Originally Posted by mytmousemalibu

I do love the e38, one of my favorite BMW's. I love the look, the feel, the interior styling of them. That one will have the M73 v12 engine. If it were an older M70, I would run away! Too bad its not the newer M73TU and then the whole car would be newer an updated also. They are pretty smooth and powerful cars! The 750's got most of the option goodies as they were the Flagship car. Didn't see a whole lot of these cars in our shop, just not a lot of them around, at least here anyways. They can be expensive to fix and problematic is something is wrong. Mechanically the engines were pretty good, the electronics were usually the culprit of any problems as these cars have 2 engine computers. The M70/M73/M73TU were run basically as 2 six cylinders with linked DME's. The EML throttles were cause for electronic issues at times. Have a full scan done on the electronics, check the suspension out real good on a lift. Pretty common on e38's to need control arm bushings and tie rods/center link. Also the rear lower ball joints. Not uncommon for the V12's to need intake gaskets. Spark plugs get overlooked because they suck to change. Check everything well for leaks especially the power steering and SLS. Just a good general and intensive pre-purchase inspection by someone who knows these cars well. I was a BMW Factory Trained tech and fix BMW's for 10+yrs. Let me know what you find or if you have any questions, i'll do my best to help.