Description
This is a genuine 2001 Sport model, not to be confused with the standard 4. 4-litre V8 (different gearbox mapping; stiffer suspension; lower final drive ratio; anthracite headlining; M-Par wheels; M-Sport steering wheel; black Shadowline trim etc).
BMW quoted a 0-60 time of 7 seconds with four people on board but road tests showed that the Sport would do 0-60 in 5. 9 seconds if you ditched the passengers, pretty quick for a big saloon in those days.
I bought this car 3 years ago when it had been in storage for 10 years (2011 – 2021). I had it serviced and gave it a new set of Firestone tyres and new Brembo brake discs. It also had some work done to the front suspension and steering to get rid of the infamous 7 Series shimmy: new upper suspension arms; new steering rack centre tie rod; new track rod ends; new idler arm bush.
I have done about 10, 000 miles in it since and changed the oil twice. It has now done around 109, 500 miles. It does about 28mpg if you drive it sensibly but it goes like stink so that isn’t always easy. It is completely standard and unmessed about with. It drives great, really smooth, quiet and powerful. It has the switchable Sport Auto 5-speed gearbox so you can drive like a manual if you want to get a move on.
Obviously, being an E38 on M-Pars, it looks the dog’s bollocks too and gets loads of attention.
The old boy who owned it before me had it for 12 years but it was in storage for the last 10 of them because he wasn’t well. It came with no handbooks or service history but it has clearly been well looked after.
As you can see in the photos, it looks great in Titan Silver with a Montana black leather Sports interior. It has all the kit that the very last 740 Sports had including: M Sport Package; M Sport suspension; Anthracite headlining; wide screen OBM; rear parking sensors; soft-close boot; illuminated door handles (very cool!); electric steel sunroof; Servotronic steering etc.
It is nearly 25 years old so don’t expect perfection, but it is very clean and tidy with no rust and no mechanical issues that I am aware of.
The paintwork looks good and original but it does have a few scratches on the boot and stone chips on the bonnet plus a couple of small dents on the front left wing. The black inner front kidney grilles could do with replacing. The glovebox handle needs fixing.
The ABS warning light is on at the moment (pretty typical on an E38 and usually just a sensor).
It has an MOT until June 2025 with just a couple of very minor advisories.
These 2001 740i Sports don’t come up for sale very often. This is the 4th one I have had and I can safely say it is in well above average condition. I am asking what I think is a fair price for a good car that you can drive every day and take to the next level if you want.
All viewings and test drives welcome here in Worcester. I’m only reluctantly selling it because I have too many other cars and don’t have room to store them all.
