Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - Fleet Update

[Conan]

The Shaken sticker doesn't say it expired in 2016, it says it expired in Heisei 16 which is 2004.

The circle sticker isn't the Shaken either, that's the square one in the middle. The circle is actually called Tenken-seibi and is actually a non-mandatory inspection perform by garages and dealerships, but it's so widespread that it's rare to see a car without it (self inspected).

The Shaken sticker changed in Jan 2004 to become smaller and more detailed. I guess right before this car was exported. You pretty much got the last of the classic Shaken. That one doesn't show the year, the colour itself rotates every 4 years which determines when it expired. My source maybe incorrect but if it's green it expired in 2001, if it's blue it's probably 2003.

P.S. Meiji 16 was 1883, Showa 16 was 1941 and Reiwa 16 would be 2034. There was no Taisho 16 because the emperor lasted only 14 and a half years. Most Japanese probably can do conversion in their head!

[Dave_Q]

If it's any use I don't think it does need a cat test. 

If it didn't have a cat and you follow the flowchart, if would probably fail the BET, then first used before 1/8/1995 = yes (you've actually got a date of 1st use on the DVLA record, comes up as 16/5/1994)
Exact match in the BGA database is No, there don't appear to be any W140s listed: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81bcf5ed915d74e6233d90/in-service-exhaust-emission-standards-for-road-vehicles-19th-edition.pdf

So at the end of all that you get down to non-cat test. 

I guess that removing it may not be entirely straightforward and it might need remapping? Or maybe not if it doesn't have a downstream lambda sensor.

[Schaefft]

Some fantastic info, thanks everyone.

5 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Monsieur Ambassador, with this shite you are really spoiling us.  After your 540i last week, now you hit us with this.

Love these cars, they're an embodiment of late eighties German confidence, just amazing.  Is this early enough to have the pop up markers that show you where the corners of the boot are?  Absolutely fantastic stuff.

I'm glad others enjoy them as much as I do. It does indeed have the Pop-up rods, similar to my SEL in fact! They are useless as you can barely see them but certainly a conversation piece. Only the facelift would get conventional PDC sensors in the back in 1995 when they renamed it the CL.

For those who are curious: the first year or so this generation S-Class coupe was still named 500/600 SEC, similar to the 80s C126. Mine was built in July 1993, the first month of the new naming convention (S500/S600 Coupe). It then changed names to the widely known CL until the previous to current generation S-Class 2-door (C217) got it's name changed back to S-Class Coupe again (S500/560 Coupe etc).

This makes it pretty hard to find these 90s S-Class 2-doors as they were sold under 3 different names.

5 hours ago, Conan said:

The Shaken sticker doesn't say it expired in 2016, it says it expired in Heisei 16 which is 2004.

The circle sticker isn't the Shaken either, that's the square one in the middle. The circle is actually called Tenken-seibi and is actually a non-mandatory inspection perform by garages and dealerships, but it's so widespread that it's rare to see a car without it (self inspected).

The Shaken sticker changed in Jan 2004 to become smaller and more detailed. I guess right before this car was exported. You pretty much got the last of the classic Shaken. That one doesn't show the year, the colour itself rotates every 4 years which determines when it expired. My source maybe incorrect but if it's green it expired in 2001, if it's blue it's probably 2003.

P.S. Meiji 16 was 1883, Showa 16 was 1941 and Reiwa 16 would be 2034. There was no Taisho 16 because the emperor lasted only 14 and a half years. Most Japanese probably can do conversion in their head!

I realized after looking it up yesterday night. Expiry in 2004 would make sense as the car came over in the first half of 2005. Wish I had more info about its life in Japan, it's been there on the road for 11 years, yet only did 40k km. Most of that time it was probably being stuck in the Tokyo rush hour.

4 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

If it's any use I don't think it does need a cat test. 

If it didn't have a cat and you follow the flowchart, if would probably fail the BET, then first used before 1/8/1995 = yes (you've actually got a date of 1st use on the DVLA record, comes up as 16/5/1994)
Exact match in the BGA database is No, there don't appear to be any W140s listed: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81bcf5ed915d74e6233d90/in-service-exhaust-emission-standards-for-road-vehicles-19th-edition.pdf

So at the end of all that you get down to non-cat test. 

I guess that removing it may not be entirely straightforward and it might need remapping? Or maybe not if it doesn't have a downstream lambda sensor.

