The BMW 750iL Was BMW's V12 Flagship Luxury Sedan From 30 Years Ago 

This is my favorite story of the E32 - My father was a BMW/Mercedes Master Technician. The E32 750il released in the summer of 1987. I was about 9 years old or so. My father, being the dealership's lead technician, was afforded the opportunity to drive it home one night to really get the feel of the chassis, the engine, transmission, etc. You have to remember, the E32 was LIGHT YEARS ahead of it's time in '87. Well, one summer night he brought it home after work. It was later in the evening, around 730-8ish or so. I was aware it round the same time that Dad came home so I was a little more alert for him to come home at any time. While I was waiting, the phone rang. Keep in mind kids, there was a time before cell phones and this car was one of them. The phone rings, my mother yells to me to answer it, so I rip the phone off the wall and say - Hello? Hi Coslin, it's Dad. Hi Dad! When you coming home? I am home. I'm outside! *audible confusion spreads to visible confusion* In the meantime, my mother was standing next to me trying not to laugh because she was obviously in on the joke. What? You can't be outside, Dad. I am! I'm outside calling you from a car. *9 year old head explodes* Sure as shit, I run outside with my brother, and there he is, laughing hysterically as he's hanging up the phone. I'll never, ever forget that memory. And because of the that, the E32/E34's are two of my favorite chassis' to this day.

Doug is so young he doesn’t realize those 10 rows are to write down the name of who you programmed for your Speed Dial settings, not the phone number 😁

Doug on his deathbed, before dying: "But before I begin, make sure to check out cars and bids!"

Cup holder is USA only. In Europe we drive the car and drink coffee elsewhere.

That "S" button on the windscreen wiper switch stands for "Shampoo". E32 had a separate tank for wiper shampoo to clean the dirt more effectively.

"Imagine 15" tires on a V12 equipped car today." "Preposterous!" Proceeds to get blown away by the exquisite ride of the sidewall.

Unpopular opinion here: I actually love small rims on cars like this. Looks a lot more classic and comfortable to me.

The slots in the armrest were for different size coins required for road tolls before tags existed.

When the title said 30 years ago I thought it was 82 or 83...but that's from 90s...it hit me like a brick

THIIIIIISSS is finally something I can afford lol

20+ year old car that pretty much drives like new and everything still works - Quality 6/10. Really?

The „S“ on the wipers button means „Scheinwerfer“ german = headlights (washers)

Back when BMW did not need to fake V10 sounds. Because they were doing V12. (yes yes they still do V12, let's not kill the joke like they are killing the brand)

Taking up 3 parking spaces like a true BMW driver.

I owned this car in 1988. You missed that all this technology came out in ‘88, not ‘91, so really was an amazing car in it’s day. You also failed to point out that the interior is fully leather wrapped, including door panels,sides and back of seats. Also, the rear seats recline, a very neat feature. I’m not sure if your tester was a “tired example” but my car was a marvelous driver...responsive, crisp, with strong acceleration, yet good ride and comfort. I have owned many of the world’s great cars in my lifetime, but this was probably my favorite. It”had it all” in one car, a real stand out. Thanks for your review and the happy memories !

Doug is the kind of guy who checks his coolant level with a dipstick.

Doug is the type of guy to dial a phone number really fast and call it ‘Speed Dial’

I remember dating this rich girl back in the early 90’s, and her dad drove a 750il. What the hell was I thinking leaving that beauty??? The girl was pretty cute too.

I owned one of these from 1991-2002, and absolutely loved the car. I had it Dinan-modified, which gave it more push and actually improved the mpg. It remains the most comfortable cross-country driving vehicle I've ever owned, smooth, quiet and relaxing to drive, but unlike a Cadillac, it handled extremely well at speed in winding country roads. Maintenance was a bit spendy unsurprisingly. We lived in Detroit at the time. My car was black, and I'm sure we were seen as entrepreneurs in illicit enterprises. You didn't mention the window shades, the reclining back seats, the incredible fit and finish of all surfaces nor the leather quality which shows in your vehicle. I still think it is a beautiful car and a real benchmark t the time.

