I'm about to do a 1200 mile return journey to the French Alps, with family, in the 88 745GLE(non turbo) wagon. It's now done 175k, driven carefully by me/wife since 85k and is in pretty good shape. The following items are original and I keep wondering if they should be replaced to be safe - what would you guys do?

Main fuel pump (no excessive noise)
Propshaft(driveshaft) centre bearing (rubber not cracked)
Universal joints (no noticeable vibration and feel tight)
Radiator (no leaks)

I've posted before about reliability of higher mileage cars and most of you "trust" your 740's. Should I quit worrying and just enjoy the ski-ing!?
--
BillB

Heater Valve.

The only item of concern is the radiator: if original, it is now fifteen years old. The plastic side tanks have a finite life,tend to crack catastrophically, and should be considered wear items. They seem to last around ten years maximum. I would buy a new radiator just for peace of mind. If your hoses and heater water valve are original, then they should be considered candidates for replacement as well.

I would agree with Steve. I have a 1990 740 with almost 200K miles and have it serviced regularly. I do not worry about driving it thousands of miles with the family. However, on a trip to Chicago about a year or so ago (car was 12 years old), I had catastrophic failure of the radiator. The part that failed was the plastic housing on the top where the hose connected to the radiator. I had to replace the radiator and did so with one that had metal housings so that this might not happen again.

Don't forget to replace the plastic over flow bottle while your at it.
I wouldn't worry about the mileage on the car as long as it was maintained as you said. Just make sure you check it all over starting with the fan belts and all hoses. It is usually something that is over looked in routine maintance that is the culprit when a car dies on a trip. So get the car serviced for the trip. If you haven't done it for a while things such as oil change, radiator flush, transmission service, tune up, new fuel filter, air filter, new belts, check the brake pads for wear. If you keep up with regular services then don't worry and enjoy the ski trip. Just replace the over flow bottle and hoses with the radiator. Don't forget the two hoses that run into heater at the back of the engine.