That's the first time I see this chart, very useful to know in general, thanks for sharing!

I've had another look through all the junk inside the car today trying to get some order into it sll. No surprises aside from what must be a Japanese dehumidifier in the boot and a strange switch with 3 wires coming out of it. Maybe an electric circuit tester?

Other than that all the missing pieces are there, plus a few extras I'm not sure why were bought yet. Everyone who owned the car really cared about it though, there are brand new OEM bits and pieces you wouldn't expect anyone to buy from the dealer otherwise. More about that tomorrow.

[DVee8]

@Schaefft, how many of these fantastic barges do you own now and where do you keep them all? Not just the Merc's everything

 

 

[Schaefft]

50 minutes ago, DVee8 said:

@Schaefft, how many of these fantastic barges do you own now and where do you keep them all? Not just the Merc's everything

 

 

There's always space between my and my better half's places, storage and Germany. Some are just in line to get sorted at garages, which sometimes takes over a year so I hardly even see them. This last one is one too many though really.😂 The plan is to sort out the Auroras and reduce their number. We've been looking for a much larger space for a little while now as well.

[hairnet]

these things do get a shift on

ask @Six-cylinder 

[Six-cylinder]

42 minutes ago, hairnet said:

these things do get a shift on

ask @Six-cylinder 

I don't know what you mean!

[hairnet]

like a gazelle

[yes oui si]

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

There's always space between my and my better half's places, storage and Germany. Some are just in line to get sorted at garages, which sometimes takes over a year so I hardly even see them. This last one is one too many though really.😂 The plan is to sort out the Auroras and reduce their number. We've been looking for a much larger space for a little while now as well.

Move a county north and have a look... More chance of me spotting one of your fleet then as well 😂

[Schaefft]

Great news everyone. Turns out the mystery Japanese item above is a Kimco air freshener. According to this ad from 1986 I'm now entitled to a chance to win a copy of Super Mario Bros on NES.

[Schaefft]

18 hours ago, yes oui si said:

Move a county north and have a look... More chance of me spotting one of your fleet then as well 😂

Didn't notice your comment, we are looking in Northumberland, Scottish Borders certainly has the better house prices but we stay within a 40min radius of Newcastle ideally. Unfortunately that's exactly the area that's anything but affordable unless you wanna live in Blyth... We already found the ideal house in Longhirst, until people went nuts and bid 60k over the asking price 🤦‍♂️

[yes oui si]

8 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Didn't notice your comment, we are looking in Northumberland, Scottish Borders certainly has the better house prices but we stay within a 40min radius of Newcastle ideally. Unfortunately that's exactly the area that's anything but affordable unless you wanna live in Blyth... We already found the ideal house in Longhirst, until people went nuts and bid 60k over the asking price 🤦‍♂️

There's some good stuff that pops up further inland. Longhorsley/Longframlington and a bit west of there. 

[Schaefft]

Lets have a closer look at all the treasures* the car came with then.

As mentioned, the seller was nice enough to include various new parts he bought for it, including a set of new brake discs and spark plugs, a replacement ASR module (more about that later) and wiper blades. Looks like the ignition system received a few new bits as well, all the old parts were dumped in the back.

Whats more important to me is the extra upper engine wiring harness which, if it is the correct one and in decent shape, is worth a few hundred quid on its own. As most will know, Benzes of this era suffer from biodegradable wiring insulation which particularly would be an issue on a car mostly stuck in traffic, toasting everything inside the engine bay over time.

I'm not sure if these brake calipers were rebuilt with a spray can. Whoever did it made sure that the seals received a healthy dose of silver as well. The factory CD changer is a nice touch, I'm hoping to find the CD magazine somewhere, pretty sure I've seen a receipt for it.

More random bits, including a thermostat. I think there was a water pump as well, no clue if it was new.

More old and new brake parts and a bunch of seals.

The missing headlight wipers, seat trim and a spare taillight bulb holder for some reason. You'll also notice the mystery device again which purpose has been revealed earlier today.

An almost complete factory toolkit, always appreciated. Even ended up with a spare 10mm spanner.

The spare wheel was included as well. More random old brake and ignition system bits.

