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Hope it's ok to leave this here. Estoril E38 content. An M7 perhaps?

17K views 81 replies 29 participants last post by  bmwMcrzy 
#1 · (Edited)
RVAE34fest was a very fun event despite the weather. Oddly enough it led to me selling my absolutely mint M5 in order to buy an E38. I know, I considered getting my head checked but hear me out...

I came from the E34 and it was very hard for me to leave it. But the interior had become too dated and the limitations of the suspension were too much for me to really move forward. I had always loved the E39 interior and the touring design so naturally that's where I went after riding in Clay's LS E36. So I built my LS E39 touring. But I still wanted a nice DD and finally, a 2003 M5 fell into my lap. I worked on bringing it back to stock because I knew that I would get the most money for it in the long run. As awesome as that car was to me, I still found myself wanting something I could mod.

(If you find yourself getting bored by reading this already, just jump down to some photos.)

I have always had a fondness for the E38 because it's like a bigger more modern E34. When two S62 E38's showed up at my house that weekend and both offered me the chance to drive them, I had to take them up. I loved everything about them. It was like the best of all worlds to me. That night, this estoril E38 popped up on ebay and something about it just got my excited and I had to have it. I found a buyer for the M5 immediately and the rest is history.

2001 740i sport with 137k custom painted in BMW Estoril blue by Impressive Autowerks. I am very particular about paint work since I have been doing it myself for many of my own projects now for over 12 years. This paint is incredible. It's 4 years old and still looks almost new. They did inside the trunk, door jams and the bottom of the hood. The engine bay is silver but doesn't look bad at all since it's really more gray. And my plan is to spray the engine bay when I do an S62 swap. I also plan to swap over the steering etc. When I do the S62, I want to do it right and take care of all the little issues that might creep up later. I also plan on M5jed unicorn headers, tune etc. I will have no problem going full custom on an E38.

It might be a little while before the good stuff happens because I want to get everything else sorted and get started on the stereo. I would like to do the swap in the winter when I don't want to drive it anyway. I painted all the trim black and removed the tint.
















Now with the trim painted and then eventually, the tint removed.
































 
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#6 ·
I can't talk smack. An immaculate e38 can't be touched or beaten. Even a new 7 can't come close to its VIP nature. They are plush and comfy and I love them.
 
#7 · (Edited)
That looks bloody gorgeous. Amazing the difference that just painting the trim black makes...

I wonder, though, how it would look with E39 M5 wheels?

Either way, can't wait to see how this progresses. I'd never heard of this transplant before (but I'm not a hardcore, or even softcore, modder anyway) but the idea of something even more discreet than the M5 but with similar performance does appeal :)
 
#8 ·
Beautiful! Love the Estoril repaint, anxious to see now the S62 transplant.

Any plans for the interior trim?
 
#9 ·
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#10 ·
Wish you could have gotten a manual in the 7
That's not a problem anymore as people are now commonly swapping in manual boxes into E38s and 540i wagons.

Can't wait to see this project mature as this is going to be an incredible car. Love that Alpina front air dam also...what a nice find already on the E38. Painting that trim back to black and getting rid of that awful tint saved that car! Good job.

Regards,
Chuck
 
#11 · (Edited)
Thanks, everyone! The S62 seems like a pretty easy swap compared to the LS.

I am not sure what interior trim I will go with but natural poplar or Arizona sun would be incredible against the blue/black imo.

I am going to get this thing looking and driving just right before I start worrying about the transplant. It has a new center drag link, thrust arms, rear arms. I bought the front two new ones to replace the last remaining worn arms, end links and new rear pads. The timing and valve covers are leaking but I think I will probably just leave it. The stereo will be one of the first orders of business. My good friend owns a company here in town and has been doing custom installs for 20 years. He is going to rebuild the front door panel bottoms to fit 3 ways with 8's and 5 1/4's but is going to keep it as OEM looking as possible. All flushed too. Then probably 2-12's or a single 13.5 JL W7.

The car currently has UUC springs and Bilstein HD shocks. The ride is incredible but I really wish the front was another 1" lower. There is a big discussion over on bf.c where it was thought that the OEM sport strut had a lower spring perch which would have been the best solution for the ideal ride height but in the end, our measurements confirmed they are all the same perch height and therefore I will probably go with Fortune Auto coilovers with 9k/7k front/rear spring rates.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Only an inch lower? That car looks like a pickup truck with a lift kit :eek: I'd drop it a least 3 inches.

Have fun :)
 
#17 ·
Can't wait for another Southern M7! I'll be following this closely :)
 
#18 ·
Looks like BMW missed on two vehicles: the E38 with S62 and Getrag running gear (let's call that the E38 M7!) and the E39 M5 touring....:frown

Glad we have some superb DIY'ers on this forum to bring both of the foregoing BMW "misses" to life!:smile

Regards,
Jerry
 
#19 · (Edited)
Agreed. There is also the S62 powered RWD X5 SMG that BMW M Gmbh made, but never sold that think is a miss. Could have come with a 6-speed manual as well though.
 
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#20 ·
This is fantastic. Looking forward to seeing the transformation. Are you think a mostly stock S62? Any thoughts on FI to compensate for the power to weight ratio?
 
#21 ·
Curb weight ~3,770 lbs for an E38
 
#24 ·
Hi B!







Looking forward to this latest project from you ! I'm sure the way you do things, the end result will be absolutely fantastic ! I think you most probably have, but take a look at the E38 section of bimmerforums and there's quite a lot of pictures of nicely modified E38's. I can understand you going with 19's for the car if it'll be more daily driven, but I think 20's will be the order of the day given the car's large size ;)

Have a nosy at this thread as a very good friend of mine with around 20 feature cars in Performance BMW magazine, did an E38 a couple of years ago. It looked stunning in the metal too! it was sold soon after the review, and, I know where it now lives in a few towns away from me - minus those awesome MK wheels!

my bmw Gangster 740i - Page 3

I know you most likely won't run it that low, but hopefully, there's some good pointers for you to pick up on. I noticed for instance you have a 2001 model, so you'll be able (I assume) to fit the nicer later M Sport steering wheel which really helps lift the interior compared to the older one.

I'll perhaps drop you a PM in due course about the audio side of things too. If there's anything I can help with from over here, just drop me a line as usual!

Cheers, Dennis!
 
#30 ·
According to this site, the 740i sport weighs 4225 lbs minus the driver.

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/bmw/7-series_e38/7-series_e38-2/2001.html

Scroll down to see 740i. Subtract about 100 lbs for the difference between the 5hp24 and S6S-420G, puts it roughly at 4150 lbs. Looks like it's about 200 lbs more than Brian and Chuck's M5s, though I've seen other sites suggest the M5 weight is more than theirs, so who knows.

Same site for 2001 BMW M5 shows 4023 lbs.

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/car/2001/274400/bmw_m5.html
 
#31 ·
That 4023 lbs quote is a common one. I think my owner's manual says something along those lines but says "with driver". It's been a long topic of discussion on the board here, but I've not seen anyone weigh a stock M5 and come out that high. :dunno:
 
#38 · (Edited)
Clearly weight was a big topic of concern 11 years ago...given our posts on the subject with actual data garnered zero discourse. hiha
 
#37 ·
Very nice e38. E38s are what got me in to BMWs and I still think they are the best looking car BMW has ever produced. Someday when I want to settle down a little, I would love to have 100% stock 98 750iL in black with 16" style 4 wheels.

Good luck with the project! I will look forward to seeing the results.
 
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