One night in 2015, I posted a Japonrot 330xi-swapped E46 wagon on Craigslist and went to sleep. When I awoke, I had dozens of emails and voicemails offering to buy it. Clearly, I had posted it too cheaply, but the deluge of inquiries still didn’t make sense. It had been reposted on Bring a Trailer, which only featured interesting car listings for sale at that time.
One of those inquiries was from an eccentric art dealer in Santa Fe. He was not interested in the E46, but appreciated my listing style and back story. He had a quiver of cars that he wanted to sell, and needed my help. One of those was a 2001 BMW 740i M Sport, which, 10 years later, remains one of my favorite cars of all time.
The E38 was the third generation of BMW’s flagship 7 Series sedan. Along with the E39 M5, it was what I consider a high point of BMW design. These were the last of the classics, ending an era of subtle, refined design language and analog driver-centric DNA.
The E38 7 Series was released in 1994 for the 1995 model year, with several life-cycle-impulse revisions and option upgrades over its lifespan. E38 sport models were released in 1999 with 740i, 740iL, and 750iL model-specific option lists. The pinnacle of those was the 2001 740i M Sport, known as the “short sport,” or “shorty sporty.”
This was most easily distinguished from the other sport models by color-matched lower rockers and valances, but the car also included the M Sport suspension, M Sport steering wheel, Vavona Redwood interior trim, Shadowline exterior trim, contour sport seats, a 3:15 final drive ratio, a 155-mile-per-hour top speed limit, and M Parallel wheels.
My newfound friend’s 740i M Sport had been modified specifically to his tastes. Usually, a modified 7 Series is something someone like me would avoid like ketchup on cornflakes, but my friend clearly had good taste. The car was an Anthracite-over-Sand Beige example with only 40,000 miles. The upgrades included a VF Engineering supercharger kit, custom intake and radiator, ST coil-overs suspension, and 19-inch HRE wheels. Inside, the sound system had been upgraded with Bavarian Soundwerks speakers and a subwoofer. Everything was professionally done, giving the already fantastic Anthracite 740i M Sport a genuine wow factor.
We met at an estate in the Boulder foothills to inspect the car, and I immediately knew it was special. Even 10 years ago, a 40,000-mile E38 was a rare beast, and the low mileage and pristine condition of this one made an immediate impression. The faint aroma of the leather—dare I say new-car smell?—the soft, tactile touch, and the crisp feel were things many of us weren’t lucky enough to enjoy when the E38 was released. I could take or leave the supercharger, although it did add a little more punch without compromising the smooth nature of the stock M62 engine. The stance and the HRE wheels capitalized on the already wonderful lines of the E38, striking a perfect balance to let you know that this car was different without being audacious.
I wasn’t the only one who found the 740i M Sport special. Anyone with a drop of BMW-enthusiast blood would go out of their way to steal a glance, give a thumbs up, or divert from their day to stop and chat me up. One night I noticed a pair of law-enforcement headlights following me intently. I checked my speed and continued matter-of-factly to my house with the sheriff’s deputy on my six. After I pulled into the driveway, he spent 30 minutes praising the car. At the time, I was on the homeowners’ association radar for “excessive vehicles,” but the warning letters mysteriously stopped after that interaction. Apparently the sheriff’s office was the enforcement division, and my accused offenses were deemed tasteful.
I sold the car on eBay for a strong premium in the 2015 market, but still, I felt that it fell significantly short of its potential. Off it went to Virginia with the promise that I would get first right of refusal if and when the buyer decided to part ways with it.
I got that call in January, 10 years and a few months after the car had been sold. The timing was not ideal, given my service shop’s closing and the sales business downsizing, but I begged and borrowed to come up with the funds and locked it down. I got it home last week with 52,000 miles on the odometer, now with a quad-tipped exhaust and a preventive timing-component overhaul.
I can’t afford to keep it in the long term, but it has every bit of the wow factor that it had when it left, and it still feels fresh and crisp on the inside.
But there is something more to this car. They say that we live our lives in chapters. It has been cathartic to have this car back as I downsized the business and right-sized it into the hobby that it was when I last sat behind the Sieben’s steering wheel. The journey between 2015 and 2025 has been a long and storied one, but cars like this 740i M Sport remind me why I took it in the first place.