USED BMW 7 Series Saloon (95 - 02)

My car

Oh I wish! I'd love to give this car loads of praise, but it suffers from the modern-day curse, an uncomfortable ride!

I love its beautiful shape, massive interior with good headroom, and fantastic seats - they are the best and most supportive, with hard wearing leather. 500 miles feels like 50 miles.

The interior trim is fantastic - well screwed together and has a nice appearance and feel. The car has a massive boot and great paintwork - four years of bare stonechips didn't rust.

It's also so solid - I got hit from the rear by a mid-sized uninsured Toyota at 70mph on the M1 - it dissintegrated, while mine only had minor scratches. Even the rear bumper didn't protrude into the wheel arches.

The Tiptronic gearbox (very strange) is the best of any make, but in auto mode - yuk! If you freewheel downhill at 60mph, then touch the brake, the car would unnervingly lurch you forward towards the screen because the car is designed to change down on downhill braking.

Also, if you were driving up hill in auto you couldn't get it to change up. The auto is so bad I ended up driving in permanent Tiptronic.

Also, the shock absorbers are so hard the car would bang and bump and tip you from side to side as the car's profile hugged every lateral undulation. I spent about £1500 with a suspension specialist just to make the car driveable for me. Again, it's a luxury car with a very unluxury ride - horrible. But, shock absorbers aside, I really could have loved this car!

My car

Some years ago I bought a four year old 730 (not given option of 730 in list)privately with 65K on clock.

Absolutely loved driving it - by far the most comfortable way to travel I have ever experienced - cosseting ride and very quiet, loads of room and wonderful seats, quick when you wanted and for a big car it could handle as well.

However it was a reliability disaster area - I think I spent more money fixing it than buying it - in particular an electrical nightmare.

I ran it to 115K which a big "prestige" motor should manage without difficulty, but one week after getting car back from garage after nearly cooking engine the front suspension broke - never was I more relieved to see the back of a car - except for my next BMW which I ran to only 72K before it started falling apart.

Jap scrap from now on I'm afraid.

My car

i currently own a 728ise on a 99 t plate(facelift version).this is my 9th 7 series,mainly having owned pre facelift E38 740 models and also a few of the previous E32 730 models.i bought the car when it had done 194k,and now it has done almost 225k.its originally only with 1 owner till i bought it 2 years ago and had and still is well looked after.this car maybe a base 7 series but it has the equipment levels of a top of the range 750 model,including sat/nav,tv,electric blinds,heated seats,automatic opening and closing boot,the list goes on and on.it has been very reliable and very comfortable as i do lots of long journeys and yes sometimes i do feel its under powered but i knew it would be when i bought it but the plus side is its very fuel efficient,much better than its v8 equivelents(ofcourse).totally love this car to bits and wouldnt part from it ever.i have thought about getting the newer generation 7 series and although its a very nice car and very luxurious,i just feel its lost its soul and can never compete with ancestors.i would certainly keep my 7 and would love to own the last of the E38 750il too,and im currently looking for one as i think nothing can compete with the last of the true bmw 7 series range.

My car

This is a car I cannot fault. I bought my 728i Sport at 68,000 miles from a company where it was the MD's car. The service book came with loads of stamps, and the bodywork and interior is in concourse condition.

Apart from it reading a performance of only 24.3mpg, I'm just used to more around 37mpg, I have no complaints..

It's pure luxury at minimum cost and expense. Go get one if you're thinking about it, and as for those who say the 2.8 isn't powerful enough in a 7 Series, mine beat a Cosworth away from the lights this morning!