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Hello everyone,
My name is Brandon and I am the proud owner of my 1996 BMW 740il. First off let me give you a little background on the car and how it came to be mine. I am a college student and usually just find summer jobs as school is my main priority. This summer i told myself id take one paycheck and buy a project car that I could really sink my teeth into and fall in love with. I asked for opinion on what people thought would be the best BMW platform to make a build on and got anything from an e36 coupe to a e39 540. I dared to ask my peers for their opinion about the e38 and nearly every one of them had something negative to say and tried to discourage me from making the purchase. Well here I am 6 months later and I love the project more then I love my daily ( 2006 Saab 9-5 Aero)
The car
1996 BMW 740il (e38)
4.4L v8 with 203,000 miles as of current. 201,000 when i bought the car.
The car was lowered on cut springs all around when I bought it, but i was not detoured because the PO gave me an extra set of sport suspension included in the purchase price of $1250
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From the first picture you can see that the grilles are falling out, the lenses inside the headlights are all yellow, but over all the rest of the car is pretty straight for being 20 years old.
Another issue I had when i bought the car was i had the trifecta of ABS, Brake and Traction Control lights on. An easy fix with the new right rear wheel speed sensor. The air bag light remains on
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Finally had some professional photos taken of the car. If you look closely you can see that there is a hole in the rear bumper ( there when i bought it) and you can also see the exhaust hanging down. The PO hacked off the mufflers and just used what ever pipe was laying around and it was a hack job to say the least. Finally in the picture yes the badge is in the wrong place.
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Well I can never leave good enough alone. Seeing the people had changed an e39 m5 cluster into an e38 really spiked my interest. It makes the car look more modern at least on the inside versus the dated look of the original e38 cluster. So i went and bought one.
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[/IMG]
If you look at the cluster something is clearly wrong with the oil temp gauge. i contacted the seller and he assured me that it was not like that when shipping me the cluster and it must have happened during shipping. I took it apart and readjusted the oil temp gauge and the rpm now sits on the peg as it should.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Installed in the car. It needs to be programed. First impressions, wow it looks amazing. Secondly the temp gauge is pegged in the red ( will fix with coding) the tamper dot is on ( again coding) and the RPM gauge does not work. I have a guy who will be coding it for me with in the next two months so looking forward to that.
I wanted to modernize the car a little more and i ended up sanding down the wood trim ( it was cracked anyways) and gave it a coat of gloss black. It came out pretty good.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Cleaned her up one night
I am normally not a big fan of chrome. So i decided that i would plasti dip the front grilles. for one the clips were already broken and after i dipped it they wouldn't hardly stay in at all. I looked back at the car after i was done and did not like the look at all. I almost immediately pealed it all off and went back with the chrome look
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Finally it was time to do something about the headlights. I took them all apart since they are not a sealed system and they're only about 8 clips to remove the glass and then 4 screws to remove the housing and lenses.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Figuring it all out meant that the first side took quite a bit longer then the second. The surprise was though that i also added the LED color changing angel eyes. I think they're cool because i have the power to choose a color and make them bright or dim. there is a multitude of colors that you can choose from, the one thing i did note is that you need to extend the sensor for the remote because from the company it is about an inch long and won't read through metal.
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The first side complete
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[/IMG]
All back together
[IMG]
[/IMG]
All wired up, if you do not like the purple don't fret as it was just the first picture i took with the angel eyes on.
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[/IMG]
The car looks a lot cleaner with out the yellow lenses
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[/IMG]
These were the old grilles
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[/IMG]
These are the new grilles, updated 750 style.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Car looking good with the angel eyes and new grilles
[IMG]
[/IMG]
The start of the transformation
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Changed the MPars out for some BBS LM style reps, yes i know everyone hates reps me included, but i didn't want to continue to blend in with the crowd.
After a couple months of no issues the water pump gave out. Notice all the oil on the side of the engine. The PO let the valve covers leak and finally changed out the gaskets, but never cleaned up the oil that had leaked. I did clean the oil up on the side of the block after the 3rd time of changing the water pump. The first time the new gasket pitched. The second, the weep hole in the water pump started leaking. 3rd time everything was all good.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
[IMG]
[/IMG]
I couldn't stand the faded look of the dove gray interior. I got some vinyl dye and dyed the door panels black. The result came out really good. The dye doesn't rub off on cloths, hasn't flaked and looks factory.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Finished product
Installed a Dinan Cold air intake for fun.
A couple things happened in this picture
The car is on the rack because it finally got the exhaust fixed so now there is no more rattling against the heat shield. Also if you look at the headlights they received the updated innards.
Things that have yet to go on:
[IMG]
[/IMG]
20 MM wheel spacers for the rear, 15 MM for the front
[IMG]
[/IMG]
KIDO Coilovers. I got these for free because a guy by the name of Dennis was giving his e38 to his dad and his dad didn't like how harsh the car was riding. I gave him the stock set of suspension that the PO had included when i purchased the car and Dennis was kind enough to give me the coilovers along with the shorter sway bar end links.
Other things to go on that are not pictured, a new set of front tires 245/40/19 Falken tires, Footrests for the rear, Foe suede headliner, A, B and C pillars. The seats will be dyed and the door panels will be a two tone. Dyed carpet, iPad Mini installed as the radio, tinted windows, Alpina lip, and one of the parking sensors. Hoping to finish up the build over the summer by wrapping the car in 3m 1080 Hotrod Red vinyl.
