1982 BMW e23 735i

[ton246]

Would like to introduce my latest acquisition, its a 1982 BMW e23 735i.




After selling my 1995 Jag x300 3.2, to a lovely gentleman over in Paisley last week, it left me with some cash burning a hole in my pocket, so what do you do when in this situation...........do you ask your better half if there is any home improvements she wants done, new hair do maybe, a nice holiday somewhere hot...... no, curse word that, let's start scouring the websites for it's replacement, yeeaahhh baby. So, what to get mmmmm, I fancy another Rover P6 me thinks, so after finding a couple of candidates, I then came across the BM and it instantly pricked my interest. I have had a couple of e28's before and have always liked the Sharknose shape, so I contacted the seller, asked a few questions and put a bid in but quickly went over my budget, ah never mind, back to the search engine then. Next day I was contacted by the seller saying that he cant get a reply from the winning bidder and would I still be interested ? Hell yeah, but not at that price, so fair deal was done and I agreed to pick the car up on Sunday, I am in Fife, the car is in Newcastle. So, purchased my one way train ticket and set off on the most atrocious day weather wise, bucketing with rain and they say never buy a car in the rain !! The seller met me at the train station and 5 mins later was at his house, with the car parked on his drive. I tried to kerb my enthusiasm but failed miserable, that car was coming home with me, it looked gorgeous, of course it had it's faults, speedo / rev counter not working, washers not working for windscreen and headlights ( wont need washers in this piddling rain anyway) and one or two other minor bits, but the body work was rust free and resprayed to a good standard, looks to have recent new suspension / brakes all round as well. The wheels are metric and need replaced urgently, as the tyres are full of cracks ( how this passed an mot without any advisories I don't know)



So, filled up with gogo juice and set off for Bonny Scotland, and 3 hours later arrived uneventfully, at home. Ran like a dream, kept perfect temperature, never missed a beat. Had my AA card as back up anyway. So, what's my thoughts, well, fix all the issues first, get a new set of wheels ( if anyone has a set for sale, get in touch please )and use for the rest of the summer. Anyway less of my ramblings, here are some picks.

[SmokeEm]

Nice ride - I had a light metallic green one back in the mid 90's. Lovely to waft about in. Will look even nicer on some 17" rims.

[peter96]

Oh what a corker. I do like this vintage of BMW and the E23 is a great design. Those tyres are scary. I regularly see a 635i of similar vintage and it appears to have a set of E34 BBS styles wheels on it which suits it perfectly. Good luck with it.

[Mercdan68]

Stunning car , great buy chap

[jelmerc31]

Great car! Best looking 7 series!
My brother had a 81 732i, 85 745i exe and a 85 745i highline.

[djefk]

Jul 25, 2017 12:17:07 GMT SmokeEm said:

Nice ride - I had a light metallic green one back in the mid 90's. Lovely to waft about in. Will look even nicer on some 17" rims.

Yes it would, however that would ruin the ride in my opinion, based on experience. For a cruiser like this 15s or max 16s are the way to go as an excellent compromise.

A subtle 40 mm drop would also help tidy up looks and handling without sacrificing comfort!

[village]

you filled it up with juice but didn't take a fill up picture? poor show old chap, poor show.

lovely car though. ;-)

[ton246]

Jul 26, 2017 4:30:34 GMT djefk said:

Jul 25, 2017 12:17:07 GMT SmokeEm said:

Nice ride - I had a light metallic green one back in the mid 90's. Lovely to waft about in. Will look even nicer on some 17" rims.

Yes it would, however that would ruin the ride in my opinion, based on experience. For a cruiser like this 15s or max 16s are the way to go as an excellent compromise.

A subtle 40 mm drop would also help tidy up looks and handling without sacrificing comfort!

I was thinking 16" myself, I will see how they look before deciding on how much to lower.

[ton246]

Jul 26, 2017 8:41:58 GMT village said:

you filled it up with juice but didn't take a fill up picture? poor show old chap, poor show.

lovely car though. ;-)

Yes I know, guilty ma'lud.

