7 series m sport exclusive

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Hi and thank you for reading, long time since I’ve been on here since selling my tvr but hope your insight and knowledge may be given in to the my itch for a 7 series bmw.
Considering a 7 series and have £16000 max to spend , preference the m sport 3.0d and seen a m sport exclusive with a reasonable 64000 miles 1 owner and fsh reg 2015 which seems very well priced.
What servicing cost can I expect running one of these and how reliable are they. I expect to do 5000 miles annually and appreciate tyres , oil changes ect will be slightly higher than the average ford , but concern’s over when timing belts ect will need replacing. I am located in the Stockport area so believe there are some reputable highly regarded independent garages about.
Would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on if these are a good buy or best left alone . Car has 10 month mot two keys , everything working and presents itself well. Thanks once again for your advice and opinions

[d_a_n1979]

POKERSCHOOLS said:

Hi and thank you for reading, long time since I’ve been on here since selling my tvr but hope your insight and knowledge may be given in to the my itch for a 7 series bmw.
Considering a 7 series and have £16000 max to spend , preference the m sport 3.0d and seen a m sport exclusive with a reasonable 64000 miles 1 owner and fsh reg 2015 which seems very well priced.
What servicing cost can I expect running one of these and how reliable are they. I expect to do 5000 miles annually and appreciate tyres , oil changes ect will be slightly higher than the average ford , but concern’s over when timing belts ect will need replacing. I am located in the Stockport area so believe there are some reputable highly regarded independent garages about.
Would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on if these are a good buy or best left alone . Car has 10 month mot two keys , everything working and presents itself well. Thanks once again for your advice and opinions

The BMWs are on chains; so there's no belts to replace bar the aux/aircon belts etc - if the car has been looked after beforehand and service well, there's no reason as to why the chain should be replaced. The N57 (3.0 diesel engine) are fairly bulletproof; and don't believe all the nightmare stories you hear about online, you only ever hear re the bad stuff, never the good stuff and engines with high miles on them etc)

I had an F01 730D SE Luxury and it was superb; only sold it because I started a new role with a new company after running my own business for 13 years and the car was just sitting on the rive not being used

It was very easy to work on; parts are not expensive at all (suspension, brakes, fluids etc - all available from your local motorfactors and the likes of Autodoc etc)

This was my F01: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I chose the SE Luxury over the M Sport as after test driving a few; the M Sport for me were a bit overly harsh (the roads local to me are very poor), but also the spec was very good indeed and that swayed it for me

Getting rid of the 20" alloy wheels & tyres and dropping to 19s with non runflat tyres made a huge, marked improvement over drive & handling (I also ran a separate set of 18s with winter tyres over the winter months, as you'll see in the project link above)

Have you a link to the car(s) you're considering you can share?

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Thank you for your reply car just serviced new pads , oils , filters , new tyre and disc costing £920 the car has been fully serviced on a regular basis and having had just one owner appeals

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Only noticeable defect to bodywork were stone chip on bonnet and very small stone chip to windscreen which has been shown as an advisory on the last two mots .car has averaged 5 -6000 miles during the last 5 years .once again thank you for all advice and opinions

[d_a_n1979]

I really like the look of that and it looks to be a solid example overall, well spec’d too…

I’d absolutely want to go and see that, give it a good look over and test drive also

Bring it here to me in Preston and I’ll cast my eyes over it for you too haha

In all seriousness, absolutely go and look at that. Lovely car, low miles and looks to have been looked after

[POKERSCHOOLS]

My thoughts to , test driving tomorrow having already given it the once over, has a 3 month warranty from dealer and when view was left with the car to have a good inspection without being bothered which was nice.

[d_a_n1979]

POKERSCHOOLS said:

My thoughts to , test driving tomorrow having already given it the once over, has a 3 month warranty from dealer and when view was left with the car to have a good inspection without being bothered which was nice.

Thats good

One thing I'd recommend is getting an online quote for BMW Warranty as that could be good peace of mind; something I did with our current F31 and it's already paid for itself more or less as had a bit of warranty work last week which would have added up to quite a bit, a lot of labour alone!

Let us know how the test drive goes...

FYI you may find it tramlines a bit with the 20" RFTs, but removing them and fitting non RFTs or even dropping down to 19s with non RFTs will soon sort that; exactly what I did. However, the country roads here that surround me are shocking at best...

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Thanks for your comments , no experience of bmw , always gone for the more unusual , probably why I am drawn to the 7 series as far fewer about.Agree about the 20 inch alloys and typical on most cars, just need to decide if I tell the wife before or after buying 😀last time I turned up with a Bentley and she gave me 4 years of hell😩Anyhow test driving Friday as can’t make today and gives me some time to check around for insurance.

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Test driven and all good , few swirl marks and stone chips to bonnet but all round genuine motor just. Had full service brake pads and discs , one new tyre so looking good to go , just need to get my head around ins quotes for a car that will probably do 5000 miles or less

[d_a_n1979]

POKERSCHOOLS said:

Test driven and all good , few swirl marks and stone chips to bonnet but all round genuine motor just. Had full service brake pads and discs , one new tyre so looking good to go , just need to get my head around ins quotes for a car that will probably do 5000 miles or less

I had my F01 730D insured with Chris Knott. We do c5/6k miles a year; the cars on the driveway day & night. Me as the main driver & my wife as the named driver, £250 all in - exactly the same as I've got for my current F31 touring

Re the one tyre replacement; what's on the opposite side; the same make or have they fitted a cheap ditchfinder to get it through the MOT?

