I brought home another e23... Now there are THREE! But this one I couldn't resist~

[kojo96]

Just picked this car up yesterday, really clean two owner '79 733i 5spd, same owner for the last 28 years, Bay Area car all of it's life (California) - Purchase price was stupid cheap and I took a shot and went to see it, purchased it on the spot when he opened the garage door-

I didn't really need another e23 and really don't know why I even drove down to look at it, on the way down I rationalized it to myself as I'd be picking up a parts car that could drive if I needed to move it, use for parts as I needed for the two I already have- specifically if I decided to do a manual swap...

Owner was super nice, he was a retired Mercedes Benz tech who literally worked down the street from his home, he and his family used the car for trips over the many years they owned it, he did all the service work on the car either at the dealership or at home, using only OEM parts- He was part of a dealer group that had BMW also. Tons of receipts for parts dating back the entire time he had it, and service records from the original owner from new.

It runs really well for the miles and it's had the 4spd transmission swapped with a 5spd, I've only had it a day and did a quick wash, still have to clean up the interior and when it cools down a little I'll detail the car correctly.

What I know about the car;

1979 733i 5sp 3.2 Ljet
Chamonix White / Red interior (now Black) the car was stolen in 1995 and the interior was stripped, PO replaced it with what he could find at the time, period correct Black leather.
270,000 miles
religious oil changes with castrol 20/50- Valve train looks like it has a fraction of the miles.
GARAGED it's entire life- All rubber is in excellent condition (windows, seals, door seals... truly amazing how the rubber holds up when not exposed to the sun.
Chrome trim is excellent
265/6 5spd out of an e24 with new clutch, clutch master and slave - He actually played around with the hydraulics (trying different parts to get the clutch pedal travel just right)
3:46 big case lsd
WORKING HVAC- MANUAL and way cool- and WORKING A/C!
New fuel pumps/filter
All new fuel lines and fuel vent lines
Water Pump, thermostat
and a bunch of other things I can't remember (I'll look through the records later)
power windows
Everything rubber under the hood is new or newer using only OEM parts
Dreaded Thermo Reactors- Not sure what to do with them, probably use a pr of M30B35 and redo the down pipe
Interior is really clean as well, seats show their age but still comfortable, manual to which is cool
Way cool instrument cluster- everything works but need new lights
Dash is super clean with only a couple of small cracks and not really visible.

Here are a few images, not often an early 5spd car come along in this condition-

More updates as I play around with it-

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733i_1.jpg733i_2.jpg733i_7.jpg733i_3.jpg733i_4.jpg

[8991XJ]

That car shows lots of potential. Has the facelift to early model already factory installed!!

[dmac156]

Looks nice!

[kojo96]

Yes, 100% original! Car is super straight and only need a few things to make it perfect.

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Looks nice!

Thanks!
Shoot, out of the 3 that I now have this is by far the nicest.

[Hit Man X]

Now I feel better about myself.

[motohunter4]

Hahaha I was thinking the the same thing.

Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk

[kojo96]

Now I feel better about myself.

lol... I gotta collect a cple more to even get close to both you guys

[mottati]

Nice find!

[gixxerboy]

Nice score!!! I saw that one & had to restrain myself. Thanks for helping me out!

[kojo96]

Nice find!

Thanks, now we need to get them all together in the Bay Area...

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Nice score!!! I saw that one & had to restrain myself. Thanks for helping me out!

Thanks man, couldn't resist this one, and it isn't right you take them all... I mean really, how many does one person need?

There's a new 12 step program buddy, it's e23 anonymous

[Freshbread]

Very clean!

[kojo96]

Very clean!

Thanks, getting around to sorting it out...

[krisawt]

Clean car!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

[Jay535is]

I told you on the phone, you got a steal, its cleaner than my car!
Can't wait to do a meet.
Cheers

[kojo96]

Thanks... But in the process of getting it running right, when I got it it ran a little rough and now it's running super rich at idle, once warmed up it runs great. Has some bad sensors, one actually broke when I checked the wires connections... The problem is I'm fairly well versed on Motronic management but I'm having to learn Ljet all over again, lots of new valves/sensors and many are NLA...
It had a horrible stuttering problem just off of idle and around 1500 RPM, smog machine didn't like that at all, kept aborting the test (last test was an easy pass and only a few hundred miles since but 2 years ago), I pulled the AFM to re-track it, found it had no cover and horribly corroded, the wiper arm track looked decent but a definite flat spot at idle and just off of idle, the 3 connectors (where the two wires are attached) were corroded horribly, when I went to clean the contacts on the board it literally wiped them clean leaving almost no connectivity... Scored an NOS OEM AFM on German ebay for cheap, it's on the way and I'll see how it runs with that... Also needs a new TPS, realoem shows I can use a later model found on later cars and it seems to be working.
The sage continues...

[Jay535is]

Sounds like a good time to look at that 1.3 conversion... ;-)

[kojo96]

!

[makuso]

Wow nice score! I must have missed this one while I was looking at e24s.lol Was this on cl?? How much did you "steal" it for?? $$ I'm in sf too.

[kojo96]

makuso, yes it was on CL, sort of tucked away and not much of a description. Prefer not to state price but it wasn't much $, owner wanted to see it go to someone who appreciated the car and care for it, he had a few guys come by but didn't let the car go for personal reasons, he wasn't really concerned about the sale price, I just got lucky.

By the way, we know each other- I tipped you off on your sport seats in your car currently---
Take care.

[gixxerboy]

Can't wait to do a meet.
Cheers

Count me in!

[kojo96]

Got some parts in this week, specifically the NOS AFM from a very cool guy in Germany, got a smoking deal on it... Along with new spark plugs, cap, rotor, CTS... I also changed and adjusted the TPS (from a later car as per realOEM).

I was originally going to do one thing at a time to see what it was specifically that made the car run like shit but decided to just do it all at once, buttoned it up, sat in the drivers seat, turned the key.... and it just cranked, backed off and keyed it again, crank...

3rd time was the charm, it lit up and settled into a high idle for a few seconds and settled down, gave it a few seconds and drove off, MAN what a difference, no more rich idle, no more hesitation off idle, no more flat spots in the rpm range, just a smooth pull without any issues. Temp settled at 1/4 mark on the gauge (this car doesn't run any hotter even in 90 degree weather and in traffic which is nice but I'll put a heat gun on it to make sure) drove off to get some high octane fuel and off to smog check tomorrow.

Here are some images of what the AFM looked like, it was pretty bad, and had several flat spots that actually made the car hard to drive in some rpm ranges, and the new one.
AFM1.jpgAFM1.jpgAFM2.jpgAFM3.jpgAFM4.jpg

[Hit Man X]

Wow, an unopened AFM!

[kojo96]

... compared to a completely opened AFM, I wonder how many years that cover was off???

[kojo96]

Car passed smog this AM, ran really clean- Next is suspension...

[Jay535is]

That's awesome man, congrats.
What are you thinking about for suspension?