[ton246]

Well, after picking it up last Sunday, I was looking forward to getting stuck in as it needed a damn good clean. Then on Monday I ruptured the ligaments in my knee and now have to use crutches to get around, flip in eck ! Anyway, not one to let a little thing like that get in the way, I managed to clean the inside and at least gave it a wash, not polished it yet.








Even managed to fit a new air filter and give the housing a lick of paint.





Then yesterday it had it's first outing to a local Gala Day, where the club had a few cars on show.



Then, at home time, it refused to start, turned over alright but wasn't getting fuel. Had I run out ? The gauge was still showing a quarter of a tank, but is it reliable ? So, someone went for more fuel, poured it in but still no joy ! So while as I was on the phone to the AA man, and as several members peering into the engine bay trying different things, one of them got it started by sucking fuel through, bingo ! So, relieved, set off for home (1 hour away)and hoped for the best, but 10 miles down the road it ground to halt, and of course it was teeming down with rain. On to the phone again to the AA man who came out and after a few checks diagnosed that the fuel pump had either died or wasn't getting power. We couldn't find a fuse or relay for the pump, so he took a direct feed off the battery to see if the pump actually worked, which, luckily it did, so he rigged up a temporary fix where he spliced into some wiring under the back seat to feed the fuel pump. Only problem was it wasn't a switched feed so he fitted an inline fuse so I could remove once the engine was switched off, otherwise it would keep pumping fuel to the injectors, not good ! So this got us back nice and safely just need to get an auto electrician to sort out the terrible wiring that was exposed ( unfortunately no pics due to the horrendous weather) Must thank the AA here, he was methodical in his approach, even crawling under the car with water running down the gutter like river rapids. All the wiring mods were soldered and taped and he explained what needed to be done. Top man.

[Coakers]

Love this shape.. and the colour. Still a good buy in my view dispite the unfortunate gremlins

[Mercdan68]

Nice work by the AA
Tbh I've never had problems with them when I've needed help
Again that car is just stunning I love it

[rude]

... 6/735 breaks down, man finds problem, car is fixed... You have to be the worlds luckiest 735 owner! Congratulations on the new addition, she's a beaut! I have 17's on the 635, they're harsh. think of the difference between 16's and 17's as the difference between road and race and you do loose that characteristic BM ride, especially when you go all silly with lowering things. I'd change them but you know... style 5's. Happy wafting!

[dubbelduwwel]

Fantastic condition, lovely car! Fell in love with them, but could only reach to a Five Series at the time!

[ton246]

Thanks for the positive comments guys, it blotted its copy book, but still love it. Managed to win a good set of original wheels / tyres ( metric), but at a price I couldn't say no to. I like the style of these so makes sense, to me anyway. At least I will be able to drive with confidence in the tyres.

[ton246]

"just need to get an auto electrician to sort out the terrible wiring that was exposed"

Previous owners attempt at wiring the fuel sender unit leaves a lot to be desired, 3 wires from sender unit goes onto 2 wires (black / red ) that'll be why my fuel reserve light is permanently on !!




Temporary "get me home" fuel pump fix

[peter96]

Good to see the AA got you sorted. As Dan says never had any problems with them myself even with some off the wall oldies. I had to call them a couple of times for my Saab 96 and they loved working on it. Makes a change from plugging a computer in for a fault code.

[peter96]

Just had another drool at your photos above and I see a rather nice black V4 parked behind you. That would be a nice classic pairing, well for me anyhow.

[ton246]

Aug 1, 2017 13:12:02 GMT peter96 said:

Just had another drool at your photos above and I see a rather nice black V4 parked behind you. That would be a nice classic pairing, well for me anyhow.

Yeah, the guy also has a Mk 1 Transit German fire Tender with 6k original miles on it, plus a few other equally desirable vehicles.

[bigsaloon]

What an unfortunate start to your relationship with this car. I wonder who did all that bodgy wiring. You mentioned that you can't find the fuel pump relay. It is a small square relay attached to the outside of the fusebox. Mad place to locate a vital relay IMO.