So what about the extra ASR (traction and abs) module then? I've hooked up the scanner to see if there would be any obvious signs for why the car isn't starting (before having to crawl underneath the car again). No errors stored that would indicate a problem, a few indicating work mentioned by the seller before. There was however one code I couldn't clear indicating an issue with the base module or one of its fuses, the fuse that happens to supply the ASR module (via the base module).

The mystery device was used to blink out error codes at some point. Naturally the fuse was replaced without success so a replacement module was purchased. I'm not sure if that ever went in as the car currently still has its original one in place. However, its highly unlikely that this was the cause in the first place. Base modules are cheap and if faulty can cause all kinds of havoc so I went straight on ebay to buy a replacement. Its entirely possible that the car would never legitimately pass an MOT because of this, hence it being off the road for so long (before developing other issues later). However, with a bit of luck I might be able to sort this one on the cheap, fingers crossed.

None of these explain the non-starting issue of course but things are starting to become clearer now. I'll see if I can get it to run on some brake cleaner, at least that will confirm a fueling issue. I've used black friday to order an Autel circuit tester (accidentally all the way from China so it might arrive in 2026), until then I might be able to use my jump pack to test the fuel pumps. Fingers crossed they are all thats needed to get it to run properly again.

[Schaefft]

5 hours ago, yes oui si said:

There's some good stuff that pops up further inland. Longhorsley/Longframlington and a bit west of there. 

Not much popping up in our search alerts that's not in the absolute middle of nowhere unfortunately, been looking for half a year now and while there is a property maybe once every 2-3 weeks they are usually very remote, with barely anything at all in a 20min radius. Not ideal.

[Schaefft]

Update time! After 3 years off the road and (suprisingly) almost half a year under my ownership the E65 745i is finally back on the road!

After successfully diagnosing and fixing the communication issue with the backseat airbag module months ago (still seems to pop up once in a while) the only remaining issue was the parking brake. Until the alternator decided to die that is. I finally found some time last weekend to replace it (as well as a leaky powersteering pipe), a job that would have been straight forward hadn't BMW decided to make two bolts holding a pulley right in front of it completely inaccessible.

All the bits needed:

Accessibility is good with the viscous fan and shroud out. BMW V8s around 2000 used watercooled alternators that sit within a casing they just slide into. Theoretically that means you can easily access all bolts from the front. Until you notice that one of the pulleys is sitting right in front of it all and won't allow you access to one of them:

Not a problem, just remove it, right? Wrong:

Not visible in this photo: Literally everything blocking access from all sides. In the end I spent an hour undoing two bolts I cannot reach, millimeter by millimeter, while oxidized aluminium powder was making its way onto my eyeballs for most of the time.

In the end the bracket was out and accessibility restored, this really should have been a 20 second job.

New alternator goes in here:

Success. It was getting dark and I couldn't be bothered with documenting the rest.

I installed my replacement power module a few days later. Since I decided to install an AGM battery that later E65 came with I also needed a slightly newer version of the module to support them. The old one looked a little crusty anyway:

I'm not sure if the old alternator died a natural death or the fact that I had an AGM battery in a car that expected a conventional battery killed it but I wanted to make sure it all fits together.

The new alternator now charges at oddly high voltages (up to 15.1V), I'll keep an eye on it to see if this is going to be the case long term. It might just try to recharge a freezing and partially discharged battery, someone might be able to educate me on modern battery management systems here.

Well, what about the parking brake then? I took it all apart and found no issues. And so an MOT was finally achieved today, suddenly without the parking brake acting up, after what was weeks of diagnosing one issue after the other, learning so many things about modern BMWs, until none were left.

I'm writing none when there actually still are plenty of problems to be resolved. None of them are safety related anymore however so I can finally enjoy the car, at last!

To give an idea of what had to be done since the car showed up all the way back in June, here's a list I had to get through. A few big ticket items remain and will be dealt with next year when its getting warmer again:

Clean interior
Replace headliner
Replace exhaust nuts (M8x1.25)✓
Replace Alternator 12317526286✓
Fix powersteering leak✓
Fix passenger rear parking brake✓
Replace passenger wing mirror glass✓
Clean exterior✓
Clean engine bay✓
Fix dynamic drive errors✓
Fix iDrive screen✓
Fix airbag error (fiberoptic cable 61120142318)✓
Fix driver seat✓
Polish headlights✓
Fix indicator bulbs✓
Octane boost✓
Unclog sunroof drains✓
Replace lower rear window seal✓
Fix driver side indicator✓
Replace front tires
Replace front emblem
Install new battery✓
Fix Radio
Replace power management Module✓
Fix trunk leaks (64228386133)✓
Fix PDC (Rear right sensor/wiring)

Some of these seem minor but things like "Fix dynamic drive errors" meant countless hours spent online just figuring out what many of the codes might mean, and eventually learning how to flash and code a module, overcoming all the hurdles of using outdated, unintuitive software and all the traps you can fall into. I think most other people would have given up on this the moment it rolled off the trailer, or opened the door seeing moss grow in the swamp that was the driver footwell...

