Radioman

I have one of these beasts as a holiday car at my Spanish home in Marbella. On the plus side , I have had it for 6 years now, LHD , of course, and now on Spanish plates direct from Germany. In general a great car 1998 750 i , and it had every extra known to man when it was new. That said, I understand that if one of the many electric motors that allow me to get comfortable in the drivers seat should ever go wrong, it's prob more than the car is worth to get it fixed. However, I love it , despite 16.3 mpg , I don't do many miles here and the V12 still gets as many admiring looks as the many exotic cars in this part of the world ! The only real issue I have had is the dreaded shimmy on the front wheels , the local garage here could not fix it but the forum produced the answer in the form of new suspension parts, which I bought and shipped from the uk as it was much cheaper to do so. Not all members of the forum are good with spanners and I am one of those! The forum still works for me ! So, my conclusion is. If you don't do many miles the car can be reasonably economic for you, it will also provide great luxury and if you get it for the right price, everyone is a winner. Go for it .

Good try !!!! And SWMBO means??

Hi Paul, just in case you are tempted by the larger Beemer , I have a 1998 V12 LHD 750i . The obvious flagship model and the most expensive with every extra known to man in 1998 , tv, sat nav, telephone, etc etc. however the Mpg around town is only 16.5 !! Fortunately, I use it as a holiday car in Marbella so I am reasonably relaxed about the fuel consumption with the low miles, its still worth it for a brilliant , if ageing, beast.

Thanks Gavin, but as the car is based at my holiday home in Marbella, the trip back home would make your offer a tad expensive! Thanks for the thought though, appreciated.

So guys, the maths see to be 8h x £45= £400. Plus the cost of OE parts , the least expensive being around £300. So the total job is £700 with no guarantee that the shimmy will go away. Put that against a car value of only say £ 2k 'ish and the risk factor is a third the value of the car with no guarantees of fault being solved. I guess the conclusion is if you can save the labour costs by doing it yourself it is worth it . however, in my case I guess I am going to have to live with it , it's not worth the cost or hassle . If you disagree please tell me , otherwise thanks for all you input.

Thanks , but the big question is how many hours???.

Hi Jack, thanks for your info. As to the dreaded shimmy action , I am going by what has been posted on the site already . The symptoms are steering wheel wobble and shudder at a specific speed , betwixt 50 to 70 mph. The symptoms are not present before that speed and disappear after that. I gather the shimmies are the top recorded fault for the seven series and part caused by the weight of the heavy v12 over the front suspension - hence the suggestion that the front suspension arms need replacing. I came to that conclusion too, having worked my way through the other possibilities of wheel sizes, tyre standard, etc. The problem I have Jack is that despite the age of he car , I love it, but it is only worth 2 or 3 grand max. And if the cost of repair is too high I may leave well alone, hence my need to check it out first. So what do you reckon is the hour cost ? Thanks again.

Thanks Marc, but to state he obvious , if I could I would!! The sad fact is that not all members of the Bmw club are also members of the oily hands club. Plus my ancient years , no access to a lift or pit --- you get the picture , question still stands ??

Hi boys, how long is reasonable for a decent garage to replace the front upper and lower suspension arms on my 1998 750 v12 ?? Previous helpful suggestions have been taken on board to help me with the dreaded shimmy but I now need to sort the repair. Parts are coming in at about £300 and the labour costs will decide if the exercise is worth while. what do you think is reasonable?

The boys are right , if you are really keen about it , just change it for a new one . More cash , less heartache!

I have a 1998 750i V12 with the dreaded wheel shimmies. Having read the possible fix by replacing the upper and lower suspension arms, I checked with my local garage in Marbella - car is for holiday home in Spain. Unfortunately, he tells me that the repair costs are too high in relation to the cars value , he reckons we re looking at a £1000 to buy the parts and fit. He also mentions that if I buy the parts in the uk and bring them out it will be saving 50% on parts . The car may be old but I love it , do I need to spend this kind of money or should I just put up with the shimmies? All thoughts welcome