Thank You for reading, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
My name is Brandon and I am the proud owner of my 1996 BMW 740il. First off let me give you a little background on the car and how it came to be mine. I am a college student and usually just find summer jobs as school is my main priority. This summer i told myself id take one paycheck and buy a project car that I could really sink my teeth into and fall in love with. I asked for opinion on what people thought would be the best BMW platform to make a build on and got anything from an e36 coupe to a e39 540. I dared to ask my peers for their opinion about the e38 and nearly every one of them had something negative to say and tried to discourage me from making the purchase. Well here I am 6 months later and I love the project more then I love my daily ( 2006 Saab 9-5 Aero)
The car
1996 BMW 740il (e38)
4.4L v8 with 203,000 miles as of current. 201,000 when i bought the car.
The car was lowered on cut springs all around when I bought it, but i was not detoured because the PO gave me an extra set of sport suspension included in the purchase price of $1250
[IMG]
[/IMG]From the first picture you can see that the grilles are falling out, the lenses inside the headlights are all yellow, but over all the rest of the car is pretty straight for being 20 years old.
Another issue I had when i bought the car was i had the trifecta of ABS, Brake and Traction Control lights on. An easy fix with the new right rear wheel speed sensor. The air bag light remains on
[IMG]
[/IMG]Finally had some professional photos taken of the car. If you look closely you can see that there is a hole in the rear bumper ( there when i bought it) and you can also see the exhaust hanging down. The PO hacked off the mufflers and just used what ever pipe was laying around and it was a hack job to say the least. Finally in the picture yes the badge is in the wrong place.
[IMG]
[/IMG]Well I can never leave good enough alone. Seeing the people had changed an e39 m5 cluster into an e38 really spiked my interest. It makes the car look more modern at least on the inside versus the dated look of the original e38 cluster. So i went and bought one.
[IMG]
[/IMG]If you look at the cluster something is clearly wrong with the oil temp gauge. i contacted the seller and he assured me that it was not like that when shipping me the cluster and it must have happened during shipping. I took it apart and readjusted the oil temp gauge and the rpm now sits on the peg as it should.
[IMG]
[/IMG]Installed in the car. It needs to be programed. First impressions, wow it looks amazing. Secondly the temp gauge is pegged in the red ( will fix with coding) the tamper dot is on ( again coding) and the RPM gauge does not work. I have a guy who will be coding it for me with in the next two months so looking forward to that.
I wanted to modernize the car a little more and i ended up sanding down the wood trim ( it was cracked anyways) and gave it a coat of gloss black. It came out pretty good.
[IMG]
[/IMG]Cleaned her up one night
I am normally not a big fan of chrome. So i decided that i would plasti dip the front grilles. for one the clips were already broken and after i dipped it they wouldn't hardly stay in at all. I looked back at the car after i was done and did not like the look at all. I almost immediately pealed it all off and went back with the chrome look
[IMG]
[/IMG]Finally it was time to do something about the headlights. I took them all apart since they are not a sealed system and they're only about 8 clips to remove the glass and then 4 screws to remove the housing and lenses.
[IMG]
[/IMG]Figuring it all out meant that the first side took quite a bit longer then the second. The surprise was though that i also added the LED color changing angel eyes. I think they're cool because i have the power to choose a color and make them bright or dim. there is a multitude of colors that you can choose from, the one thing i did note is that you need to extend the sensor for the remote because from the company it is about an inch long and won't read through metal.
[IMG]
[/IMG]The first side complete
[IMG]
[/IMG]All back together
[IMG]
[/IMG] All wired up, if you do not like the purple don't fret as it was just the first picture i took with the angel eyes on.
[IMG]
[/IMG]The car looks a lot cleaner with out the yellow lenses
[IMG]
[/IMG]These were the old grilles
[IMG]
[/IMG]These are the new grilles, updated 750 style.
[IMG]
[/IMG]Car looking good with the angel eyes and new grilles
[IMG]
[/IMG]The start of the transformation
[IMG]
[/IMG]Changed the MPars out for some BBS LM style reps, yes i know everyone hates reps me included, but i didn't want to continue to blend in with the crowd.
After a couple months of no issues the water pump gave out. Notice all the oil on the side of the engine. The PO let the valve covers leak and finally changed out the gaskets, but never cleaned up the oil that had leaked. I did clean the oil up on the side of the block after the 3rd time of changing the water pump. The first time the new gasket pitched. The second, the weep hole in the water pump started leaking. 3rd time everything was all good.
[IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG]I couldn't stand the faded look of the dove gray interior. I got some vinyl dye and dyed the door panels black. The result came out really good. The dye doesn't rub off on cloths, hasn't flaked and looks factory.
[IMG]
[/IMG]Finished product
Installed a Dinan Cold air intake for fun.
A couple things happened in this picture
The car is on the rack because it finally got the exhaust fixed so now there is no more rattling against the heat shield. Also if you look at the headlights they received the updated innards.
Things that have yet to go on:
[IMG]
[/IMG]20 MM wheel spacers for the rear, 15 MM for the front
[IMG]
[/IMG]KIDO Coilovers. I got these for free because a guy by the name of Dennis was giving his e38 to his dad and his dad didn't like how harsh the car was riding. I gave him the stock set of suspension that the PO had included when i purchased the car and Dennis was kind enough to give me the coilovers along with the shorter sway bar end links.
Other things to go on that are not pictured, a new set of front tires 245/40/19 Falken tires, Footrests for the rear, Foe suede headliner, A, B and C pillars. The seats will be dyed and the door panels will be a two tone. Dyed carpet, iPad Mini installed as the radio, tinted windows, Alpina lip, and one of the parking sensors. Hoping to finish up the build over the summer by wrapping the car in 3m 1080 Hotrod Red vinyl.
Thank You for reading, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
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