Jin THIS is a man. More specifically, a 1988 Doug Demuro. And today, Im going to go over his quirks and features, then take him out on the road to see how he drives. THEN, we will give this Doug a Doug Score. Starting with the exterior, this 1988 Doug Demuro comes with a 2-tone color scheme. On the top, a grey shirt with the logo of the "Portland Sea Dogs" on it, and on the bottom, beige pants. An interesting color choice, and it seems to be aftermarket. Further, this model does not come with a hat. However, this is the Sport Model, so this Doug comes with a lapel microphone to record your commentary. That is about it for the exterior quirks, now we move to the interior. Inside, this Doug comes equipped with every option a man would have from the factory. All internal organs are present, however, this one has a a special program loaded onto the brain, enabling it to talk endlessly about quirks and features. Quite a nice option, and a truly rare one from the factory. This option in combination with the color scheme makes this man a unique example, the only one in the world. Now, lets take this guy out on the road, and see how he drives. Doug is not exceptionally fast, with a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour, a bit slower than the average 28 miles per hour of most humans, however, as he has the sport package, he can talk while doing so, and record it with the aforementioned lapel mic. SO, when you are done running, you can upload your lap commentaries, and share it with your friends. Doug's acceleration is decent, reaching his top speed in just 10 seconds, quite impressive. However, due to a bad evaporative cooling system found on all humans, Doug can only keep up his top speed for a few minutes, after which, the top speed drops drastically. Doug's handling is impressive. Like all humans, he can turn 360 degrees on the spot, can jump to clear low curbs or speedbumps, and is able to move using his arms as well as his legs. However, what sets this guy apart in the handling department is his ability to fit into rear seats. Doug can cram himself into even the smallest of rear seats, the most impressive being the rear seats on the 996 generation Porsche 911 with hardback sport seats. Even the smallest guys often cannot fit into those rear seats, however, Doug did. That concludes the driving experience of the 1988 Doug Demuro. And now it's time to give THIS guy a Doug score... Starting with the Weekend Categories and Styling, Doug is ok but not beautiful and the cheap clothes don't help, so he gets a 5 out of 10. Acceleration is fine, considering his height (6'3 or 6'4/unknown) and he gets a 6 out of 10. Handling is only ok, sometimes he can't handle special purpose cars plus he's a little tall and not athletic so he gets a 4 out of 10. Fun Factor is high, especially for who he izz, and the 2 T-shirts bump it up a point or two, and he gets an 8 out of 10. Cool Factor is high too, he is probably the best reviewer among other RU-vidrs and he gets a 9 out of 10 for a total Weekend Score of 32 out of 50. Next up are the Daily Categories and Features, he has a lot of weird/interesting quirks and features and he gets a 7 out of 10. Comfort is top notch, this guy is really comfy and relaxed and he gets a 9 out of 10. Practicality is low, he isn't practical at all, he even uses his iPhone to record and he gets a 3 out of 10. Quality is mediocre for the class, this guy just doesn't seem quite well built and he gets a 4 out of 10 Finally..,Value...Doug is worth watching, but he's "depreciating" fast considering he's only 30 and looks like 40 so he gets a 5 out of 10 for a total Daily Score of 28 out of 50.. Add it up and the Doug Score IZZZ..60 out of 100 and here's how he stacks up against rivals...

I think,that "S" button means "Scheinwerfer" - in german language - headlights. So when you turn on the headlights and press it, it will clean them :)

Doug: ‘’I think I’m gettin ready to eat the fan speed dial’’

This may have already been mentioned but the “E” when you set the transmission to “A” is economy mode. If you push the switch straight down, like toward the ground, it puts it in sport mode which changes the display to an “S”. Also the intensive cleaning for the windshield pulls fluid from a different reservoir that you are suppose to put concentrated fluid in. The intermittent wiper function is also amazingly over complicated. There is a new owner training video floating around the details some of the weirder functions of this car.

