What it's like owning a V12 monster as my very first car! (and why it didn't last so long)

It’s been nearly a year since I purchased my very first car (and nearly a month since I sold it :’( but i’ll get to that later)

Here’s the story of my very first car.

The car you see here is a 1989 BMW 750iL, and yes it has a V12 engine as it’s heart, a 5.0L in fact.

As many car searches begin these days, I was browsing Kijiji (I’m Canadian, it’s like Craigslist i guess but with less people looking for interesting sexy times)
I was looking for cars under $1500 (because I really didn’t have the money for a car at the time) and stumbled upon this gem for just $1200. I jokingly said to my friends “Hey! wouldn’t it be awesome to own this beast?!” One of my friends absolutely insisted I buy it, the other wasn’t too keen about it.

After a week or so I went to look at the ad online again, and it had dropped to just $650!! Immediately I turned to the comment section to see what had happened and it wasn’t good. The car was taken on a test drive and had unfortunately lost all it’s power steering fluid. On top of that the key had broke just as he removed it from the steering column and he was fed up with the car.

I immediately called him, not really thinking about what exactly the car needed, and asked to see it. I went and looked at it, it still started and ran but the steering was heavy and the power steering motor was whining. I asked him to get a new key made for it and I would give him $700 cash. We agreed and the next week I drove it home.

The car needed many things to start and had many small flaws, but the worst was the power steering (which turns out was also part of the self-leveling suspension system and brake assist system). Not only was the car difficult to steer but difficult to stop as well.

After what seemed like a month of putting it off, my friend and I finally got around to replacing the tiny line with a pinhole sized …well…hole in it, and that day just might have been the best day of my life (so far).

I guess I should have explained this earlier but i’m not the most mechanically inclined. I mean I can change a tire, do an oil change, swap out suspension, easy stuff like that, but when it comes to power steering? self leveling suspension? I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into. Who cares though right? That’s what being a petrolhead is all about! Doing what you love even though you don’t know what you’re doing! And what better car to learn how to fix than a late 80’s luxury car…

I’ll cut to the chase, because this is why I sold the car. The car needed $6000 to be put on the road, and seeing as I had put in less than $1000 to get it running well (oil change, power steering line replaced and fluid topped up, air filter, battery) I was in no position to drop that much money into it.

But I wasn’t just going to get rid of it right away. Because let me tell you this thing is a joy to drive.
The exhaust had to be taken off at the halfway point underneath the car (and it stayed off for a while) and if you’ve listened to older F1 V12 powered race cars, at 4000 rpm and up it had a similar tone.

Living out in the country is great. I mean sure theres gravel roads but hey there’s no cops around and….wait no I never broke any laws, don’t break laws kids.

Alright time for some statistics and facts about the car!

• 5.0L V12 engine (that was already established)
• 4 speed auto with sport mode
• factory limited slip diff
• 300bhp and 330lb/ft of torque from the factory
• 0-60 in under 8 seconds (which isn’t extremely fast, but it’s fast to me)
• 4200lbs
• approx. 5 meters from bumper to bumper
• the rear passengers have more leg room than the driver or passenger
• the driver has 5 way adjustable seat, passenger has 3 way, but the rear seats actually have 2 way adjustability!
• It came with a car phone!

Driving Experience:

Having driven my parents minivan and hatchback since I had my license, this was a huge step up in almost every way. The sound this made was glorious bombing down side roads, and the ride was so smooth, unlike anything i’ve ever experienced. The fact that it went from 0 to 150km/hr in what felt like a few seconds was amazing, what was even more amazing was the fact that it didn’t feel like I was going that fast. It was so smooth and there was a never ending amount of power everywhere in the rev range.

Now to the bit I don’t want to talk about, but I have to. Plain and simple, I sold it. I was never going to put it on the road, and moving away from my parents house and needing a daily driver meant it had to go (along with several other reasons).

The moral of my story is, don’t let anything hold you back from owning a car. Get something you know you’ll love, even if it’s not going to be with you for a while or would be something you could take to car shows. In reality, it’s not about impressing your friends with what you drive, it’s about impressing yourself with what you’re driving. It can be fast or slow, sunday driver or track day terror, daily or weekender. Buy something you can have fun with, and if you’re lucky, you can sell it for what you bought it for, so not only do you not loose money, but you gain memories.

Live in the moment, because the future can change, but the past never can.