Anyway, the car will be in daily use going forward, I'll get my key fob repaired and the car booked in for a service after the holidays. Until then I'm hoping that the bimmer will remain largely trouble free, at 52k miles you'd expect it to be fine.

 

Pictured here: BMW getting stuck trying to leave the MOT station...

[Schaefft]

There's more good news however. I've heard the S-Class Coupe run for the very first time today. A healthy dose of brake cleaner was enough to let the 5.0l V8 roar back to life, confirming that fuel supply is indeed the issue (bit of a sigh of relief there). In a surprise turn of events Royal Mail just knocked on my door and delivered my Autel electric probe (I honestly expected it to come all the way from China), which will come in very handy testing both fuel pumps tomorrow morning. My hope still is that one of them seized up from running the tank dry, and that a few gentle taps with the hammer will bring it back to life.

Picture above is before it froze to a solid block of ice. The replacement base module arrived as well. So far so good, the errors indicating a fault with it previously are now gone. As mentioned before it's not unlikely that this is what kept it off the road for so long originally. If that really is the case I just fixed it for 35 quid...

[Schaefft]

16 hours ago, Nyphur said:

Love seeing the progress on these big beasts. Consistently my favourite thread on here 👍

Considering how bad I am at taking photos of what I'm doing thats high praise😂

More diagnostics on the Mercedes today. Powered up the fuel pumps which turn out to work perfectly fine.

Unfortunately that might be bad news as it would have been easy to sort that issue. The car stutters trying to start even with the fuel pump relay bridged and the pumps constantly running. Considering it does run perfectly fine on brake cleaner that can only mean 3 things:

I still dont have enough fuel in the tank

The fuel pumps cannot build up enough pressure (will test when I have time) due to blockages

The injectors are gummed up or aren't controlled correctly due to wiring or ECU issues.

I'll put some more fuel in first and check the fuel pressure. The previous owner did mention that the replacement wiring loom did come for a reason and the owner before him having issues with a glowing cat indicated fuel/air mixture issues. Any theories please let me know!

[Tickman]

17 hours ago, Nyphur said:

Love seeing the progress on these big beasts. Consistently my favourite thread on here 👍

Can't disagree with any of this.

Tremendous effort wading through all the information to find what the actual problems are and then actually fixing them!

[Schaefft]

The E65 is the daily now until the 540i will be the vehicle of choice end of next week for the holiday trip back home, filling it with all of the leftover 750i parts-donor junk that's surprisingly unsaleable in the UK yet in high demand in Germany. I'll hopefully get my repaired key fob tomorrow as well as setting off the alarm every time I unlock it is getting a little old now.

Before Sunday dinner we stopped by at my previous place which some long-term readers of the thread might recognize. The Senator, Safrane, Celsior and my ivory Mark VIII all received some pretty extensive work in what was basically a public single car space for one of the flats there. Getting a private driveway was such a big leap forward and I'm hoping that the next move will bring even greater flexibility to properly work on all the shite I own now.

Speaking of the Celsior, the bodyshop I left it with to get the MOT welding done came back to me with an overview of the work needed. To keep things brief, it'll cost 4 times the price I originally paid for the car to get it all done😂

Then again it was probably the cheapest Celsior ever sold here, and certainly one of the very cheapest running and driving LS400s. I knew there was a hole in the inner rear wheel arch, turns out the sill the hole leads into needs sorting as well, and the other sill might not be that much better. As often the plastic covers can hide quite a lot, I was just hoping that a car of this quality would have some better rustproofing but then again it was negelected from the moment it arrived in the UK so yeah. Another good example and warning why I don't want to see road salt on any of my cars anymore.