*30 years ago....* *That car is from 30 years ago still more comfortable than most of todays cars*

"Nobody could make a gear lever like this anymore" Audi: laughs in D4 A8 "yacht" shifter

“Made in Japan”... BMW didn’t forget, they got their revenge with the Supra.

Great video, Doug! Brought back memories. I interviewed for a job in 1990 and the boss - who made $400,000 a year + bonuses THEN picked me up in one just like this one (in black) and as a 22 year old kid I was like "WOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!" It was so impressive that it became the gold standard of luxury for me, and I bought a 745i in 2004 - best driving car I had ever driven. BMW really IS the "ultimate driving machine."

Doug forgot to show the most amazing quirk! When you operate the electric seats then the seatbelt height will adjust itself automatically! I owned a 735 back in the day and was amazed by that feature.

1991BMW: Here's some tools to work on your car. 2021BMW: not even a dipstick, just take it to the dealer please

I owned a 1991 535 I. To this day, it’s still my favorite car. Sidenote, it was dark green with gold rims. We used to say “green for the money, gold for the honey”

The fact that it had a CD changer in 1991 is absolutely insane, I remember a lot of cars from the late 90s and early 2000s still had cassette decks!

Cars like this were at the pinnacle of creative design and comfort. Not sure why they are compared to modern cars when they're in a league of their own!

“You can get all this stuff on an Altima now!” On my way to the Nissan dealer to get the Altima V12!

Doug the type of guy to get pulled over for talking on his non operational car phone.

Hi Doug! The Intensive washer (S) was how the headlight washers were called on BMWs of that era. If the car was equipped with this option, it also had an additional smaller washer tank attached to the main one. Headlight washers and window washers were separate systems on the E32.

The "S" on the windshield whiper stock means "Scheinwerferreingungsanlage" which translates to headlamp cleaning system. It sprays washer fluid on the head lamps and the windscreen simultaneously.

I feel like the 3 part door storage is useful for toll booths, have sorted coins and stuff

19:26 Hopefully that's condensation coming off the ac system and not another fluid.

7:17 the letter is an "S" for "Sauber", the German verb for clean. Did you think they would make a separate lever with a "C" for the English market lol?

"Never opened, in case you wanted to do a tire change, the gloves are there." In mint, pristine unused condition.. just like the turn signals.

19:25 under the car, typical BMW charm

the slots in the driver's armrest are for coins, for when you took a road with tolls

Had one of these in college. Probably my favorite vehicle (that I've owned), but maintaining it was a full time job.

On my first car in 1991, when you opened the door the interior light came on... That was it. Those BMWs were spaceships back then.

"And bla bla bla. . ." - Doug. LOL This was funny and entertaining. I'm old enough to remember when these cars were new. Thanks.

"1991" "30 years ago" you WHAT

A great video Doug. I used to have the smaller 735i back about 19 years ago. It was lovely. But my father back in 1992/3 had a 1990 E32 Alpina B12. 5.0. It would be great seeing one on your channel.

19:28 That's probably where the "Intense window cleaning" fluid went...

The "S" for intensive wash could stand for "Scheinwerfer", which is headlight in German (according to google translate).

Damn. They had a sport mode for the window washer back then.

My dad had a brand new 735i in 1988 when the E32 came out. His had the CD autochanger in the boot and also had a remote control for it. Great car.

One of the quirks and features of Doug is he constantly reminds us of how old he is by pointing out "oddities" that anyone 10 years older than he is knows were typical in the day. Such as a place to write important phone numbers on a phone.

when a 30 year old car has more features than yours😅

Early year uploads: 2018: Mercedes 560 SEL 2019: Toyota Century 2020: Bentley Turbo R 2021: BMW 750iL

My first car was an E32 735IL. Still one of my favorite cars and it's still on the road today. BMW doesn't make them like they used to. You can really tell the difference between an 80's BMW and a mid 2000's BMW. On the shift mode selector mine had an S button that you could get to by pushing the whole slider down. I think the E was for Economy because that was the standard mode every time you started the car. Mine had a quirk where the BC would go into German every couple starts.

