M60 Engine Details

[BimmerMan]

Awesome PDF detailing all info about the M60 engine fitted the the E32, E34 and early E38s...
M60 Engine Details

 

[zaleonardz]

Awesome doc... very interesting read

Man I wish I had garage space, you could pick up a 96+ 740i for under 50k without even looking...

Did we ever get the 760 in the E32/E38 out here, I would love to own that V12...

 

[freerider]

I believe we only got the 750Li which was also a V12

 

[BimmerMan]

The E32 and E38 7 Series has models designated 750I and 750IL. These were the V12 ones.
BMW then decided that from the E65 7 onwards, the naming would be 760I and 760LI for the V12 models.

BTW...a cheap 7 Series is just that. Unless you are very lucky you are going to spend a packet on it! Just look below on my 740I which is a 98 model at some of the repair costs! (I got mine for R49 000)

Head Gasket Repair - R16000
New Idle Valve - R4000
New Brakes all round - R7500
2 New Radiators - R5000
Various new cooling components - R5400
New bonnet gas struts - R1200
Gearbox Refurbishment - R21000

It still need a complete replacement of all the control arms and tie-rods which will cost around R5000. It also needs 2 replacement oxygen sensors as mine are shot. Managed to source those for about R2000.

Probably a lot of stuff I have also forgot to mention...

Dont buy these cars thinking that you are getting a bargain

 

[Danzellc]

You must have the m62tu Bimmerman? Ive heard the tu is not near as reliable as the original m60, the alusil ones anyway.

 

[zaleonardz]

Ouch... good point.

Was that doing the labour yourself ?

But here is the argument, how is this any differant from say the E34 M5 or even an E36 M3.

What about the scrap yard diving.

I am under the impression that as long as something like this is not primary mode of transport, they can be maintained "within reason" if you are prepared to take the time out to do it.

Obviously if you need the thing to get to work, and you pop a HG, you have no choice. but if the thing can stand, and you can scrap yard dive or wait for ebay to bring the spares in, are they really that much to maintain. Example being a headgasket being 250 USD for the E38 740 on ebay and 3 weekends worth of work, beats the hell out of 16k.

I have brought in some spares for my pontiac off of ebay, and the goods are fair, and with the insurances and that, its not really that risky.

I am asking this question out of ignorance, and since you boys have gone through these options, I would appreciate some input, or should I sell my E65 when the motorplan is up ?

LZ

 

[clutchplate]

don't worry, in the next 2-3 months, I'm gonna start making those gaskets for all the bmw engines.. alluminium, copper or the normal bmw OEM spec ones.. radiators, intercoolers, carbon fiber everything.. then we can fix our cars for reasonable, affordable costs. today was my last day as a slave, so now the fun begins

btw, thats a cool PDF Bman shot bru

 

[BimmerMan]

You must have the m62tu Bimmerman? Ive heard the tu is not near as reliable as the original m60, the alusil ones anyway.

Nope, 1998 M62...basic as they come...no Vanos or anything! You should see the problems that the M62TU comes with on the 7 Series :dropjaw:

---

Ouch... good point.

Was that doing the labour yourself ?

But here is the argument, how is this any differant from say the E34 M5 or even an E36 M3.

What about the scrap yard diving.

I am under the impression that as long as something like this is not primary mode of transport, they can be maintained "within reason" if you are prepared to take the time out to do it.

Obviously if you need the thing to get to work, and you pop a HG, you have no choice. but if the thing can stand, and you can scrap yard dive or wait for ebay to bring the spares in, are they really that much to maintain. Example being a headgasket being 250 USD for the E38 740 on ebay and 3 weekends worth of work, beats the hell out of 16k.

I have brought in some spares for my pontiac off of ebay, and the goods are fair, and with the insurances and that, its not really that risky.

I am asking this question out of ignorance, and since you boys have gone through these options, I would appreciate some input, or should I sell my E65 when the motorplan is up ?

LZ

90% of that was doing it myself. The HeadGasket needed to be done by a shop being as I dont have the correct equipment to set up the timing...ordering those parts would have cost more than having the job done at a shop...

I will say again, there is no such thing as a cheap E38 7 Series. You either pay R120K and get one in reasonable condition that wont need much work, or you buy one for R50K and put another R70K into it. You cannot compare an E34 M5 and an E36 M3 to a E38...they are 3 TOTALLY different cars...different engine, different chassis, different everything.

The parts on the HG were nothing...they were about R1800 from the dealer. Its the labour that costs the money and unless you are gifted in knowing how to replace a HG on a V8 BMW, you will have to pay the labour.

I dont have an E65, so I cant really give you any advice about what to do. I have read about the early ones giving lots of trouble with higher mileage. The problem is that these are not basic cars, they are very advanced and the parts WILL cost money to replace.

BTW...scrapyard diving can only take you so far. Mostly anything electronic that you replace on the later E38 and E65, aswell as the late E39 and E60 requires the modules to be coded...which means a trip to the dealer. Quite often though the dealer will refuse to code used modules, forcing you to buy new ones

 

[zaleonardz]

Yea,

I thought about this a great deal as well, and I will be buying an E34 M5 or 540 as the toy instead, and dropping in a roll cage, its going to be lighter then the 7 anyway.

I have done quite a bit of reading, and will be keeping the E65 even when the motor plan expires, but might invest in a GT1 as clutchy can get them for a really reasonable price.

LZ

 

[clutchplate]

kickass bru, lol, we can almost start a E34 gang.. bimmerman has one, Uber has about 30 of them, I have one now, u'll have one.. few more and we'll start a clan. haha.

 

[zaleonardz]

CLutchy, I saw the one you bought on Gumtree, the others are all going for 40k plus.

If you see one, let me know, I will have the bucks at the end of this year...

 

[clutchplate]

ok cool man, I will do so

 

[zaleonardz]

So its 2:20 AM, and I took half a schedule 5 sleeping pill earlier, so i guess im gonna try going back to bed, but re-read the M60 doc again, sounds like a really nice motor.

And since I own one now, its gonna be awesome to climb into them, figured if I can just get that box stable, i'll gas both heads, and if they are off, see what condition the block is in, but I got a funny feeling that it would be good...

Cant wait,

BM, sorry about your 7 dude, that must really suck., I would rip them a new one if I was u :cursin:

LZ