Just (re)joined BFc, figured I'd introduce myself and my '84 745i

[DesktopDave]

Now that I'm looking at this again, I think those are not E21 front turn signals. Those are pre-facelift (<82) E23 pieces. Wonder why they mounted them? The later signals are easy to find.

I like the orphan-ness of this car. Meets my criteria. Hopefully he'll accept my low-ball offer.

[Hit Man X]

Now that I'm looking at this again, I think those are not E21 front turn signals. Those are pre-facelift (<82) E23 pieces. Wonder why they mounted them? The later signals are easy to find.

I like the orphan-ness of this car. Meets my criteria. Hopefully he'll accept my low-ball offer.

They were hacked in to Federalize the car. It even has an oil cooler.



If you part it, give us first dibs!

[kmunz]

Do I see a sweet camo painted RV next to it? Is that part of the sale?

[DesktopDave]

Do I see a sweet camo painted RV next to it? Is that part of the sale?

LOL, my buddy called dibs on that as soon as he saw it. He wanted a replacement for his camo VW Transporter.

I didn't take any pictures of the AMC Pacer that was there, wish I had. The owner's brother had a good number of older domestic cars around.

[Hit Man X]

LOL Pacer. Some high school girl near me drives one around...I saw it then thought about stealing it from here and stuffing a 401 in there with a front mount.

[SicStang03]

It's probably first gen g265 in there. I would pay $500 for it all day just for the manual swap parts.

[DesktopDave]

It's probably first gen g265 in there. I would pay $500 for it all day just for the manual swap parts.

Wanna split it up?

Just kidding. I'm going to call him & see how flexible he is on price.

[kmunz]

Wanna split it up?

Just kidding. I'm going to call him & see how flexible he is on price.

Given the state of his yard, I'd say $500 and a few cases a Natty Ice ought to do it.

[8991XJ]

That € is a late body style. Maybe built in 82 since the body changed in 9/82 so it should be titled and 83 in the US but that is irrelevant to BMW, they just use build date.

Could be some good parts on that car and according to all the shows on tv flipping old cars, that 8+ year rest should be no problem getting the motor turned over and then running. Another one that might need to be saved.

Dave, do you have the build sheet for your car? I grabbed it after finding the VIN on the for sale pictures site.

[DesktopDave]

That € is a late body style. Maybe built in 82 since the body changed in 9/82 so it should be titled and 83 in the US but that is irrelevant to BMW, they just use build date.

Could be some good parts on that car and according to all the shows on tv flipping old cars, that 8+ year rest should be no problem getting the motor turned over and then running. Another one that might need to be saved.

Dave, do you have the build sheet for your car? I grabbed it after finding the VIN on the for sale pictures site.

I thought that about the body style too - but it is labeled as an '82 on the door jamb. I'd figure really late '82.

I do have the build sheet for my 745i. It's an oddball, delivered with very few options. Most of the turbos came with virtually every available BMW option.

[8991XJ]

We don't call a low option count vehicle an oddball. Sure you know the term Pov Spec for the lesser cars but the 745i with low options, grab the term lightweight and roll with it. My 85 has 18 option codes that loads the car about the same as a US car of the era nothing special in the list but some nice add-ons.

[DesktopDave]

We don't call a low option count vehicle an oddball. Sure you know the term Pov Spec for the lesser cars but the 745i with low options, grab the term lightweight and roll with it. My 85 has 18 option codes that loads the car about the same as a US car of the era nothing special in the list but some nice add-ons.

LOL, lightweight! I don't mean anything derogatory by "poverty spec."

Makes me want to get on the old soapbox for a bit...ignore this editorial unless you have time to waste:

It's my reverse snobbery coming out. There are few things I love more than parking my well-worn (vintage?) BMWs into a spot next to a brand-new BMW. If I see the other driver, I always compliment their car. Often, I get a compliment in return. That's nice, and just what I'd expect. But I just love the infrequent occasions that I receive some patrician down-the-nose attitude in return. Those kind of people have no clue what they're missing, and likely never will. Hopefully the snobs will keep getting murdered by depreciation so I can have reasonably priced vintage BMWs 10-20 years down the road. It's unlikely that most newer BMWs will live that long, but a few might be worth owning.

Vintage BMWs are overbuilt, simple, robust, durable, and easy to repair. New BMWs are sadly lacking in those characteristics, and are horribly styled to boot. Vintage Americans are frugal, dependable, self-reliant and resourceful. Newer Americans are spendthrift, ineffective, incompetent and whiny.

This '82 is a fairly typical German car, I'd presume. Whoever ordered this car ticked all the right performance boxes - everything heavy got left out and the most powerful motor went in. Now that I think about it, that M90B35/M30B35 might be the most powerful motor BMW had ever put into a road car up to that time, barring the limited production S88 in the M1.

...here I end my preaching to the choir. Can I get an 'Amen?'

So allow me to rephrase:
Hopefully he'll take my reasonable offer on this lightweight, sport model, Autobahn limited edition '82 735i.

[CMG]

Lightweight and less crap to need fixing.

[DesktopDave]

Weather should lighten up tomorrow, I'll be able to install the dual-throw pod and see if the system actually works.

In other news, that 735i is still available...very tempting. I'm waiting until a week or two before Christmas to make my low offer...I wonder if it'll fit under the tree?

[DesktopDave]

I tossed the dual-throw pod back in the car today. Guess what? It works! All actuators function as they should. Many thanks due to HitmanX, of course. Without your guides I wouldn't have even tackled it yet.


