BMW 740i (E38) review: the best-value flagship V8 in Bahrain's used market
3.9/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The 740i is the E38 to buy if you want the flagship V8 experience without a 750i's insurance bracket or a 760i's running costs. Insist on a documented VANOS seal and cooling-system service, check the ZF automatic's fluid change history, and you have one of the most comfortable, best-built luxury saloons money can buy in Bahrain today at this price point.
Pros
- 286 hp V8 with genuinely smooth, quick delivery
- Post-1998 engine block removes the earlier Nikasil bore-wear risk
- Cabin quality and rear-seat comfort still feel genuinely flagship
- Strong value for money against any modern equivalent
Cons
- VANOS seal wear is near-universal and needs budgeting for
- Plastic cooling components are brittle after two-plus decades of heat
- ZF automatic punishes any owner who skipped fluid changes
- Fuel consumption is a genuine V8 figure, not an economy-car one
The 1998 facelift brought VANOS variable valve timing to the M62 V8, and the resulting M62TU is the engine most BMW specialists in Bahrain will point a used-flagship buyer toward: 286 hp, a genuinely smooth power delivery, and none of the earlier pre-facelift engine's Nikasil cylinder-bore risk. Paired with the five-speed ZF automatic, it is still quick enough to embarrass modern mid-size sedans off the line.
The two things to check
VANOS seal wear is near-universal on cars of this age and shows up as a rattly cold start and a rough idle until the oil pressure builds — it is a well-understood, moderately priced repair rather than a reason to reject the car outright. The plastic radiator, expansion tank and coolant hoses are the second item, brittle after two-plus decades of Gulf summers and prone to sudden failure if never renewed.
The ZF 5HP30 automatic is robust if its fluid has actually been changed on schedule — ask for the service book, not a verbal assurance, since the transmission's adaptive shift solenoids do not forgive decades of neglected fluid.
What the money buys
Inside, the E38's cabin still reads as genuinely upmarket: real wood, a driving position with more adjustment range than most current mid-size luxury cars, and a rear seat comfortable enough for the causeway run to Saudi Arabia. For the price a well-sorted 740i commands in Bahrain today, nothing else offers this much car.