$4k, $8K, or $8K.....?

I wasn't sure if this "really" belonged on another section/board, so I thought I'd play it safe.

Today, surffing the 'web, I came across 3 different 7 series BMWs. The $4K one is an '89, and the $8K ones are a '94 and an '01. Oddly(?), the two newer cars are both 740s, the newer one an iL and the mileages? Well, the older 7 has ONE HALF the number of miles of the NEWER one. I realized that depreciation on these cars was bad, but should the same car lose that much value?

(For anyone interested, the '01 has 143,000 miles, the '94 has about 74,000 miles, and the '89 has 63,000....though that one is a 6 cylinder.)

Those prices sound about right to me.

The bigger a BMW gets the worse the depreciation becomes. Used car buyers don't buy big luxury cars and luxury car buyers don't buy used....

cars like these typically get 4 owners: First, the original buyer.. has it for a few years until it goes out of style... trades it in on the next "in" model.... Next, CPO buyer... has it for a few years until the warranty runs out... trades or sells it... Next, used car buyer... has it until the first major repair or two... and they choke at the costs... Final owner: salvage yard.

Speaking of 7s, my buddy just got an '85 E23 and that car is fantastic! An excellent cruiser for pennies.

Arent the transmissions in the newer 7 series (like the v8 ones) kinda a time bomb? I thought they looked decent, but then i saw so many for sale with blown trannys it kinda scared me away. I like the old 6 and 7 series though, they do seem like good freeway cars, although i havent driven one.

E38s usually need a tranny around 100k miles. They aren't at all hard to replace if you're mechanical, but you really need a lift.

I think if I was really interested in one of these 3, the '89 would be my first choice, so I could experience the smoothness of the inline 6.

Yeah, I figured that as these cars age, they change hands faster and faster as the maintenance budget of the owners shrink. I was just surprised that a '94 was worth about the same as a much higher mileage '01.

100k transmission life? Yea, no thanks. lol Thats about what i figured after i read a bit about them. They look nice, but thats a bit too expesnive for maintaince.