Make no mistake that I really don't want to sell this car. but Bristol isn't an ideal city to have a car. let alone three.

Owning this car has been a good experience. There were a couple of wobbles which I'll get to but I'd have another in a heartbeat!

Let's start with the spec:

The car was produced on 01. 09. 1988 and registered on 29. 09. 1988 by BMW dealer Orford of Ruislip - it still has the Orford dealer sticker on the rear windscreen and their keyring - nice and original! 

*ENGINE & TRANSMISSION* - It has the M30B30 3. 0 litre straight 6 (the smallest engine you could order in this car).  

The M30 is regarded by many as one of the finest engines BMW has ever made and this engine in particular seems a good example.  

There is no smoke on start-up or under load and it pulls incredibly well. It's as smooth as a M30 ever could be and with proper maintenance should give years of service.  

The car has the 4 speed automatic transmission which again is in good order - changes are smooth but quick. no nasty slipping.  

Kick-down works as and when you'd expect and the Economy/Sport/Manual modes are all fully functioning.  

The previous owner told me he had changed the fluid and filter and whilst there is no receipt to prove this the fluid is red and the transmission has given me no bother in the 6000 odd miles I've covered.

*PAINT & INTERIOR* - The car is painted in 'Alpinweiss 2' or Alpine White to you and I. It has black leather upholstery. White is a fairly odd colour for these cars with the majority tending to be grey or blue. in fact I only recall seeing 3 others in white over the past year.  

The paintwork is generally good and polishes well though as I mentioned in the round-up at the beginning it has gone slightly thin on the tops of each front wing. It doesn't detract from the car unless you're really looking for it and I'm sure it's something a good bodyshop could sort with ease.  

There is a small dent on the lower quarter of the drivers door which again. I'm sure could be sorted easily - the paint hasn't cracked so it should be an easy fix. I've just spent £250 (no receipt) having some rust on the O/S rear door attended to. the door mirrors painted and the car clayed & waxed. New lower door trims have been fitted on all doors to finish the job properly.  

The upholstery is again in decent condition but has wear. The leather on the drivers seat is creased but not cracked and there are some light marks and scratches on the rest of the leather - nothing that you wouldn't expect for 28 years of use.  

The carpets are like new. having been protected with genuine BMW overmats.  

The headlining material is starting to come away from the board at each rear corner - it's not as bad as some that I've seen but you need to be aware that it won't get any better.  

The rest of the interior is in good condition - there are no cracks in the dashboard. the pedals and steering wheel do not have excessive wear. the wood trim is in good condition though could benefit from a polish. This too goes for the exterior chrome trim which is looking a little tired - I have started to polish it and will try to finish but this may be left to the next owner.  

Lastly is the rust under the rear boot seal - it shouldn't be too big a job and I had intended to have it done by the bodyshop with the other work I mentioned but I forgot to put it on the list! I have pictures of the area I can email to people.

*OTHER OPTIONS* - The other options are as follows:

*Electric tilting & sliding sunroof - fully operational with one touch

*Electric windows - fully operational with one touch on drivers window

*Electric & heated mirrors - fully operational

*Heated windscreen washer jets - fully operational

*ABS - thankfully I haven't needed it but dash light behaves as normal

*Electric front seats - fully operational including the headrests

*Front armrests - nothing to really go wrong here

*Headlight/foglamp washers - fully operational

*Dual zone A/C - blows cold. No electrical glitches in dash controls

*Cruise control - I don't use it but no reason to believe it doesn't work

*On board computer - functions and displays data - control stalk works

*Reading lights - yep. they work

*Power steering - nice and light for a near 2 tonne car

*Central locking - fully operational from doors or boot

Don't think I missed anything there. Right. it's been a long description so far but there's more to come - brace yourself!

