Ended up buying the 95 740ia!

["Stephen Robinson" <stever@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you digest readers, you unanimously thought I should go for and enjoy
driving the 95 740ia I was contemplating, as I initially thought it might
be a little to "old man-ish" and "boat-ish" for a 37 y.o. single guy like
myself.  I went to have it preinspected at Excluservice in Rockville and
they found that it needed new rotors and brake pads ($500), some polishing
or paint work on the rear deck due to scratches, and a couple other minor
things, but it had the engine replaced under warranty (nikisil problem in
the V8's) and a new A/C system that is the digital electronic system that's
actually only in the newer cars that the original owner had BMW replace out
of warranty!  Bottom line is I had my girlfriend drive a 97 528ia that
Select Auto in Alex, VA. had for the same price, ($33,900 with 44K miles)
and she thought the 95 740ia I was looking at was a much better ride, even
though it had 60K miles and was out of warranty!  I offered them (Select
Auto) $1500 off their already low price of $33,900 for the 740ia (Aspen
Silver/Grey Leather - James Bond colors form his last movie!) and after
some heming and hawing they took the deal for $32,500 - about $3000 more
than a 95 540ia I looked at earlier that week!   They sort of surprised me
and before I knew it I was signing papers for the new car!  (BTW, these
people are pretty decent to work with - they have an amazing selection of
german used cars in decent shape!) 

They wanted $2900 for a 2 year 24,000 mile extended bumper to bumper
warranty and I balked. They said it was a mistake not to take it, but I
didn't.  It sounded like an awful lot of money and I guess I'll just pray
and hope repairs aren't too much.  Isn't $2900 ALOT for a 2 year
extension???

I find that the car does in fact handle quite well for a behemoth.  The
only thing which is severely lacking is that off the line, like merging
onto the beltway, it is quite slow till the revs get up there.  Does anyone
know if Jim C works well for this problem?  Does anyone have a Jim C chip
in a 95 or newer 740ia?  It really is quite a performer though, and when I
get the knack of the "semi tiptronic" set up in manual (you can hit "M" for
manual and shift from 2nd, 3rd and then 4th sort of like a 5 speed but not
really), maybe I can get more speed out of it on the lower end.  For now,
it's pretty satisfying.  

Also, the stereo is NOT the premium one...anyone have any idea if the
premium system can be bought an exchanged for the regular system?  It seems
like it would be very difficult and very expensive, but I have no idea.

Thanks again for all your help!
Steve Robinson
1995 740ia Aspen Silver/Grey 60K miles
1988 911 Carrera Venetian Blue/Blue 55K miles

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