In yet another unusual move the S8 has been sent off to get checked over by a garage. I've done a lot of work on the car myself but always wanted to send it down to Devon to have it looked over by the D2 A8/S8 specialist in the country. Unfortunately due to some health issues, drama and changes of focus for that person it never happened so its been mostly sitting for a year waiting for a confirmation. The original blocker for an MOT was an ABS light indicating an ESP pump issue (a classic for my cars at this point). Unfortunately compared to BMW or Mercedes this would actually be quite an involved job. Since it has developed an excessive leak from one of the transmission cooler lines since, and with so many other cars needing work, I thought this might be a good moment to hand it off to the professionals and see how they do. They come highly recommended with a good work ethic, something that seems incredibly hard to come by around here with very few exceptions. Noone has pride in what they are doing anymore. Lets see how this one goes.

Bonus snow photo of the Corona before it all melted. Immediately started up without issues after being parked for weeks, too. Fingers crossed the Celsior can be just as good with most weaknesses sorted now.

[Schaefft]

A few minor updates. The repaired E65 keyfob returned on Friday (a day to late despite sending it via 1pm guaranteed* on Wednesday), all well and working again, big quality of life improvement. Today the car received two replacement front wheels from the parts donor as one of the ditchfinders really showed its age, cracking sidewall and everything. The Pirellis that are on it now are even older but still appear to be in perfect shape with good tread. Same alloy design, in less curbed state even. I've also put the spare back in the boot (was still one of the original wheels from 2002, now at least from 2017) and installed some of the bits and pieces cluttering up the boot while things got repaired. Some idiot put one of these dumb metal valve stem covers on one of the back wheels, naturally its seized up now and can't be removed without risking destroying the stem. A job for another day.

One of the biggest visual let downs was the front passenger PDC sensor missing in the bumper trim, one of the very few parking scuffs the car has. Fortunately the trim is easily removed.

Managed to fish the sensor out of the bumper. Plenty of gunk that had to be cleaned.

The trim is cracked so I'll be looking out for a replacement one in Toledo blue eventually, for now it'll do. BMW's way of attaching the sensors to the trim is quite clever, the plastic bracket just clips in so risk of ever damaging it is low.

All back together. I still need to replace a sensor in the back before the system works again, I got a few from the donor 750i to see if that will sort it. Color-coded as well so will need to find one in the right color eventually. The whole car would also really benefit from a polish.

First time filling it to the brim a few days ago, the results are as expected:

It'll be on its first longer trip up to Edinburgh next week, fingers crossed it behaves and its a smooth journey.

No major news on the S500. I checked the injectors to see any inconsistencies, they all look fine, so does the entire wiring loom actually. Not sure why the previous owner bought a replacement loom. There's definitely some fuel arriving in the front but it doesn't look like the pumps build up any pressure at all. I'm starting to believe that I just ran out of fuel again despite adding 12l not that long ago... That or the pumps are oddly worn out/don't get enough power. Even running them constantly with the relay bridges doesnt help. Should I get a moment next week I'll fill the tank a bit more and see if it makes a difference. I'll order a new filter and replace the pumps with my known working ones in the new year if that doesnt fix it. Only other thing I can think of is a clogged up fuel pickup.

[Schaefft]

A few more improvements/discoveries yesterday evening and today. And since I've only really shown the interior in its trashed state when it arrived in summer why not give a little tour of the E65s quirks and features today...

I was wondering how you'd manually keep the gearbox in low gear whenever needed, the column mounted shifter wouldn't allow for this. The steeringwheel does have shift buttons (probably one of earliest cars to have them along my S8) but they wouldn't react to input for some reason, I expected them to just be faulty.

Well, turns out the steeringwheel controls include a button for gearbox modes which I somehow didn't notice before. You can switch between D (normal), S (Sport, holds gears for longer) and M for manual shifting.

Oddly enough both front facing buttons shift one gear down, I actually haven't checked yet if my early E65 has buttons on the back for upshifting. The central display shows the mode and gear you are in:

I'm probably going to replace the steering wheel with that from the parts donor, it has a chunkier rim and the buttons in the back.

An actual fix was sorting out the PDC system today. Replacing the sensor still resulted in the same error that wouldn't clear. Initially I thought the crusty pins/connector at the module would be at fault here but liberal use of contact cleaner didn't make much of a difference. Then I realized its the white connector that supplies the rear sensors...

