'Flagship' Car - '01 740i Sport - aka. 'DARTH'



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Modifications to Date:
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2001 to 2003 – Stock and 17K Miles – De-badged rear trunk lid
2003 – Sept – New shoes went with Toyo T1-S
2003 – Oct – Changed to PowerSlot front rotors
2004 – March – Clear front turn signals and “misted” bulbs silver
2004 – April – Replaced front license holder with straight section
2004 – May – Umnitza's Enhanced Devil Demon Eyes installed
2004 – June – Installed Remus Exhaust and then notched rear valence
2004 – August – MKIV Nav Upgrade Had 16:9 screen already
2004 – August – Driving lights updated with HID’s
2004 - October – Added M5 style decklid spoiler (very small)
2004 – October – Painted calipers black and addedd white high temp "BMW" letters
2004 – October – Changed all the blue portions of Roundels to black carbon fiber look
2005 - March - ordered Bluetooth upgrade parts from Creiver and Martin, will use V710 phone
2005 - June - Ordered aluminum radiator from Zionsville
Will have expansion tank fabricated locally
2007 - July Installed custom wooden cup holder in condole
2007 - August - Exchanged the Zion radiator (never installed)for newer unit with integrated fan, schroud and expansion tank.
2007 - August - Paddleshift Sport steering wheel ordered and installed along with CF Overlay on Instrument cluster
This e38 is actually my second 7 car - the first was an ’86 Anthracite e23 L7 which served me very well and lasted me 97K miles on the clock before I sold it to a friend at work. It now has 186K, still looks and runs excellent, when I last saw the car.
And overall this is actually my 6th BMW…..and I hope it will not be my last. Sometimes at my age (65) you even think twice about buying green bananas. My first BMW was a new '83 320is (pg. 3, which I still have) it lasted just 1 year and 6,700 miles before I before I contacted “Mod Disease”. It all started when I made the big mistake of stopping by to see Jim Rowe at Metric Mechanic in Kansas City, MO. I went for a ride in Jim’s personal 4.0L e21 (MM’s version of the 3.5L big six) – the car was awesome and I knew then something had to be done to the 320 when I got home.
The work began in April '94 and I drove it out exactly one year later…a totally different car. It went into my garage with a stock 98 hp 4 cyl and I drove it out with a Korman Stage II 2.8 - 212 hp 6 cyl, Metric Mechanic reworked 5 speed, 5 lug wheels and disk brakes at all 4 corners with the front being MM's big brake kit. Bilstein Sp shocks and struts, Racing Dynamics springs, MM's sway bars – front and rear and I kept the 3.90 LS rear end for a short while – it was useless, much to low ratio. I went to Jim Blanton for a 3.43 – still too low actually. There were additional mods over the next four years or so but these were the major items. For wheels I started with 16” Platinum BBS RS's that originally set up for the E30 M3 with 245/45 rear and 225 on the front. Although I liked the look of this combination, unfortunately I could never get sufficient clearance. In order to ring it out I dropped down to 15" Fitipaldi’s with smaller tires which I used for auto crossing and more serious driving.
At this point the damage was already done, this rekindled my thirst for playing with cars again.
While growing up I had several Detroit Hot Rods - from a red '57 Chevy convert. with 4 speed and 4.56 gears running on the street (low 14's) and 6 Corvettes - '58 thru '65. Yes, I also HAD a silver ’63 split-window with FI. I even had one of first true muscle cars - a shinny new '67 375 hp 396 Chevelle. It would turn in the low 13's with street tires and a 12.7 the one time I borrowed some M/T street slicks. Remember folks, this was a box stock factory car back in 1967. I also had a friend with a ’63 Z11 – this car was originally Don Nicholson’s track car but that is another story for another time .

.....and a good reson why I don't let my wife drive 'Darth'............. this could be a new amusement park ride!!!
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