2015 BMW 760Li – A Real Honest To God Unicorn! $40,998

I might have pushed it a bit on a few of those 2013’s over the weekend, so felt compelled to offer up this totally legit CarMax unicorn – a 2015 BMW 760Li V-12 for only $40,998 $39,998. Luxury. Exclusivity. Affordable. And plenty fast.

The 2015 BMW 760Li sold for maybe $141,000 new and has dropped a good $100,000 in the last eight years. This one has been on and off the CarMax page and I sort of ignored it thinking I must have already written about it. Wrong. Looks like the last 760 I covered was in the spring of 2020 (we all remember that spring) – this similar 2015 760Li for a few thousand more.

The 2015 long wheelbase model (G12) was new for that year, and just over 10,000 7-series of all kinds were sold in the US. Lost an hour or two trying to find out if there was a 2016 760, before they became M760’s in 2017. Not finding any for sale.

The 2015 BMW 760Li is loaded – even has night vision (above)! Automatic cruise control, seats that heat, cool, and massage, heated steering wheel, heads up display, ands the M Sport Package that I read somewhere allows the top end to hit 190 mph. Rear seat room looks damned generous below. No DVD entertainment system though. Had it in my Mercedes S600 and not once did I use it.

The heart and soul of the BMW 760Li is the 6.0 liter twin turbo V-12, making 535 horsepower. The sedan runs a mid-four second 0-60 mph time, which isn’t spectacular, and yet it is plenty fast for a 2 1/2 ton luxury car. About the same as my S600 was. That said, the Alpina B7 of the same year, albeit a V-8, had a few more horsepower and was a bit faster. But c’mon, wouldn’t you really rather have a V-12? Just once?

Check out the autobahn run below. Quite a rush. Not me. (The most I’ve ever done was 155 mph, governed, in a brand new BMW 540i with about a thousand pounds of dudes – four of us – hauling down the Frankfurt autobahn back in 2002.)

This is a three owner, accident free car that began life in Miami, went to Phoenix in 2021 for a few years, back to Fort Lauderdale and now is on the lot here in Roswell, Georgia. I’d be wondering what NFL or NBA player got traded from Miami to Phoenix then retired back to Florida? It’s also pretty low mileage, and since I started writing this two days ago, the price just dropped $1,000. Again, the car has been on the market quite a while and I have no idea why it isn’t selling. If this isn’t a unicorn, don’t know what is. Of course, MaxCare is a must and as I’ve noted in previous blogs, for some reason the 7-series BMW warranties seem to be a bit more expensive than others. Might be worth it.

Stockno: 24948188 VIN: WBAYG0C57FDZ04853

Quick Hits – Six Unusual Unicorn Sedans. Cheap Too!

Going to limit my comments to pithy short paragraphs or these interesting unicorns. I’m behind the curve on my annual drive to Florida for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona this weekend. If any of you are attending please give me a shout – would love to have a coffee or beer and talk cars. I was stuck in Savannah (I just can’t help myself with my alliteration addiction!) because my BMW M3 went on the fritz and had to drop into Critz BMW in Savannah for diagnostics and a fix. After a couple of odd startups and alerts that my battery was either disconnected or discharging while off the car wouldn’t start yesterday, and once started wouldn’t go into gear. Had coffee and pondered options while visiting friends in Santee, South Carolina, and a couple of hours later – fired right up, went into gear, and I barreled onto I-95 south. Critz was able to fit me in and sent me a cool video this morning of them walking around my car and diagnosing….a loose negative cable on the battery post. Ugh. $237. I gave Critz my MaxCare info but I think it doesn’t apply. Glad they fit me in and glad it’s solved. Will continue south tomorrow. Let’s get to the cars.

This 2013 BMW 550i caught my eye because it’s cheap at $24,998 and it’s a V-8. Always like sleeper sedans.

But eagle eyed readers Nate and Hans both shared it with me because although it’s listed as an automatic, it’s really a six-speed three pedal manual transmission car! I don’t know how rare these are, but I do know that’s cool as hell.