Well, cleaning that didnt make a difference either so I replaced the module. This actually stopped the error from popping up and the PDC works now, however after testing I've got the feeling that the right rear sensor still doesnt do its job, the much newer module just doesn't seem to realize for some reason. With modules and sensors not 100% fixing the issue its likely going to be the wiring, a job for another day as the bumper will need to come off. For now it works and won't pop up another error, so one more feature back in action.

Right now the radio is not able to find any station, the tuner module will most likely need replacing. If I can be bothered that might actually go hand in hand with a broader upgrade of the entertainment system, later E65 supported many more features like bluetooth connectivity, digital TV etc. However, what I could test was the 6-disc CD changer in the dash. I originally expected it to be faulty as it sounded like trying to load a CD over and over, failing at achieving anything. Turns out that probably wasn't true and it just took a while to get through 5 empty slots until finding the 6th with a CD in it. Well, turns out it works perfectly fine and is much quicker with the magazin full:

Whats more important is, this confirms that my audio system works perfectly fine (and sounds pretty good despite not being the often faulty Logic7) and its just the radio tuner thats at fault. My 2h drive up to Edinburgh tomorrow will therefore not be in silence as the many cars with CD players I have owned so far delivered a constant supply of music. Surprisingly the car handles CD-Rs perfectly fine.

The analog TV function won't work until an upgrade, it is however interesting to see that Yugoslavia was clearly still considered to be a thing in 2002 at BMW.

The system check is a nice feature. Parking brake fault is a communication error while the airbag light does return as the module does not react quick enough at startup.

The service overview is even nicer. It won't let you reset service intervals for obvious reasons but is a great reminder to get certain items done within pre-defined time frames.

I'll have to check how I can reset these via INPA as the coolant is fresh. The car is booked in for an oil and brake fluid change on the 26th next month, gotta get that stamp into the service book. With such low miles I can almost claim to have full service history... Unlike the GS300 BMW actually supports the year 2023 and beyond.

I might even bother replacing the navigation computer, especially now that the disc is stuck inside... Later ones are cheap, plug & play and update the graphics considerably.

A few overall impressions. I'm a big fan of the matte open pore wood early E65s came with before they mostly returned to the glossy darker trims. Just makes it feel a little bit more "new millenium" to me.

Not sure if thats a phone mount or magnet glued to the dash. I'll see if I can get it off without ruining the trim. The problem with having no clearcoat is that you cannot just polish marks out of it.

I think I mentioned it before but the whole interior design appeals to me as it feels more like furniture than your run of a mill car dashboard.

The unusually shaped center console also houses the seat controls. I know a lot of people find these unintuitive, yet they are easy to understand once you owned the car for a little while. Mine came with heated seats (which get seriously hot at the highest setting) and the massage function, the latter I shall test on the drive tomorrow. No ventilated seats unfortunately, one of the features I'm missing in this car (was great in the GS300).

Something I was very surprised about when I noticed it recently. The whole interior has indirect mood lighting all over the place, including the door cards, which looks great at night. I honestly didn't expect any 7-series to have this until the next generation F01, or at most in the V12 760Li E65. Well, turns out mine has it, too and it makes a big difference, loving it. Details like this are so easily missed when looking at once expensive cars but this is what makes the subtle difference in the end.

On the outside all door handles have illumination built into them as well, you don't even need to open the door to light the ground below.

Back inside. Despite this being the short-wheelbase 7 the backseats offer a decent amount of space for my average height.

Nothing particularly fancy about the center console, you could order them with a chunky flip-up TFT TV that rather ages the car however.

Surprisingly the car didn't come with cigarette lighters, these are just plugs. Still works as 12V power outlet but didn't expect that. Might have to order the smokers package?

The built-in cupholders appear a little bit more substantial than those in the E38.

There is an overhead console as well. Usually not something you get unless you have a long-wheelbase car, BMW installed them throughout the range.

That should be it for now. I enjoy discovering more and more things about the car, the more of these features work the more it feels like the complete modern luxury car package. I know these cars can have serious issues. However, if you find a clean low mileage example you really do get an incredible car for rediculously little money. Lets see how it does tomorrow, very much looking forward to the trip. Stay tuned!