I might add to my comments that this car , with all it’s performance and comfort, regularly returned 25 mpg at 80-90mph...on regular gas. There were many small details of beautiful design that always kept it special. I wish I could buy a BMW like this again.

Hey Doug, the Jaguar XJ also offered a 5.3L V12 at the time, the E32 wasn't the only one!

New drinking game: take a shot every time he says “and next up”

The square shaped exhaust pipes and the big grill kidneys were also signs for a 750 model.

When I was very young my Dad had one of these in the early 2000's, apparently a 1990 model. He said he got it for very cheap used from his company, and it was the V12 decked out version too. I can vaguely remember it being parked outside, but the real visualization comes from a few pictures of it (it was silver). Unfortunately in regular BMW fashion the maintenance was through the roof and he had to sell it because he couldn't keep healthy finances at the time trying to fix the thing. But he once told me how he went 130 on an empty straight of highway on the way home from work one time, he said it could have easily gone 180-200 with the power of how it cruised. This vid was pretty cool because it gave me an idea of what my dad got to drive back then.

@3:40 - they're meant to be compartments for different coins when driving through tolls. Actually a very intentional and well-designed feature.

Wow, now I cannot un-see the Oreo in the climate control system knob. Thanks Doug...😆

My uncle had a black 750, and my other uncle has the five.series version. As a young boy i loved these cars. I'd always ask to go for a ride with them. Fast forward almost thirty years I've owned an e60 x5m, e92 m3, f80 m3, multiple e90 328is and going to buy a x7 for my family. These cars are legendary. Sparked my passion for bmw

I've always had a soft spot for the 7 series. The slightly later models just look so stately and sophisticated imho.

19:26 I really hope that is just condensation from the AC and not a bad coolant leak

A years ago Doug always Open the Owner’s Manual. I missed that part!🔖

To the left of the gear selector on some of these cars was a switch with 3 options. E or A and S and M. M being manual, and E or A being the economy mode. S had different shift patterns and was the "sport" mode. In a car such as the one being shown here to go from E to S while driving simply drop the car down into 3rd while in the automotic mode. The display in the dash will also show an "S".

7:05 It stands for scheinwerfer which means headlights in German 7:45 it tilts to be more reachable 8:05 actually it's very useful to choose the amount of dimming 8:45 it's for space saving/tilting for easy reach, after all it's just a $0.10 plastic path for a nice touch 14:00 saying that it was for money saving is pretty bad argument. This was the writing style of that BMW era, in fact in some models the letters were in mounted ON a plastic panel and then on the car and still the letters were connected so if they wanted to save money they would neither put them on the panel nor connect them Giving 6/10 on a 30 year European vehicle, which tiniest interior plastic piece probably costed BMW more than Tesla's interior plastics in total, is at least hillarious. Not to mention that you don't even hear a cracking noise after all that time. I hope not all Americans have this pour appreciation for quality vehicles like this

Has Doug really never seen a coolant bottle before? I'd say cars with a dipstick for that are rare.

My buddy talked his father into buying one of these. He then proceeded to install window tint and Fittipaldi 5 star wheels when his parents were on vacation. All sorts of hilarity ensued upon their return. Fairly certain his dad still isn't 100% over it. Good times.

I have had a 540i from the same era. I kept it for years, other cars in my garage came and left, but this one by all means was a very very well built car. I had more than 200000mils. on it. It never and and mean never, broke down over the 20 years of owning it. Mine had a 6 speed HF gearbox, again 6 gears back then was unheard off. Most cars back then had a 3 speed gearbox. A truly great car. I sold it to a car collector, so it could have a proper final resting place.

15 inch IS the correct size wheel for the most part of the purposes, including this luxury sedan. Imagine this car with bigger wheels. It would take precious space from rear passengers, also it would steal space of the engine. So at least they would have to reduce the max steering angle, so it would ruin the minimum radius of cornering. Agility in the traffic or when you are parking is important in any car.

The slot on the door of the driver is the coin slots

Ah, the good old days! Back when BMWs had grills, and not grills having BMWs.