Handsome interior above and surprisingly well equipped, with adaptive cruise control, seat massagers, heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel and more! CarMax says it has the cold weather package, the driver assistance package, and the M sport package. The car sold new for maybe $65,000 ten years ago. Below we see the 4.4 liter twin turbo V-8 that makes 400 hp.

On one hand, a 400 hp 6MT BMW sedan with decent miles selling for less than $25,000 seems too good to be true. And maybe it is. But Jared shared with me the N63 motor has issues that even MaxCare might not make up for. Sure they would cover the cost of repairs, but the car would be in the shop more than out. That became a hassle and disappointment with my original unicorn, the 2004 Mercedes S55 that I loved – when I got to drive it. Googled the N63 and found “There are several widespread issues with the BMW N63 V8 engine. These include oil consumption, fuel injector failure, timing chain failure, leaking valve stem seals, and fast battery drainage.” (thebmwstore.com) If this loaded 2013 BMW 550i 6MTis for you it’s currently being shipped to Ontario, California but you can track it here.

Stock 23542210 · VIN WBAFR9C52DC271574

Break – the BMW below is NOT the same car above!

Got this one from Mustafa and Hans. The most affordable V-12 we’ve seen in some time – a 2014 BMW 760Li for only $32,998. That’s a steal. This was a $140,000 car nine years ago and really captures my enthusiasm for unicorns – highly depreciated and foolish to own without MaxCare. I cannot imagine walking into Critz BMW here in Savannah when I go to pick up my M3 and ask if they’d give me a five year warranty for another 75,000 miles on a nine year old V-12 BMW.

This 760 is loaded as you can see below. Has adaptive cruise control (even though CarMax doesn’t note that), heads up display, lane departure alert, and even night vision assist, which I still dig for no good reason. The car has heated, cooling, and massaging seats. Oddly, CarMax indicates the 760 has both the Harman Kardon sound system and the Bang & Olufsen audio. It has the Bang & Olufsen, or “B&O” as Mustafa taught me. I believe the B&O is a higher level of sound?

The BMW 760Li does have the 6.0 liter V-12 motor making 535 hp. Not as much as I’d like – the modern M760 hits 600hp, but as I learned with my 2010 S600 that Jared stole from me anything above 500hp in a V-12 is just smooth, quiet power. With the eight-speed automatic the 2 1/2 ton sedan will still scoot to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. Sweet.

I believe you could be out the door with this 2014 BMW 760Li with MaxCare and taxes for $40,000. That’s unusual. It’s currently here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not far from you Jared!

Stock 23541481  Â·  VIN WBAYG0C56EDZ04826

Wait there’s more! Enough with these Euro-sedans, let’s look east.

Continue reading “Quick Hits – Six Unusual Unicorn Sedans. Cheap Too!”

2015 BMW 760 Li V-12 Reduced to $44,998 (and CarMax Covid-19 Impact)

760 side(CarMax Covid-19 impact at the bottom.)  Just got an alert from CarMax that this car dropped another $1,000.  Okay not the deal my 2010 Mercedes S600 was last year at $30,998, but this 2015 BMW 760 Li unicorn is much newer than mine, and here to say there are few things as sweet as a V-12 European motor.  Silky sooth, powerful, and quiet power plant for big luxurious European sedans.  Not a lot of them sold here.

This BMW 760 Li sold for probably $150,000 new ($50,000 more than the V-8 750) and is now only $44,998.  Fairly well equipped car with auto cruise control, seat massagers, and most every luxury amenity (although no night vision) and was first listed a month or two ago for thousands more.  Check out that back seat.

