I have recently come into posession of a uk version e23 735i. Its an 83', and appears to be a fairly solid car. It does, however, have one small problem, no spark. The more i look into this problem the more i am finding increasing numbers small parts with multiple names, each of which only "could" be the cause of the problem; and ALL of these surpassing even the prices I have paid for vaguely similar Porsche parts. So I ask again, is it worth my while to keep dumping money into this machine? Are old 735's problem prone money pits, like audis with unifluids and air powered door locks? What do I do?

Ok, dude. You've got some decisions to make. e32 cars (mid-1980's-mid1990's) is as old as I'm willing to go in bimmerness, because I want something that's still at least in the ballpark with regard to performance, features, and reliability.

If I'm taking on a restoration project where parts are discontinued, etc., I'm taking on a car that's immortal in its styling and design. Enter my '64 caddy convert, the mercedes 6.3 (faster than my 750iL), and the speedster kit. they're classics.

If I'm going to own an e23 735i, it's because I'm:

a) not wanting to spend the money for an e32 (perhaps got a smokin' deal on it and i can fix it cheap). Keep in mind that I can get a good e32 that doesn't need much for $6K.

b)it is so classic that I'm willing to do a restoration on it.


do you looovvvee they styling of the e23, think it is one of those stand-out cars that makes your heart go thump? perhaps LHD has a big cool factor for you since we're in the US, you can be an international man of mystery...

if not, was is so cheap that you just couldn't turn it down? for this car in particular, I'd be scouring the internet to find common ignition failures and hunting down junkyard parts, not new ones....

if it doesn't make your heart go boom and it isn't gonna be cheap to own, you need to decide if it's time to sell.

but a car that runs is worth much more than one that doesn't. so even if you plan to sell it, you need to get through this one problem.

the early 80's bosch ignition systems were somewhat complex but reliable. volkwagen, bmw, porsche, audi, and even jaguar used them as i recall. they had a crank position sensor, an ignition control module, various coil-pack arrangements, and even the ignition switch could be the cause in the event of a problem.

given your concern with the parts prices, I conclude you can't afford to just throw new parts at it. So you have about a week of evenings spent on the internet learning the system, discovering common failures, and learning ways to test individual components so that you can narrow it down. only then would you want to spend a penny on parts.

i wish I knew e23's better. i did a search on "bmw e23" in google, however, and found more relevant sites than I could shake a stick at. Good luck, please let us know what it was when you find it. BTW, my perception is that an e23 is loads simpler than an e32, thus more reliable.

Where are you getting no spark? No spark at the plugs? No spark at the ignition switch? What have you tested so far that you know you don't have a spark whereever the spark is supposed to be?

If your 735 is an executive or highline edition-keep it. Those are getting sought after more and more.

My 745 turbo is a "one of" highliner with some features from BMW Individual. Along with the 470+hp engine it´s one hell of a car. Definitely worth the money!