mathematist

Dear all, a friend wants to buy his (fairly cheap) dream car, either the 1995-2001 BMW 7 series (E38) or the equiavalent Mercedes S class (W140) like the one here or here.

Many people are saying that servicing and parts here are very expensive and stay away from it due the old age but these were top of the range models back in the day but none have owned them really. I have not bought a car here so I can't really help her.

Any suggestions as to what she should be buying here i.e. follow the dreams or go safe for a safe 4 x 4 basic option.

Which is better the merc or bmw?

Thanks...

Bungdit Din

bottom line is that old luxury cars can be picked up very cheaply but there is a reason for that, they usually need a lot of work and the cost of parts and labour can be astronomical. Unless your friend is 1000% sure that the car has been properly cared for throughout its life then he could easily be buying trouble.

The older the car, the more likely the really expensive things (transmission, lower engine etc) are about to go wrong or are already going wrong and the previous owner decided to get rid before the problem became too noticeable and the car became unsaleable. and what's expensive on an "ordinary" car is a gazillion times more expensive on a luxury car, especially here in the UAE.

e.g. if the Tiptronic system in that BMW needs work, your friend could be spending another 25k on top of the car price to get it fixed. No joke. that's why he needs to be absolutely sure what's what before he buys.

flares

that Captain is actually a Brabus.

The BM would be a safer bet.

'One careful arab driver '

mathematist

That's sound advice Bungdit and I know that Brabus is the high performance company that fine tunes the Mercs Saudi Flares. Mind you though, there are plenty of these cars on the roads here and they must be doing alright no?

As much as my heart says go with the BMW or Merc, I think realistically, I would have to call this dream off I'm afraid. Boo hooo

Thanks guys

Bungdit Din

if the car is fairly new, yeah... but we're talking about highly-tuned engines that need lots of expensive specialist TLC... once they start knocking on a bit, can you be sure they've always had it? if you are, go for it, you might get a minter.

remember that soooo many luxury cars in the UAE are bought on credit by people who can't afford to run them once the free service contract runs out... so they punt them on... I know someone who bought a 3-year-old performance Merc, thought he'd got the bargain of the century, looked immaculate, drove fine for a few weeks then the transmission went... cost him 35k to fix it... previous owner got rid just in time, his service contract had run out...

shiva

remember also that the sales spiel and the badges on the back mean next to nothing here. eg 90% of the brabus badged mercs here are either a)brabus body kits only and or b)a brabus badge stuck on to a stock merc.
these cars have had none of the brabus magic applied to the engine, brakes suspension etc. people here are paying a lot extra for a cheap badge on the secondhand market basically.

also at least half the mercs you see driving around are not the model they claim to be. As bungdit says they're bought on credit by people on the edge so unable to afford it they get the garage to rename the car.

this comes from a friend here who worked for merc in abu dhabi and spent a lot of time arranging the above subterfuge.
buyer beware

mathematist

Well, I think that picture was misleading I showed. I am not after the high performance tuned version like brabus or the M5,M3 etc... but just the basic BMW 740i, as I like it more than the Merc.

Just saw the most beautiful 740i just when I was looking for a 4x4 today and wow. What if the car is imported from Japan? Would that be better or not as could I assume they take care of their cars more etc...?

Bungdit Din

The only sensible thing to assume when buying a used car is that it's probably got things wrong with it that you don't know about yet...

Bluelionesse

Another thing to consider is that you cannot get fully comp insurance for cars over 6 years old with many companies, unless you are an existing customer.

Oyibopeppeh

Jap cars are all right hookers

EthanB

I used to work for Mercedes and can tell you that repairs in the US were astronomical on the S from that period & all of them needed it. When the air ride suspension goes out it's $4000 & it's quite likely to go out at that age. The 740i would be a slightly better bet, but still crazy expensive to fix.
Japan is wetter than UAE, so not necessarily a better bet.

mathematist

Thanks again. Now the hard part is looking for a good used 4 x 4.

Man, I didn't know buying a car in this part of the world would be so darn difficult...

What's peoples' experience of buying on Dubizzle like??

NorthernLad

Nice...

mathematist

That's unbelievable. The best bet now is for me to get a well fed camel. Can I buy one for around 35000 dhs as that WAS my budget for a car...

mathematist

OK. The situation is such that the S320 above and the 740i are outta the question as to all your sensible advice. Thanks.

Now, do we go for the mid range version for the cars in the same year -1996-2001 in this case the E class Merc like this beauty here

or the bmw 528i equivalent like this one here.

Any ideas folks? Ex BMW and Merc specialists/owners help please...