2001 BMW 740i

One thing will stand out about this car at the very first glance, with the square registration plates hinting that it's not a UK car. It is in fact an import from Japan, arriving in the UK for the first time earlier this year.

In the case of a vehicle like this, that's something of a plus point. When it comes to high value and status symbol cars, it's common to find that Japanese market vehicles are of a considerably higher specification than European equivalents; if not every box, then almost every box is ticked.

That certainly applies here, as you'll spot from the photographs; fully loaded in this case very much means fully loaded.

It's also common to find that the cars have been extremely well maintained, due to the exhaustive and expensive “Shaken” (“Jidosha Kensa Torokuseido”, or “automobile inspection registration system”) roadworthiness test. There's also usually far less rust, not least because of the Shaken but also there's no winter road salting in Japan.

A frequent downside is that vehicles don't have much history, or a particularly detailed one, due to data protection regulations. However in this case the car has a fully stamped BMW service book from its time in the country; we can't say how many owners it's had, but its life is well-documented!

This 7 Series is at or about the last of the line for the E38, with the E65 coming along in 2001 to replace it. That means it has all the external changes compared to the first cars, with not only the facelift front but the very late model upgrades like body colour side-skirts and clear indicator lenses.

The big saloon is finished in Biarritzblau Metallic, a surprisingly popular colour for the car but still far less common than the usual variety of silvers, greys, and black you'll more often see on E38s. It's a subtle metallic dark blue which does a great job of revealing the car's styling.

Other than a little fading on the door handles and what appears to be a small scuff on the lower part of the valance on the passenger side, it's in generally excellent condition without any further obvious dings, stone chips, or scratches.

The passenger side rear door has a slightly misaligned piece of lower trim, and the driver's side mirror glass is presently taped in, however both are easy fixes. There is in fact a spare mirror glass with the car!

Some of the black plastic parts, on the side and front rubbing strips, have a little age-related blooming that would probably come back up with an appropriate product. There's also some minor perishing around the windscreen surround.

The glass and light clusters all appear to be in excellent condition with no blemishes or cracks, while what brightwork there is – the car has a “shadow pack” which removes side window surround chroming – is as bright as it ought to be.

Those enormous, optional 20-inch Hartge split-rim wheels – an optional extra – are in great condition, with no kerbing or scratches in evidence and shod in matching Yokohama tyres with plenty of remaining tread.

There's even more optional extras in the cabin, starting with the full leather and extended suede trim.

All four seats – there is a fifth, centre seat in the rear, in the usual fashion – are in excellent condition, with the suede inserts showing no signs of wear throughout. The leather is also intact and close to spotless, without even the usual driver's side exit bolster showing any hint it's a 20-year old car.

The seats are also upgraded items, featuring a 12-way electric adjustment on both front pieces and a memory function on the driver's side, in addition to seat heating. This all appears to work as it ought.

There are a couple of small patches of marking on the carpet, beneath the mats on the passenger side and around the foot rest on the driver's side, but nothing that looks or feels particularly significant.

The suede extends onto the door cards and also appears to be in spotless condition. That's complemented by what appears to be the BMW Individual “Fine Wood Trim” Anthracite Birch, which doesn't appear to have any issue with discolouration.

Every button and switch in the cabin is in great condition, with very minimal signs of wearing, and the 6.5-inch infotainment screen – another late-model improvement – works as it should. There's a mobile phone mount in the centre console, although the connector appears to be for a very specific and old item, and there's some cracking to the plastic trays either side of it.

The boot is cavernous and in excellent condition too. You'll also find the six-CD changer and the navigation system DVD back here; as the navigation is still in Japanese, the new owner would need to find a UK system disc to use it. There’s also an original tool kit in the boot lid.

One thing to note is the instrument binnacle. This has been swapped out from the original item due to the km/h graded speedometer, for a UK market mph item – the owner's workshop mistakenly switched the entire binnacle instead of just the speedometer. It shows a higher mileage on the odometer than the car's documented mileage and is also displaying the tamper dot as the replacement unit is not coded to the original ECU. The Japanese original item is included with the car.

The 740i features BMW's sublime M62 V8, in the 4.4-litre, post-technical update form – also used in the contemporary Range Rover, the Morgan Aero 8, and developed by Alpina for use in the 5 Series-based B10 and a Z8 variant.

Although thirstier than the six-cylinder models (and the diesel of course), with 22mpg the official figure, the V8 provides the perfect blend of performance, soundtrack, and flexibility. The V12 is no quicker on paper – and thirstier – while the 735i is markedly slower and little better on economy.

It's mated to a four-speed gearbox driving the rear wheels, and on the little time it's had on the UK's roads there's been no issues with either. In fact the owner states it drives just like it would have when it was new – which comes as little surprise.

The underside of the car almost looks like new too, with little evidence it's ever been driven anywhere despite having 68,000 miles on the (original) clocks. This of course can be attributed to the lack of road-salting in its “native” Japan, but there's no signs of leaks or damage either.

This vehicle has only just arrived in the UK as a fresh import from Japan, which means that – import certificate aside – it has almost no UK history aside from a clean MOT in August 2022. However there is a complete history, including stamped BMW service book, from Japan; this is an unusual find for Japanese imports.

The E38 is probably the high point of modern classic BMWs, from a fondly remembered era that includes the E39 5 Series and E36 3 Series.

This example is a particularly high specification vehicle from the sweet spot of the range, with the V8 petrol engine providing the perfect soundtrack – and enough power – without the excess of the V12 model.

With its entire 20-year life thus far being spent in Japan, it's picked up none of the usual weathering of UK cars and has been almost fastidiously maintained. It's almost a time capsule of a car.

We estimate this car to fetch between £8,000 - £12,000 in auction.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.