Snowy day here:


Now I just have to fix the rest of it:
Blower fan needs a new transistor
It's not really blowing much heat anyway
A/C isn't cycling
Defrost button back light still isn't working
Top/mid vent button isn't "sticking"

There aren't a lot of other big problems left to fix...off the top of my head I still have to track down a roof leak, replace the fuel filter & rear fuel lines, re-plumb the tank vent system, do the "valvo mod," fix the reverse light switch, replace the shifter assembly, overhaul the wiper box, get a more effective muffler & resonator.

Then do a bit of bodywork on the trunk, spoiler and passenger rear quarter. Register, insure & inspect the car. Swapping in a decent-looking interior would be a bonus...or finding some Bilsteins.

[Hit Man X]

LOL awesome. One more E23 with working vacuum system. Easy, huh?



Not much heat? Maybe the heater valve is stuck shut. A wedge of paper should hold that up/down button depressed...like an 8-track for better sound.



Those fuel tank vent lines will REALLY test your patience. You need a few meters of each. And yes, go with the metric sized hose... BTDT trying to use the 'other' size. Let me know how you enjoy pushing those grommets back into place. Do not forget to replace the supply and return lines on the fuel tank in addition to the others by the filter...and put the filter in the correct direction.

Valvo mod will get the car out of safe mode. Hurry up with that!

[DesktopDave]

Today I installed my new heater fan resistor. Unbelievably, my local NAPA had one in stock at a warehouse. They matched RockAuto's price, and had it to me in three days.

Even better, it was assembled in Der Vaterland.

Best of all, the fan now runs four different speeds. Sure there's some broken plastic to repair, but it's oh-so-nice to have a working fan.

[Hit Man X]

I need to replace the fans in the 735i and the black 745i, they do not spin as easily as they could. :/ Goodbye $600.

[tcm326]

Long thread here, I confess I have skimmed it. But wanted to add: p/s screech. Mine did so too until I cleaned out the reservoir and especially the wire filter THOROUGHLY. No screeching since (two plus years).

[DesktopDave]

Long thread here, I confess I have skimmed it. But wanted to add: p/s screech. Mine did so too until I cleaned out the reservoir and especially the wire filter THOROUGHLY. No screeching since (two plus years).

I'm thinking I'll be doing that down the road. I'm not even sure the P/S reservoir filter is even installed, LOL.

This time it ended up being too much air in the system. Those two pressure switches were both leaking, replacing them and topping the reservoir off with fresh ATF fixed the problem completely.

[DesktopDave]

Spent some quality time with the car today. Buttoned up the HVAC & cowl panels, patched a leak, charged up the battery. I also noted that the windshield trim was installed incorrectly. It's installed correctly now, but I managed to crack it on the passenger side as I was finishing it up.


At least the wipers don't hit the locking strip any more. I'm off to check out some local scrapyards this weekend.

[DesktopDave]

I've been chasing a water leak for the past month or so; still haven't found it. The sunroof drains were plugged, cleaned them out a while back. So today's fun was pulling the dashboard. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, this page was incredibly helpful. Took about an hour to track down all those infernal little screws that fasten the interior together.

I was annoyed to discover a small dent midway down the A-pillar, on the windshield mounting flange. Bad news, but at least I found the leak, right? Except I didn't. That wasn't it. I hosed the whole car down, no leaks at all. Nada. I know there's one somewhere. The driver's side floor is usually damp, and the car is musty.

What are the chances that my little windshield-breaking episode actually fixed the leak? I can see rust tracks in the a-pillar, but they aren't currently weeping. I did find water in the seal itself, while I was re-installing the aluminum locking strips. I'll leave it all as-is for a little while, but it just might have been the loose windshield trim.

So I've decided to pull the entire interior. I'm halfway there already, what's a few more hours of work? The water leak is the biggest current problem I have with the car.

It's not all bad news though - I fired her up today. She runs just as well as ever.

[Hit Man X]

How about the heater core inlet/outlet pipe grommets? Those caused water intrusion on my 735i. Taillight gaskets also cause problems...the small white ones, not the large black ones.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

The mystery water leak on my old E23 ended up being between the windshield and the gasket, at one of the bottom corners. The only way we got it to stop was urethaning inside the gasket, at the location of the leak. If you need a new windshield, the PGW (DOT 549, which means made by FYG, China, rebranded as PGW for this application) fits fine and the optics are acceptable. $200

[DesktopDave]

The mystery water leak on my old E23 ended up being between the windshield and the gasket, at one of the bottom corners. The only way we got it to stop was urethaning inside the gasket, at the location of the leak. If you need a new windshield, the PGW (DOT 549, which means made by FYG, China, rebranded as PGW for this application) fits fine and the optics are acceptable. $200

Thanks for the PN! I haven't gotten that far yet. There is definite evidence that the corners were leaking, but they haven't done it since I've been watching. I going to put some newspaper under the pedals next...but the leak is still undetermined.

- - - Updated - - -

How about the heater core inlet/outlet pipe grommets? Those caused water intrusion on my 735i. Taillight gaskets also cause problems...the small white ones, not the large black ones.

I'll check those seals. I only recall seeing the large black ones when I pulled them apart last year. The tailllights do have some hazing & stress cracks; that might also be a contributor. The trunk has an unrelated leak from the spoiler. The installer didn't bother to prime the holes he drilled...that left a rusty mess as the cancer spread.

The HC firewall grommets looked OK when last I checked, but it was only a cursory inspection. I should check them underneath. While I'm doing that, I should pull the core & clean it up. It's not a huge amount of additional trouble while I'm already in there,

The hood release grommet on the firewall didn't come with the car either. Originally, I figured that was the culprit...but it's also been mysteriously dry every time I've checked.