This car is hard. Looks way better than new cars, and elicits nostaligia for the cocaine 80s.

my first car was a 1985 735i (16). It was so balanced and comfortable I regularly drifted it in congested city streets.

The puddle of liquid under the front of the car is probably blinker fluid, since blinkers are widely know to be overused in BMW culture.

"E" in this case means Econo mode, there were also "S" mode (sports mode).

O god, looking at this CD PLAYER! I remember times when me and my mates were stopping in the middle of the road at night changing the CDs in my father's Audi 80 b4... Haha

You underplay really good cars all the time ... it’s a 30 year old 7 series; they’re amazing.

Every time I watch doug review a 90s or earlier car he seems to be amazed at what was pretty simple and common amenities

Those old BMWs feel like driving around in a bank vault, love how put together they feel

I just love these old BMW wheels so much. I have no idea why maybe its just nostalgia but these wheels look so amazing and have always looked amazing to me ever since i was little and first saw them

This guy is awesome!! I truly enjoy his videos. He's allowed me to check out dream cars from different decades that I wanted to have when I was younger.

In late 80's, I drove this company-owned-car to attend monthly meeting in Paris from Duesseldorf, Germany. It sure was equipped with handfree mobile-phone which was astounding at the time. It was not until in 21st Century I owned that system by myself.

If the cigarette lighter stayed straight when you opened that little drawer you would not, in fact, have been able to use it.

The design is so simple and timeless. That rear seat area looks glorious.

BMW of earlier years (not sure about modern ones) had an extra reservoir with a special cleaning fluid in the engine bay which was activated by the S function ( I had it in an old 5 series). It was more aggressive, so no need to use it all the time e.g. in rainy weather. But if you had a long journey on the Autobahn with a lot of dead bugs on the windscreen it came in handy... I guess that is also the case here.

"I'm getting ready to eat the fan speed dial" Yep, that's going in a YTP

I love how 7 second acceleration is considered a 1/10. Come on. Most of the econo cars today aren't even that quick. I'd say at least a 2.

These were the total bomb to me when they came out, and I drooled over them for years. A BMW V12. In the late ‘90’s, they offered ‘the BNW experience’ in my area, in which you could reserve a 5 minute (solo!) drive in any model in the lineup, starting and ending at (but not ON) Texas Motor Speedway. WAY cool! My 750 was late, so I got to take a 740 and the brand new X5 in the meantime, THEN the 750. All FREE! WHAT a DEAL! Thank you, BMW! I worked over all three of them, taking every on and off ramp on the proscribed route, to check acceleration and braking, and they did not disappoint. That’s as close as I ever got, but ‘I drove a 750’. The complete antithesis of my Jaguar XJ-S experience, but that’s another story for another time. Thanks, Doug!

I had a 745iL and I can only say if you want to buy one, make absolutely sure the electronics are fully functional. And the interior is very delicate ! Everything made of plastic, especially pieces that move, wants to malfunction or break. I should say that this was my only owner experience of a BMW and some of the issues I had may be attributable to previous owners but my friend who had an E30 had similar issues with the interior plastic trim although he had no electrical problems.

Jag XJ: "... those late bloomer Germans" XJs had V12 since the early 70s 😉

Man I miss the 80s and the 90s. We were happy with very simple luxuries, not like today that you need cars that massage your ass, create ambients and have fragrances

Bosch didn't make a V12 Motronic ECU in 1987, so BMW used two fully separate 6-cylinder engine control systems for this engine. There are 2 fuel pumps, 2 distributors, 2 ECMs, etc. You can run the engine and drive around on the right or left bank only, which is sometimes useful for diagnostic trouble-shooting.

I had a 1988 740i and I had a blast in that car my friends loved when I took them for drives. Took it on some long road trips as well she tracked true and ran great. Wish I kept it.

19:20 looks like the BMW was nervous about beeing filmed!

They say: If there is no oil under the car, then there is no oil in the car.

I had the 735 model in the late 90's Just loved that car ,it drove so well!

Amazing delivery and incredible synthesis of information (context of the competitive dynamic with MB). Well done. Natural born presenter and the fact that you do your own research is also impressive