Faults:

Lots of maintenance needed done when I purchased:

Water pump - about $100 new from FCP Groton.

Intake gaskets.

OSV.

Control arms/drag link/tie rods: fairly cheap from FCP Groton.

1 coil pack only $23 from FCP Groton.

O2 sensors - 4 about $63 a piece from AutohausAZ.

Trans fluid/filter expensive cost me about $150 to change myself. BMW filter/gasket, fluid from World Impex - VW fluid, BMW fluid will cost about 30 bucks a quart, and 8-10 will be required.

Plugs.

Pixels bad in instrument cluster.

Cup holders/ashtray lid broken like almost all BMW's.

General Comments:

Very smooth engine, and only idles around 300-400rpm.

Doesn't leak or burn any fluids.

Good mileage for a V8: 22.6 average.

Built like a tank, hit a deer at 65mph and never hit the brakes, sheet metal damage only, still driving it.

Great support from e38.org.

Fairly easy to work on.

Engine has a timing chain, so no worries about a belt breaking.

Handles and stops great, especially for a huge 4700lb car.

Even though it's 12 years old, the car still stands out, mainly because of its size. People with new cars will still think you have more money than they do, even though you may only have $4-6k in the BMW.

Faults:

Head and tail lights last only a few months.

Cupholder breaks with US size cans.

Radiator upper hose mount tends to break at full acceleration, making for spectacular clouds of steam as you seemingly disappear ahead.

General Comments:

Engine and transmission seem immortal, running as good as new at 140,000 miles with only routine maintenance.

This car is a lot quicker than the specs suggest, puts away some cars with better 0-60 times such as Lexus gs450.

Unbelievably comfortable and good handling car (actually handles better than the 5-series) means you can put away prodigious distances effortlessly.

Drives like a small sport sedan, but is actually sneaky large. Rear seat legroom and the heated steering wheel will spoil you forever.

Faults:

The expansion tank cracked and let the coolant leak out of the coolant level sensor shortly after getting the car. Bought a new tank at the dealer for $70, installed it myself, then had the dealer flush the cooling system for $80. I was pleasantly surprised to see this repair wasn't expensive. This is also a common problem for E38 (95-01 7 Series) BMWs. Radiators are also problematic, I'm on borrowed time with my current one!

Dash OBC pixels failing when I got it. Again, nothing surprising there. BMW offered to pay for half the cost of the cluster, but I decided to retrofit an M5 cluster instead.

The LCM (Light Control Module) spazzed out on me a few weeks ago. I suddenly lost my turn signals, dash lighting, fog lights and reverse lights and the headlights started coming on automatically with the key (switch had no effect). Turns out that's "emergency mode" for the LCM. Dealer said it would be $380 for an LCM and $80 to code it. Tried unplugging the battery - lead for 30 minutes to reset any electrical gremlins and voila.. everything works again! Nothing like a free repair :)

General Comments:

The car is very fast for it's portliness (4200 pounds). Handles pretty good, LOADED with amenities; but it's a BMW so what can you expect? :)

If you are considering a 7 series, save about $2000 above the cost of the car and put it in an interest bearing account for future service needs. It's always good to have a safety net with these cars. If you keep on top of routine maintenance, the 7 series will be a faithful companion for you, and quite a pleasant car to drive.

Also I highly recommend visiting the E38 forums, there are hundreds if not thousands of other E38 owners there, and you can get a lot of good information and save a lot of money by DIY repairs thanks to the forums:

Bimmerboard:

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/e38/

Bimmerforums:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=47