Found Grandma's MINT e23 735i

[roninguitars]

Hello E23 Community! I am new to this chassis and have been in w124 Mercedes land for the last few years but I just sold that car and happened upon this little old lady's 1986 735i with 100k original miles (garage kept and fully serviced). Outside of a cruise control stick issue, driver door lock tumbler and AC needing a recharge this boat is about as mint as I have ever seen a BMW on CL...for $2,500 bucks that is.

I have been researching the e23 and m30b34/35 vigorously to see about what would make this car the best it can be so I figured I would start this thread and introduce myself to the e23 community.

Ideas so far:

Window Tint
Bilstein HD Shocks
H&R Sport Springs
16" Style 15 Bottle Caps
EAT Chip
Miller MAF and Intake Manifold
Shorter Gear Diff Swap (ratio¿)
Some sort of tasteful exhaust setup

The Motronic 1.3 thing is very appealing but slightly intimidating...I really hate to swap out the motor its got so much life left in it.

00101_iCPkuNj020S_1200x900.jpgIMG_1742.jpgIMG_1753.JPGIMG_1743.jpg

[kojo96]

Nice car!

[8991XJ]

Window Tint--Whatever is legal and decent on the rear sides and back
Bilstein HD Shocks--don't want HD with sport springs the shock is too long. They don't have sports anymore, I don't think
H&R Sport Springs--needs Bilstein Sport shocks since they are 1" shorter
16" Style 15 Bottle Caps--not my choice, kinda plain
EAT Chip--might wake it up but both chips I have tried, one early Dinan and one Unknown only changed the rev limit (in my E28 M30/B34, my E23 is already hot rodded)
Miller MAF and Intake Manifold--folks seem to like this
Shorter Gear Diff Swap (ratio¿)--you probably have a 3.25, 3.46 wakes it up some, 3.64 makes it like a cat but revs are 3000 at 80 and 3.73 is like a cat with the claws out ready to pounce 24/7, too much. BMW doesn't make a 3.55, darn.
Some sort of tasteful exhaust setup--stock set up breaths as well as almost anything and lasts 200k miles why worry about it, yet.

My motor stock from the factory was 218 to boost it to 240 it got headers, intake valves, port and polish. Lot of work for not much. I got the first boost from 182 to 218 just by cat delete and 10.0: compression vs. 8.0:1 for the US motor.

[roninguitars]

Did you swap in a euro b34? How did you change compression?

I have the 3.46 in there now. I have a spare 4.10 from my e34 touring which came out during an m60 6 speed swap project, it worked fine in the e34 but I'd have to compare ratios in that auto vs the e23 auto I guess.

I'll look into Mtech shocks and see if they are still available.

The plain look is appealing to me on the 7, for whatever reason—although some 16" Alpina wheels would be my first choice.

I've got the 180HP 8:1 b34 so TCD Kit or Miller seem like the best options.

Thank you for the response.

[dmac156]

Nice find.

[Jay535is]

A few notes...
You would either use the EAT chip OR the Miller MAF setup, which uses its own chip...I wouldn't bother with the Miller setup.
The auto transmission pairs well with a 3.73 or 3.91, the 4.10 to me would be a little buzzy. Consider the first gear in the 4HP22 is 2.78:1, which is just about 2nd gear in the 5spd, but the overdrive is taller at .78:1.

Wheels & tires are the most individual choice on any car, pick what you like and run with it. 17" is about as big as you 'should' go however.
With that low miles on the motor, I would leave it stock for a while and see how it drives.
In Arcata AC isn't an issue, so tint is more a style choice than necessity-like for me in Sacramento...
Shocks and springs are the outcome of what kind of car you want this to be. Bilstein sports/H&R will take this away from being a cruiser. I have Bilstein sports up front with custom valved sports in the back with Dinan springs, and sometimes I regret how aggressive the ride is...
Interestingly enough I will be doing an M60/6spd into my E23 'soon'... :-/

[Hit Man X]

4HP22 has a 2.47:1 low gear :/ it works well with a 3.91:1 or 4.10:1. Plus that 8:1 motor needs all the help it can get!

EAT chip is very nice for the money. I dug it in the old 735i

[roninguitars]

I really appreciate the responses, I just picked up the car in Monterey and did the drive back up to Eureka. The speedo went out a few months ago according to the previous owner so I don't have that data but I was able to calculate some MPG data from a 229 mile stretch on a full tank and I used up 8.89 gallons (25.7 mpgs)—was pleasantly surprised! I actually kept the car in 3rd gear for much of the trip which had me holding 3,000 to 3,400 rpms, it felt so much better to drive and my foot wasn't as pressed into the throttle. There seems to be a vacuum leak as no air comes out the front vents (only the defrost) and the transmission doesn't want to down-shift under heavy acceleration while in D mode. My e34 auto would down shift fairly quickly so I suspect something is amiss. Oddly it downshifts with ease when I go down a steep long hill... By putting it in 2 or 3 I was able to tap into the power. I am getting a rough idle, almost a cough or studded which I suspect may be the AFM? Also there seems to be some notched hiccups when I put the car in 2 and hit 4k-4.5k rpms...like it isn't sure of its self...typical motronic 1.0 issues?

