Re: To 745i or not to 745i that is the question (l (archive)

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Sounds pretty good, but I dont think thats a car your wife will like to replace a lathargic but reliable honda. My wife cant stand to drive my 735 and I wont let her drive the 745. Not to be sexist, but I really dont think a 7 was ever designed to be a car for a female, thats why there are 3 series and they are marketed quite well. Whats more than likely to happen is you will buy that car and find out its true potential and give your wife the 5 series which would be my suggestion from the start. This car will not have the reliability of a honda and will proably upset your wife pretty fast (unless she turns wrenches), but overall it will be one of the rarest and fastest cars you have ever owned. If you do not want the car, place it on here as I'm sure there will be a buyer. Good luck, and my suggestion is to buy it for yourself and get your wife another honda. My wife has an Acura. I wont drive the car, I dont like the car, but its the best damn car I have ever owned because I dont have to mess with it and that gives me time to work on the cars I do like.

Hi guys. I'm a regular to the e28 board (87 535is) and wanted to talk to the e23 experts about a potential purchase of a 1985 745i executive with 104k kilometers.

This weekend I was playing golf and a friend mentioned that he was considering buying this "old BMW" for $3500. When I questioned which model he said...it is a 745i or something like that. Needless to say, my tee shot went into the weeds upon hearing this news. Anyway, after our round we went to check out the car becuase he's ambivalent about purchasing it.

The car is originally from Boston area and apparently was well taken care of by the PO. Color is Black int (buffalo hide, right?)/ Black ext with red pinstriping . The engine bay is fairly clean overall and I can tell that the engine block, head, and valve cover are even more so. Car has complete new exhaust system ($$$), new wires, new tires (non-metric 15" on stock wheels). The interior is in decent shape (no rips or tears in leather) but could really use a dye job (unless the black is supposed to be light black) and certainly a lexol treatment (or leatherique). Everything inside is intact except one of the cassette holders is broken and the face plate on the instrument cluster is cracked by the reset button. Are these clear I.C. lenses easily replace or found? All electrical features works (has electric rear seats too I believe). Burlwood looks great too. Dash has two or three minor cracks...I'm not surprised. Rear sunshade is in place. Car has no sunroof. Headliner is in decent shape but could use dressing up. I could NOT figure out how to turn the A/C on and I'm not sure it is working....CHA CHING ($).

Body: NO RUST ANYWHERE...I crawled under the car
and inspected all around. Paint is original factory and is in pretty good condition too. Only 1 door ding on driver's side door. All euro style head lamps and driving light work. NO headlight washers though like on Matt's car(bummer).

The car has been maintained by my mechanic and he says the car has been well-mainted by the PO. Current PO has left it parked outside under pine trees uncovered for past 6 months!!!!!!! I nearly fainted when I saw it covered in pine straw. Anyway, I cleared it off and said PLEASE cover this care as it is extremely rare and in good shape...I'll be back!

So, any words of wisdom here as to purchasing the car? I would like to buy if for my wife to replace her aging Honda Accord. She's loathe to buy "another money pit" but I think she'd love the car. If I don't buy it I will certainly let you guys know...then I know it'll go to a loving home!

I am seriously considering buying a 745i at the end of the summer and I would like to hear any and all input on this car. Common problems, good points, aftermarket market, everything. My family has driven BMWs all my life and I understand about the maintenance costs etc of owning Bimmers. I just want to know everything there is to know about this car before I buy one. Not so much that I am going to change my mind about it as I really do want one, but what to look for when I buy it and how the car performs. Is it really that much quicker over the 735i with that turbo? Whats this I hear about a self leveling suspension, stuff like that. Please feel free to email me with as long an email as you want because with a rare car such as the 745i I don't want to be the one that kills it doing something stupid. For those of you real car lovers I plan on fixing everything thats wrong with it and maintain it to the best of my abilities, BMW owners have a real passion for their cars and I am certainly one of them. I hope to become an active member on this board when I get a 7 of my own.
Thanks all,
James

Hi there,
My wife drives our 735i as a daily driver and she loves it...
About speed feeling diff. between 735i and 745i, I can tell you about my personnal experience. We got a 86, 5 speed 735i and as I saied, my wife dosen't let me much to drive it...! So once I wanted to by an 82 745i (3 speed auto.), I test drive it and I wasn't impressed at all... I don't know about four speeds, but a three speed 745i is really not worth comparing to a 5 speed, 218 Hp, 735i, it's a way less fun to drive car...
Regards, Afshin.

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