[POKERSCHOOLS]

All tyres match maximum m1 and plenty of tread. Probably not the the best tyres but no point replacing until necessary

[d_a_n1979]

POKERSCHOOLS said:

All tyres match maximum m1 and plenty of tread. Probably not the the best tyres but no point replacing until necessary

They’re stty budget tyres… there’s every reason to replace them, more so on a heavy 7 series…

Honestly, bin them and replace them with something half decent at least. Someone will buy them off you

I wouldn’t run them at all, their reviews online are horrible!

[POKERSCHOOLS]

After a 3rd viewing , decided not to purchase . Believe the car to be genuine and reasonably priced but conscious that although the tyres were in excellent condition they were very cheap tyres. Makes you wonder what other less visable savings may have been made during the cars history, several stone chips were visable to the front spoiler and a couple highly noticeable on the front bonnet ( am I being to picky) which would continually pee me off.
Any how car now apparently sold to some one else so the search continues 😀should I widen my search and include the 740 d , I don’t particularly want the extra grunt but insurance and road tax the same as the 730d.
Would service costs be particularly more expensive or any resson to avoid in preference to a 730d.
Particular interested in m sport or m sport exclusives and possibly now looking at pushing the budget a little more to get something a bit more pristine.
Thanks in advance for your help advice and opinions

[randomeddy]

Stockport?

Excellent independent not far from you if you get a BMW.
Darren Wood.
Only issue is getting a booking in a reasonable time. They are always busy!

[d_a_n1979]

POKERSCHOOLS said:

After a 3rd viewing , decided not to purchase . Believe the car to be genuine and reasonably priced but conscious that although the tyres were in excellent condition they were very cheap tyres. Makes you wonder what other less visable savings may have been made during the cars history, several stone chips were visable to the front spoiler and a couple highly noticeable on the front bonnet ( am I being to picky) which would continually pee me off.
Any how car now apparently sold to some one else so the search continues ??should I widen my search and include the 740 d , I don’t particularly want the extra grunt but insurance and road tax the same as the 730d.
Would service costs be particularly more expensive or any resson to avoid in preference to a 730d.
Particular interested in m sport or m sport exclusives and possibly now looking at pushing the budget a little more to get something a bit more pristine.
Thanks in advance for your help advice and opinions

I agree re the tyres; always been my view as well - cheap tyres fitted means they've skimped elsewhere. Generally... But the dealer may have fitted them just to cheapo out and get the car roadworthy!

And cars at this age will always have stone chips; if they annoy you; you'll need to get the car booked into a bodyshop to get them rectified

With the state of the UK roads now; all cars have stone chips unless they've had PPF! So don't discount cars on that basis...

I did a lot of bodywork to the F01 I had; that's because I wanted to, so I knew it'd be up to my standard, rather than trying to find a car that met my standards in the first place; as they weren't out there

The 7 series is fairly slab fronted too; so stone chips are a definite!

Re the 740D vs 730D - I looked at a few but they were all much higher miles and they showed that; the 730Ds were more popular and more about with lower miles etc - plus the 730D has plenty of grunt for the UK roads IMO

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Cheers for comments , widened my search to include 740d dependant on price .Will just keep looking , budget going to be reconsidered I think to get a good example. Agree about the stone chips but we’re particularly bad on this particular car , hope who ever bought has a good car .
In the mean time I will keep trawling the ads

[d_a_n1979]

POKERSCHOOLS said:

Cheers for comments , widened my search to include 740d dependant on price .Will just keep looking , budget going to be reconsidered I think to get a good example. Agree about the stone chips but we’re particularly bad on this particular car , hope who ever bought has a good car .
In the mean time I will keep trawling the ads

They were on my previous F01; front bumper was resprayed and I fitted a new OEM BMW rear bumper and had that resprayed due to a crack that was badly fixed beforehand...

IMO c£15k will get you a very good 730D; you've just got to keep looking. Tend to find the better examples on AT, but some good ones do crop up on eBay Motors too!

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Cheers will keep you informed of developments and no doubt be seeking further advice and opinions , have a great weekend

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Put a deposit on this example , seems to have most toys , reasonable mileage and regular service history . Comfort seats and hud appeal and offered with a six month warranty.car to be delivered next week so time will tell but appears to be well presented with 12 month mot.

[POKERSCHOOLS]

Car being delivered Tuesday , having bought unseen , but sale agreed upon inspection . Has a 12 month ticket and 6 month comprehensive warranty.
What do I need to look for other than the obvious on inspecting.?
How does the 730d m sport manage on normal supermarket diesel?
Car will be used occasionally , how well do the batteries cope being unused for a couple of weeks or do I need a trickle charger?
No doubt be spending a few days valeting it , so will post any observations ..
Thank you for your replies in advance