I spoke to Bluntech and the Mtech springs are no longer available. He did offer an after market 40mm drop set for $250. Ideally, I wish the car could split the different between it's current state and full "Sport" suspension. I am going to go with 16x8 24mm offset Alpina wheels—I'd like this boat to have a little bit more of an aggressive stance and not as much body roll...just enough to make it feel more stable and in control...no need for anything more serious.

I will start with a full diagnostic and tune up and then see what makes sense.

If anyone has opinions of why you WOULDN'T go with the Miller MAF and war Chip I am all ears. It seems like such an improvement. The b34 seems so inferior to the b35 that it's tough to try and justify $$$$ into that engine.

There is something about this "cloud", thats her name...and the e23 in general that make me smile...still trying to figure it out...I love it.

[gixxerboy]

Nice find! 3.73lsd w/3k stall tq converter on a n/a motor wakes things up nicely without killing mpg

[Jay535is]

You sir are totally correct, I got the 4th gear stuck in my head for some reason.

4HP22 has a 2.47:1 low gear :/

ZF 4HP22/24

1st 2.48

2nd 1.48

3rd 1

4th 0.73 Compare to: GETRAG 265/6 1st: 3.82 2nd: 2.2 3rd: 1.4 4th: 1 5th: 0.81

[8991XJ]

Oops, I missed the auto when I talked about the diff ratios. Others covered it.

My car is an € tuner car so it started with 10:1 compression. Hartge did the head work, headers and exhaust.

[Hit Man X]

Hartge did the head work, headers and exhaust.

So modest there, Keith. yours or the elusive blue Hartge are the only five speed E23s I would drive!

[Freshbread]

Car looks spotless! Congrats.

[Jay535is]

Keith 'Blue Shadow'?
The overlap is funny sometimes from MyE28. I am ElGuappo there, no idea why I didn't have the same username here.

Oops, I missed the auto when I talked about the diff ratios. Others covered it.

My car is an € tuner car so it started with 10:1 compression. Hartge did the head work, headers and exhaust.

[8991XJ]

Dang I been outed. Oh well, it could be worse.

When I signed up for a few boards nearly 20 years ago there was a mention that one should use the same name on the boards. Nope, not going to happen.

[Jay535is]

Well the dim bulb finally clicked on for me, with Keith and Hartge...duhhhhhh.
I think we've even spoken on the phone about vintage audio...small world sometimes.
Anyway, back to the thread.

[8991XJ]

well that vintage audio, you'll find BS over on one of those boards.

[StevenHenriksen]

Beautiful car, nice find!

[kojo96]

So modest there, Keith. yours or the elusive blue Hartge are the only five speed E23s I would drive!

Hey!, I know one of the past owners of that Blue Hartge...

[Hit Man X]

Should have kept it! The current owner is a good guy according to Keith...blue is now in Florida.

[8991XJ]

Really hard to keep a car in CA that CA wants to crush. Cars without BAR stickers will cost quite a bit to maybe, possibly, be allowed to stay in the state after earning a BAR sticker but, if not CA wants to crush them.

[kojo96]

Hello E23 Community! I am new to this chassis and have been in w124 Mercedes land for the last few years but I just sold that car and happened upon this little old lady's 1986 735i with 100k original miles (garage kept and fully serviced). Outside of a cruise control stick issue, driver door lock tumbler and AC needing a recharge this boat is about as mint as I have ever seen a BMW on CL...for $2,500 bucks that is.

I have been researching the e23 and m30b34/35 vigorously to see about what would make this car the best it can be so I figured I would start this thread and introduce myself to the e23 community.

Ideas so far:

Window Tint
Bilstein HD Shocks
H&R Sport Springs
16" Style 15 Bottle Caps
EAT Chip
Miller MAF and Intake Manifold
Shorter Gear Diff Swap (ratio¿)
Some sort of tasteful exhaust setup

The Motronic 1.3 thing is very appealing but slightly intimidating...I really hate to swap out the motor its got so much life left in it.

00101_iCPkuNj020S_1200x900.jpgIMG_1742.jpgIMG_1753.JPGIMG_1743.jpg

OP, apologize for the thread highjack... Never meant to take anything away from your car, it's ultra clean and rare to find in this condition, post more images when you have a chance.

[roninguitars]

All good! Here are a few more. My other ride is an e34 Touring Alpina tribute car w/ an M60 and 6 speed so driving this after that was a huge shock, the weird thing is, (maybe its this one or all e23s) I am having a lot of fun just cruising in the Cloud—the old grandpa vibe suites me I guess.

I am having a friend who works for a great german motors shop up here go through it with me tomorrow and diagnose all the issues, hopefully get everything back to stock and working as it should and then go from there. I am leaning towards the EAT chip and an exhaust system (headers and some sort of muffler) that gives me a nice midrange roar but still tame at idle. I think I can get the Ireland Engineering headers to work and custom from there.

The suspension IS really too boat-like for me though so something will have to be done soon.

If I could find some nice euro bumpers this could start to look really sharp with the wheel and tire upgrade.

A few more...

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[Freshbread]

Great shape

[Jay535is]

That's a really sharp car, good buy.