Hi everyone,
The tach on my 83 320i is all out of whack!!
It's calibration shows, at idle, a speed of 3500rpms and once I take off it goes to maximum, about 8,000rpm. The engine speed is not in coordination with what shows up on the tach. Anyone help??
I know for sure that idle is set propertly, and then immediately once I get going it goes right up past 5000 to max.
:95

First off, WELCOME!

can you make sure that the tach cables are all propery fastened to the guage?

Post some pics of your car! im sure we'd all love to see it

- M

Thanks, will do :)

does the engine & the rest of the electrical stuff run smooth while the tach is going all crazy?
if it's just the tach, the tach gauge is probably getting a bad ground (corroded wires/connectors).....get some wd-40, a brush, & maybe some electrical parts cleaner.

Take a really BFH and bash the hell out of it then yell at it, that will get its attention! No seriously, try what they said first (all the wires to the tach) then get back to us. And Welcome to BF.c :buttrock

I think the tach gets its signal from the coil, make sure the wires are tight, clean, not frayed.
Welcome to the club, post pictures when you can

Only way for the issue to be anything but a bad tachometer is for the cluster to be a 323 cluster, from a 6 cylinder.

http://www.lexam.net/peter/carnut/320-ig-wiring.jpg

Later,

Thanks everyone!!
Great info, I'll try cleaning/securing all wiring and ground, and will post pics once its on the road.