[Schaefft]

Well, the 745i surviced the 240 mile round trip to Edinburgh and back without (new) issues! At least one of the tires will need balancing as there is a vibration around 55-65 (stuck behind lorry speeds), aside from that the car was excellent at doing what it was supposed to do, cruise at high speeds, overtake numerous middle-of-the-week sunday drivers (definitely can feel the 333hp) and do it all in comfort and quietness. Not even the terrible "streets" of Leith and the inner city could harm it, they seem to turn more and more into something resembling the surface of the moon.

Had to stop a few times on the way back because I was so hungover. Plenty of opportunities to test the remaining gadgets as well. Cruise control works as it should albeit being somewhat confusing to use with multiple cruise speeds that can be set at the same time. The massage seat function I think works but its so subtle that I'm not sure what the point is. Fuel economy naturally is best on the motorway, if I had a guess you could achieve high 20s if you wanted to, similar to every other car of the last 30 years in this class.

It finally got a wash again after coming back. Leaving for the Xmas holidays tomorrow so this will get parked up for the next few weeks with the E39s taking over. Once I'm back I need to investigate the radio tuner issue as most of the CDs I own are garbage. I'm hoping that I'll also find some time in January or February to finally replace the trashed headliner, which hopefully helps with the smell inside as well.

The V5 for the Riviera arrived today as well! I guess you can never be 100% sure whether things work out with cars that dont come with a V5, glad it did for this one. Lets see when we can see some progress on it now that its worth pumping some money into it.

[RoadworkUK]

That E65 is a proper honey. I remember upthread that we like the same things about the interior, such as the chest of drawers below the HVAC controls. And the amber dial illumination is just glorious. Glad it's all coming together.

[Schaefft]

19 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

That E65 is a proper honey. I remember upthread that we like the same things about the interior, such as the chest of drawers below the HVAC controls. And the amber dial illumination is just glorious. Glad it's all coming together.

As controversial as they were when new, 20 years on they are still feeling fairly contemporary and the interior really helps. And the original iDrive isn't as bad as people say once you get used to it either.

Anyway, the Xmas journey started yesterday afternoon, arriving (literally) last minute at the DFDS terminal. I planned to fill the tank before we left the UK, didn't have time for that in the end.

Naturally I was pulled over the moment I got through border controls on the Dutch side, a dodgy BMW full of car parts probably seemed a bit too suspicious, keep in mind that since Brexit any goods arriving from the UK for commercial reasons need to be declared and taxed (never really had issues with this before). Fortunately I got away with it, having cars in both Germany and the UK, bringing stuff over "for personal use", apparently is acceptable enough to not charge me god knows what for bringing a bunch of BMW bits and pieces. Not sure if their German colleagues will be as easily convinced! I forgot to bring the V5 for the car so just waiting to get fined for that when I cross the border on Tuesday.

Until then we'll spend a few days in Amsterdam, the car will stay in the carpark. The separately opening tailgate window can be quiet useful.

[hairnet]

On 12/12/2023 at 19:39, Schaefft said:

 

I think I mentioned it before but the whole interior design appeals to me as it feels more like furniture than your run of a mill car dashboard.

quote of the thread.

[Gompo]

8 hours ago, Schaefft said:

As controversial as they were when new, 20 years on they are still feeling fairly contemporary and the interior really helps. And the original iDrive isn't as bad as people say once you get used to it either.

 

While I've little experience of any iDrive, I suspect a lot of the negativity was down to it being all new fangled tech. Compared to how some cars are wired up now I expect an old school iDrive would be quite welcomed. 

[hairnet]

undeniable nutcase

frohe weinachten

[cort1977]

Won't you just cross the border on the motorway? I drove to hamburg a while ago and I'm sure we didn't stop.

[hairnet]

19 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

Won't you just cross the border on the motorway? I drove to hamburg a while ago and I'm sure we didn't stop.

yeah that - unless you were spoke to by the cloggies the germans arent gonna care - unless you upset a politzei

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Won't you just cross the border on the motorway? I drove to hamburg a while ago and I'm sure we didn't stop.

Yeah, Autobahn. Might be fine in a normal car on a UK reg with two people inside but I was stopped regularly, on a German registration more recently. In that case probably because I could bring in drugs from the Netherlands, however I doubt a car full of stuff on a UK reg is less suspicious.😂 At this point I can claim that I bought it all in the Netherlands though.

Until then, have some Amsterdam spots. Despite ULEZ and other car related fees there's still the occasional interesting spot.