The twin turbo 6.0 liter V-12 launches the BMW to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and a governed top speed of 155mph.  Saw a review that hit over 190 mph on the autobahn in Germany.  Find this beautiful car here in Raleigh, North Carolina.  And of course, don’t buy without MaxCare!20155 BMW 760 Li $44,998 31k Capitol Blvd 4-2020

CarMax Covid-19 Update – Last wrote about CarMax and coronavirus here.   Learned this week CarMax has laid off 15,000 of their 27,000 employees nationwide.  Half of their 200+ stores are either shuttered or by appointment only.  Inventory is at 55,000 cars….financial analysts saying that’s at an all time high for “year end” – but fiscal year end for CarMax is the end of February.  I’ve written before that CarMax tends to beef up to 70,000 cars during this period, dropping to 45,000 or so at the low point in the fall – so not sure what that’s about.  I do know that something is up with transfers – not the free regional ones, but the long distance transfers we pay for.  Transfers that used to be $750 are now almost $1,500, and the $949 coast to coast moves are now $1,999.  Don’t know if that’s a real increase due to real cost jumps, or a price that says “we really don’t want to do long distance transfers at this time”.  What I do know is there would have to be a really, really unusual deal to get me in a CarMax at this time – say a 2015 S65 AMG Coupe?

Another (nicer) BMW 760 V-12 Unicorn!

Last Saturday a reader pointed out the 12 cylinder BMW 760 I wrote about in July (and is still for sale here in California!) may be a dying breed unicorn for CarMax and I was ready to agree with him, when this second one – a 2013 with low miles – surfaced in Louisville, Kentucky the very same day (details at the bottom of this post).  This white one is way nicer, with lower miles and well-appointed – so much so that the car opened at $40,998 on September 21st, and when I decided to blog today I see it’s gone up $1,000 in price.  That’s rare, but not unheard of.  I watched one unicorn increase in price several times by a thousand or two over the course of a week.  Oddly, the higher mileage 2013 in California only dropped once in price by a thousand since July, and is still out there.  In all cases, you’re either a fool, filthy rich, or a BMW mechanic yourself if you buy these cars without the bulletproof MaxCare bumper-to-bumper warranty!  No offense.

My simple test for options on BMW’s of this era?  Check out the bank of buttons on the left of the steering wheel.  Five slots.  The now $41,998 / 46,000 mile 2013 BMW 760 is on the left above, the $36,998 / 57,000 mile 2013 BMW 760 on the right.  The only thing missing is BMW Night Vision on the right.  I don’t know why I need night vision – carry Navy SEALS on a raid?  Run moonshine and evade the cops (it is a Kentucky car, after all)? But once I saw how it worked on a Mercedes S600 I wanted it.  My next car will have it.  Anyway, the guide to the features is below, in case you were wondering.

BMW Buttons

Take a look at the 2013 BMW 760Li beauty with all the options here, in Louisville, Kentucky.  If the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.  I’ll bet it sells before the $36,998 one!

2013 BMW 760 $41,998 46k Louisville

Five Year Old V-12 Bimmer – Over $100,000 Less Than New – By Chuck Banks and Mustafa Gardezi

760 REAR VIEWBeautiful BMW with a wicked and rare 535hp V-12 unicorn.  Somebody paid about $150,000 for this 760Li just five years ago, and it’s now selling for $37,998 with 57,000 miles.  Looks like roughly 10,000 7-series were sold in 2013, and as far as I can tell 2% of those – or 200, were the V-12 760’s.  Checked the VIN and this one has the $5,200 “Individual Package” with Merino leather and the $3,700 Bang and Olufsen audio, but sadly no night vision.  Why skimp there? Especially when the buyer chose to spend $50,000 more for a new BMW 760 than they would have for a BMW 750?! Perhaps to get that .3 sec 0-60 edge?  I wouldn’t care – the V-12 roar is worth every depreciated penny.  It goes without saying, but I have to say it anyway because someone will moan “these are expensive to fix!” that you do NOT own one of these without the MaxCare warranty, effectively shifting financial risk to CarMax for a few thousand more.  Find this four owner LA car here; if the link is dead it’s sold, on hold ore being transferred. 2013 BMW 760 V12 $37,998 57K