On a serious note: E38 6-speed destroyed

[Dave McLaren]

Some of you guys know my E38 740iL 6-speed which we bought in 2000 as a family truckster, and had evolved into another one of my projects. In the past year or so my attention had shifted to the E30 project, I was tired of shuttling cars around my driveway, and the E38 wasn't getting attention. It was time for another enthusiast to take this car home.

My friend RonP bought it and was beginning to take the project on its next journey, when his wife Kimberly had a nasty incident in the E38. Every panel is destroyed, even the roof was partially crushed as a utility pole fell on it. She's doing well, but she needed stitches and suffers headaches. She's a totally supportive motorhead-wife (she encouraged Ron to go for this car!) and she knows how to drive... so don't get started down that road.













































RonP bought the car from the insurance company and it's now at CMW where the 6-speed manual parts will be removed, and RonP will likely build another E38 project with it. Knowing him, it'll be sweet.

RonP has built many cool bimmers, from an Alpina-inspired '02, Alpina-inspired E30 Bauer, E23 745i With 18" staggered RXIIs... the list goes on. There's no replacement for family, however.

I for one, wish Kimberly a full and speedy recovery, and that she and Ron get back to creating and enjoying fantastic bimmer projects very soon.

Dave

[joshh]

Hope all goes well.


The pole "fell" on it?????

[crunk3]

That thing is a Tank,
Glad to hear she's alright

[FLUTE007]

that car didnt have a pole fall on it, sorry i call bs, however a civic or any american car would have the front and rear bumpers touching. glad to hear she is ok.

[Rennsport]

no airbag?

[Van Westervelt]

I think the pole fell on it as a result of the accident there fellas.

Sad to see such a sweet car go... glad everyone is okay though!

[Mtriple]

:-(

[TDE30]

Wow. Glad to hear she's alright. That was a nasty incident.

How'd the transmission fair? Getrag 420G right?

[Dave McLaren]

That's right. Check out the top of the trunk and the roof just ahead of it. I've no idea what kind of utility pole it was. Maybe a light pole at the side of the road. It was on Jamboree in Newport Beach, near Costa Mesa iirc.

I think the pole fell on it as a result of the accident there fellas.

Sad to see such a sweet car go... glad everyone is okay though!

[Dave McLaren]

It wasn't a forward impact. I think it went something like this: car got loose around a corner, over-corrected, then slapped this side then that. The car was before the side-curtains ('95) or else they would have surely operated.

no airbag?

[Dave McLaren]

[edit]The trans was out of a wrecked '00 540. I thought the number was SG6 420G but it's been some years so I don't recall exactly.

The trans hardware is OK, though maybe the driveshaft got beat. The other E38-manual-specific stuff ordered from Germany is OK. There were no long-wheelbase manual E38s available for any market, so the stock driveshaft was lengthened. I think that was only like $600 or something, so it's not a big deal.

Wow. Glad to hear she's alright. That was a nasty incident.

How'd the transmission fair? Getrag 420G right?

[TDE30]

[edit]The trans was out of a wrecked '00 540. I thought the number was SG6 420G but it's been some years so I don't recall exactly.

The trans hardware is OK, though maybe the driveshaft got beat. The other E38-manual-specific stuff ordered from Germany is OK. There were no long-wheelbase manual E38s available for any market, so the stock driveshaft was lengthened. I think that was only like $600 or something, so it's not a big deal.

Well, good to hear that most of that stuff faired well. I think you're correct about the SG6 part, E34's used the 420G S6S in the 540i and 94+ M5's. That gearbox and the hardware should fetch some pretty good cash, your friend may be relieved (and/or inclined to buy the car back) upon hearing that.

That sounded like a nicely setup E38 you had there. I know of a handful of people in the States who have done the 6-speed swap in their E38's. You and Rob Levinson are among the few who have thrown it in an E38iL.

[joshh]

Broke the pole off and it fell on the trunk.

At least she's alright though.

[vlad]

glad she is ok and that 740 6 speed was sick ~

Dave, your cabrio project is looking so sweet

[Dave McLaren]

Thanks, Vlad. I'm hoping the cabrio will make its debut at CMW's Beer, Brats and Bimmers event on Saturday, July 19. There's still a lot more work to be done, and I'd like Mitch Lanzini to do a bit of paint work before then.

At a minimum, the car should be running with the suspension done and Style 5s on. Of course, I'm pushing for the M-tech II kit on and time for Mitch, but I'd be happy if we've got the mechanicals done and squeak in a detail before the event.

glad she is ok and that 740 6 speed was sick ~

Dave, your cabrio project is looking so sweet