*MOT HISTORY*

1992 - 20. 75 - RBS Motors. HA2

1993 - 26. 38 - Lodge Garage. NW9

1994 - 30. 86 - Lodge Garage. NW9

1995 - 34. 19 - Lodge Garage. NW9

1996 - 38. 68 - Lodge Garage. NW9

1997 - 41. 55 - Lodge Garage. NW9

1998 - 44. 81 - Lodge Garage. NW9

1999 - 45. 80 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2000 - 48. 94 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2001 - 50. 13 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2002 - 52. 39 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2003 - 55. 07 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2004 - 56. 02 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2005 - 57. 06 - Lodge Garage. NW9 <viewable online from here onward

2006 - 58. 69 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2007 - 59. 37 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2008 - 60. 54 - Lodge Garage. NW9

2010 - 61. 23 - MTS MOT Centre. PO7

2011 - 62. 85 - Enterprise Autos. PO6

2012 - 65. 14 - SAS Select Automotive Services LTD. DA8

2013 - 68. 31 - SAS Select Automotive Services LTD. DA8

2014 - 72. 41 - SAS Select Automotive Services LTD. DA8

2015 - 76. 53 - Carcraft Servicing and Mechanical Repairs. BS3

Nothing nasty on any of the previous MOT's. Mainly failures or advisories for brakes lines and anti roll bar bushes.

You can view the MOT history online here: 

https://www. check-mot. service. gov. uk/?_ga=1. 1865265. 1092598347. 1446049249

Registration Number is F264NBY. Make is BMW.

MOT is due early September and I'm not worried about the car passing so I'll ensure another one is done soon.

*SERVICE HISTORY*

The car has the original service book which has 5 stamps from the supplying dealer - Orford of Ruislip. It has 11 stamps from Lodge Garage. the same place that did the majority of MOT's. The most recent stamp in the book is 2006 and sadly I cannot account for any of the service history between then and me acquiring the car in 2015.  

Sounds bad but I can tell you that the previous owner had the car from 2011 (4 years) and owned many classic BMWs - he had an E24 635 and I believe two E30 3 series'. He was a mechanic by trade and the advisories that came up on the MOTs were rectified so I find it hard to believe he never serviced the car. I still have his number so it may be possible for anyone interested to contact him and ask any questions but I can't promise this.

I have kept the majority of receipts from my ownership of the car and I'll list what I've spent / work done over the past year:

Air intake rubber boots & clamps - Genuine BMW - £60. 17

Air intake rubber boot & clamp - Genuine BMW - £8. 10

Orange indicators & side repeaters - Genuine BMW (Fritz's Bits) - £48

*Oil change @ 78. 15 miles - Oil & filter

Distributor cap & rotor arm - BREMI - Euro Car Parts - £62. 33

New 74Ah battery - VARTA - Motaman - £99. 99

Pulse generator - Genuine BMW - £106. 20

Ignition barrel & door lock + accessories - Genuine BMW - £133. 40

Fitting for above items - Redish Automotive - £160. 80

Rear door lower trims - Genuine BMW - £34. 27

*Service @ 81. 89 miles

Oil - Castrol Magnatec 10w40 - Euro Car Parts - £16. 65 each

Oil filter - MANN - Euro Car Parts - £4. 27

Air Filter - MANN - Euro Car Parts - £3. 52

Fuel filter - Crosland - Euro Car Parts - £2. 92

Rear pitman arms - OCAP - Euro Car Parts - £13. 12 each

Spark plugs - Bosch WR8LC+ - Euro Car Parts - £2. 09 each

Service total - £66. 14 + VAT ish

Other work and parts have been purchased but I've mislaid the receipts - things such as the front door lower trims and steering column cowling probably come to another £60 or so. Total for my year of ownership is in excess of £1000.

I changed the "pulse generator" (Crank position sensor) due to a non-starting issue. The car was turning over but not was not getting a spark or fuel. Turns out in the end it wasn't the problem but there's no harm in having a new sensor on there. I still have the old one which probably works as well.

Ignition barrel and door lock were changed after some louts tried to pinch the car! The door lock was smashed and they'd tried to force the barrel to no avail (well done BMW!). Both are genuine parts and have been made to the original key number so all of the locks still match. A good condition second hand steering column cowling has been fitted as they broke the original. All fitting work was carried out by Redish Automotive. a very well known and respected BMW specialist here in Bristol. I have two normal keys and one valet key for the car.

NOW. I THINK that is everything - if you've got this far then I commend you and I urge you to ask me any questions if you want to. I'm not always able to answer the phone so you can drop me an email and I'll do my best to answer you as quickly as I can! 

As I've already said I really don't want to sell this car and if I don't get much interest I'll probably end up keeping it. even though I don't really have the space or the money. I've taken the option to make me an offer away from this listing for fear of being messed around but I'm always open to talking in person - worst I can say is no!

Thanks for your time. Tom

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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