∙Proven reliability as a daily-driver

∙Full to the brim with luxury items, including DVD player

∙Largely original paint and interior has survived well

∙Full MoT history from 2014

It was in the 1970s that BMW really started to attract an international reputation for fast, luxurious and well-engineered executive saloons, and it upholds that reputation to this day. The 7-Series joined the range as BMW’s flagship luxury model in 1977 in its E23 guise. It was a hit with well-off buyers seeking a car which looked highly professional and would serve as reliable everyday transport across cities and along motorways. The third-generation E38 model brought the line up to date in 1994, and would serve Europe’s high-flying executives very well into the new millennium.

A range of engines was offered, according to which the E38 would be designated as either a 728, 730, 735, 740 or 750, and among them there was the choice of either short (i) or long (iL) wheelbases. Although the 728i had the smallest engine, it was still a 148bhp, 2.8-litre straight-six, so it’s not as if that put it at any meaningful disadvantage next to its larger-engined siblings. The M52B28 engine was updated for 1998 models and renamed, in typically Teutonic fashion, the M52TUB28, marked by it use of the VANOS variable valve timing system for improved low-revs torque.

Given that even some of the cheapest cars on sale today are awash with toys and trinkets, it might be hard to appreciate just what a step-up the E38 7-Series represented in the company-car hierarchy when it was introduced. It was a car full of firsts. For one thing, it was the first car available with curtain airbags, although that probably didn’t set too many pulses racing. Assuredly, though, many E38 owners would have delighted in knowing that they had bought the first European car to feature satellite navigation, and the first BMW available with an in-car television. In short, the E38 was not a car for the nobodies or the anybodies of this world, but the somebodies.

In fact, one of those somebodies was none other than James Bond, who drove a 750iL in Tomorrow Never Dies. And that little piece of trivia should cast away any doubt, if indeed there was any, that in its day the 7-Series said ‘suave and sophisticated’ like nothing else.

Leaving the BMW factory in December, 2000, this 728i was first sold in Britain with a Lincoln-area registration. The vendor bought it in 2014, since when he has used it as a daily-driver, but also cherished it carefully, seeing that it has been regularly serviced and kept in shape for its MoTs, of which he has kept a full record.

With the necessary maintenance, the BMW’s performance as a daily-driver is testament to just what a well-made car it was. The vendor has covered around 60,000 miles in his seven years of ownership, and even driven it Turkey and back.

Shortly after buying the car, the vendor had it converted to run on LPG, which is a cleaner fuel than petrol, producing a substantially lower volume than CO2. Sadly, he has been forced into a reluctant sale by the expansion of the London Ultra-Low Emissions Zone and its accompanying charge, from which the BMW will not be exempt.

In addition to the V5C, the BMW comes with a paperwork file charting all the work undertaken during the vendor’s ownership. Included in this are several invoices for minor work and various new parts, and a full MoT history from 2014 to 2021. There is a receipt from the LPG conversion, and the car is also sold with a set of spare keys.

Bidders will note that the personalised registration seen in the photographs is being retained by the vendor, and the car will be reissued with its original registration X489 MBE.

The 728i boasts a supremely nice interior, tastefully trimmed in that business-like German fashion, which has survived well despite being almost entirely original and unmodified. The black leather is beginning to mellow nicely, having acquired a light patina over its 20 years of use. There is very little evidence of wear anywhere else, with the fascia, doors, carpets, walnut trim, headlining and all the ancillaries in excellent condition, with only minimal blemishes to be seen.

The boot is just as clean, although slightly non-standard, as the LPG tank has been installed in the spare-wheel well. Accordingly, the boot contains a space-saving spare wheel, but the original is also to be sold with the car. Also in the boot is the original, BMW-issued warning triangle, still in its plastic case.

What you really want to know, though, is just what gadgets you get to play with. To start with, there’s power to everything – seats, windows and mirrors. Then there’s the interactive computer display, which supports the 728i’s innovative satellite navigation system. The screen conceals a radio and cassette player and, for a real 1990s time-warp, there’s a centre console into which plugs a Motorola flip-phone, which seems curiously quaint today but was once the height of in-car technology.

For back-seat passengers, there’s a television which folds down from the roof to relieve the tedium of long motorway journeys. Originally designed for VHS tapes, the owner has updated it so that it now plays DVDs. This, to us, makes it the ideal car for a family with young children; they will appreciate having something to entertain them on long trips, and you will appreciate the absence of the never-ending chorus of “Are we nearly there yet?” Headphones for the television are neatly stowed in the rear armrest, where there is also to be found the original first-aid kit, which has never been used and remains in its plastic, so that must be a prized historical artefact by now.

On the dash, you’ll have some fun figuring out what all the switches do. James Bond found buttons in his car for launching rockets and releasing tear gas. We’re not sure that these were fitted as standard by the BMW factory but, frankly, we’d not be surprised.

For a 20-year-old car, the BMW’s exterior really is doing remarkably well. Appropriately finished in Germany’s racing colour of silver, the metallic paint still retains a soft sparkle to this day, and the plastic parts polish to a good shine, too. It is starting to show its age in places, though, and the paint has a few chips and scratches here and there, including under the door handles. In most places, these are too minor to be of any real detriment to the car’s appearance, but unfortunately an historic valeting mishap has resulted in a proliferation of scratches across the surface of the bonnet, and we doubt they can be remedied without completely respraying the bonnet.

The alloy wheels and plastic bumper and sill trim reflect the car’s overall condition – generally very good but with a few light scuffs and scratches here and there. The exterior glass all appears to be in excellent order.

With regular servicing and MoTs, the 728i has been kept in fine mechanical fettle. Its behaviour on the road would certainly suggest as much. The engine ticks over very quietly, and its automatic gearbox lets it pull away from a standstill with the utmost smoothness. As the driver’s foot goes down, one is treated to a subdued but satisfying burble from the engine, and it’s all plain sailing from there, with the gearbox doing its work diligently and imperceptibly. The ride is absorbent, the power steering light as a feather, and the brakes will stop the car very quickly if need be.

When the car received its current MoT on 4th March, 2021, the tester issued the following advisories:

At the same time as it received its MoT, it underwent £450 worth of work at Autowerke Automotive Engineering, which consisted of the fitment of new rear shock absorbers and coil springs, a new nearside rear brake hose, and a new front offside lower suspension arm.

If you were to travel in one of these in the 1990s, it meant you were probably either a high-ranking executive in an important company, or else a valued guest of such a company. Now, you can enjoy all the perks of a flagship luxury car without actually having to be a CEO, and there is a lot to enjoy. The smart, timeless design makes it a car which will always be appreciated regardless of changing fashions, and the superlative engineering means you can rely on it to get you to the ends of the earth and back.

It’s the interior, most of all, which puts the 728i in a class of its own. Stuffed full of retro gadgets, it manages to surpass many modern interiors while still capturing the essence of a particular period in history. We know your patriotic instinct might tempt you towards a Jaguar but, on the face of it, the BMW offers so much more than any Jaguar of its time. In fact, it offers so much more than virtually any other mass-produced car. With such a combination of speed, smoothness and comfort, it’s more like travelling in a priv

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