Faults:

When I first bought the car at 126k, the tranny started to act up. Took it around, including to a BMW dealer, and no one could tell me what was wrong; basically told me to replace it.

By the time I figured out the problem (most likely a valve body rebuild), it was too late. Unless somehow this tranny was torn up before I got it, not impressed with the 5hp30 that is also in Bentley, Aston Martin and RR models. Previous two owners of this car were responsible businessmen that maintained it; last one was a BMW guy that liked to work on them himself to save money.

The car is sitting in front of house on the side of street, because it will now not start. Going to try to run some fuel injector cleaner through it, but it could be the motor being shot.

Plastics AND leathers are cheap. I have gone through special consideration and care to maintain the plastics and leather, and random little pieces have fallen off of the car here and there. Straight up poor engineering for a flagship luxury car.

Upper control arms and lower arms need to be replaced after less than one year and 20 or so k of driving.

Struts need to be replaced.

Wiring on the car is screwy; not sure if some strip regulators are going out on the windows or what, but it is having a hard time with simple extra custom stereo wires obviously, things are just not working right, down to the fact that in very cold weather (5 deg f) it had a hard time staying started, and the lights are going dimmer and brighter. This is a German luxury flagship car? Really?

Fan motor on the A/C went out; had to be replaced, and the whole dash had to be removed just to get to the blower motor.

Brake pads go quickly, even for a 4something k pound car.

General Comments:

When I first bought the car, the performance, balance, comfort, virtually no road noise and real luxury without over complication made this car a great buy.

Since then, everything has gone wrong, and at this point would require copious amounts of money to fix. It really is not a car for someone that doesn't want to upkeep the hell out of it. To me, these of course are right below large MB's and BMW 8 series as far as maintenance costs. All of this being said, it wouldn't have been as big of deal to me if it wasn't juvenile things that went wrong with the car to mess it up. If the car was still in one piece and had problems here and there that added up, I would admit that it is fair as it is a flagship luxury car that I bought. But since every little cheap part of it has decided to not work/fall off/etc., I have come to the conclusion that this is an overrated dog, as most luxury cars of the 90s and newer truly are due to 1 - greed and 2 - over complication.

Faults:

Nikasil engine short block failed at 22000 miles (6 years or 100000 mile extended warranty, but BMW dealers have replaced Nikasil blocks with new same Nikasil blocks by 1995. Later, they replaced it with Alsusil ones.)

Drive shaft failed.

Front axle suspensions failed at 100K miles.

Front lower and upper control arm bushings failed at every 70K miles.

Transmission mounts at 100K miles.

Engine mounts failed at 130K miles.

Brake pads and rotors worn soon. (c/s the car is heavy)

Radiator leak at 60K miles.

Coolant leak at 123K miles. (especially Valley pan leak).

Intake manifold at 90K miles.

Valve cover gaskets are leaking at every 50K miles.

Timing cover gaskets are leaking.

Oil pan is leaking.

Windshield wiper reservoir is leaking.

Windshield wiper pump has internal problems. (at every 5 years)

On board computer lights are gone at 130K miles.

Center silencer of exhaust system got a hole and needed a replacement at 90K miles.

Power steering system is leaking at 70K miles.

Twisted front seat backs at 90K miles.

Key ignition cylinder broken at 125K miles.

Transmission valve body needs rebuild in balls potentially.

General Comments:

A lot of problems when passing 90000 miles.

Maintenance is very costly (parts and labor). An extended warranty is necessary to save your money.

BMW 740i looks so good with angel eyes.

It drives well.