re: Purchase advice on 535i and 735i

["Norman Dowe" <Norman.Dowe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jorge,

I have a '88 735i and a '84 533i, which is very similar to the 86-88 535i.
They are both great cars but very different.  BMW calls the the 82-88 5
series body style e28.  It also calls the 88-94 7 body style e32.  My
comparisons are between the big six e28 and the e32.  I don't know about the
older 7s or the newer 5s.  The e28 is definitely much less expensive to
maintain.  Common wisdom is that you should expect to spend about $2,000 per
year on maintenance.  In contrast that rises to about $3,000 for the 735 and
probally tops $4,000 for the v12 750il.  The difference in costs comes from
the expense of the parts and the much greater complexity in the e32.  An
example of parts costs are the plug wires for my 7 that costs $232.00.  The
5 is smaller more straight forward and more lively than the 7.  The 5 is
probably the best car for most BMW drivers.  However, I love my 7.  I am not
alone.  From the notes on the 7 series digest, the 7 has a pssionate
following.

If you must drive a stick, you are much more likely to find a 5 with a stick
than a 7.  I own one of the 250 '88 7s imported with sticks.  Later, BMW
imported even fewer.  I love BMWs and went looking for a 7 with a stick when
my kids started arguing about who would get the privilege of being tortured
by sitting behind daddy.  The 7 has enough room for an adult to sit behind a
tall driver with the seat all the way back.  The 5 does not.  The 5 is
lithe, supple and springy.  The 7 is solid like a tank.  The body is so
rigid that when I jack the front left off of the ground the rear left comes
also.  That doesn't happen in my 5.  The 7 is amaziningly quick for such a
big car.  It feels as fast as my 5 although I would have thought that the
extra weight would have more overcome the difference in displacement in the
engines.

I could attempt to fix just about anything on the 5.  Many of the items on
the 7 are beyond me.  The factory manual for the 5 is a book.  For the 7 it
goes to 4 volumes.  The electronics are awesome.

The 7 is a great car.  Its unbelievably modern for a 1987 design.  However,
it is not a cheap date.   I hope that I have been helpful.

Norman








 Jorge Garcia wrote:

 > Hello,
 > I am a new member of the list and I am in the market
 > for an affordable(@$5k) 535i or a 735i. I joined the
 > list to learn more about these cars. So far I have
 > read the comments posted on the Cars.com/Car Talk
 > survey comments on 535s and 735 from 1986 to 1991 and
 > searched the archives of this list with limited
 > success - a lot of material. I have also read the
 > ROAD&TRACK road tests of these cars (1986-1991) and
 > The Illustrated Buyers Guide to BMW.
 > My impression of these two models, so far,  is that
 > the 535 is a friendlier car to work on and more
 > reliable than the 735. I gather that the 735's luxury
 > gadgets is the culprit for this perceived lack of
 > reliability. Also it seems that 735s are cheaper to
 > buy than same year 535s.
 > I would appreciate your comments on my preliminary
 > findings and any advice on how to find a good 535/735.
 > Thanks in advance for your help.
 > Jorge
 > Houston, Tx

------------------------------