(This German-American has also been requested to make a return appearance) A BMW 7 Series CC is long overdue, and when I spotted this one catching some of the last rays of the season, I thought the time had finally come. The E23 was a milestone car, BMW’s first really big one, to properly take on the Mercedes S Class. Of course big is relative, as this 7 Series is substantially smaller in every dimension than a new 5 Series. Inflation is relentless. But I’m not inflating its identification arbitrarily; according to BMW’s traditional numerology, this really is a 757. Here’s why:
Ironic; the V12 Jaguar from the other day still has its original engine, and this 733i now sports a Chevy 350/350 power train. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; is there any model car in the world that hasn’t had a Chevy small block implanted? It just caught me a bit off guard.
From a modern vantage point, it’s true that the US-spec 733i wasn’t exactly brimming with power. One hundred eighty-four horsepower, from 3.2 liters, to be exact. Actually, that wasn’t bad for the times, which were not kind to high outputs. The biggest, baddest Chevy V8 available (outside of the Corvette) in 1983 was the 175 hp 305 (5 liter). And the Corvette’s 350 (5.7 liter) had all of 200 hp. So I’m assuming that the 350 burbling under this one’s hood is at least a healthy one.
Or maybe that wasn’t the point, and someone just got fed up with that exotic German engineering under the hood: the Ultimate Driving Machine was not necessarily the Ultimate DIY Repair Machine. To some folks, a four barrel carburetor on a lump of cast iron designed over half a century ago trumps all the high-falutin’ Motronic-Digifant-Einspritzer Wirbelwannen-Brennraümen that the world’s most famous engine builder can summon. For that matter, is a BMW, which stands for Bavarian Motor Works, still a BMW without its motor? A CMW?
So that leaves the question of why bother with what it took to make the transplant. A lover of Paul Bracq’s design; one that has aged quite nicely over the years? The 7 made quite a splash when it arrived in 1977, especially compared to the rather ponderous big Mercedes W116. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the overly boxy 5 Series too.
How I lusted after one of these when they first came out. At the time, we had some friends who were a bit older and a lot wealthier than us, and she drove a silver BMW E-3 3.0 sedan, this car’s immediate predecessor. It kept Klaus, its German mechanic very well well fed indeed. I get it.
The Chevy engine swap is understandable as the motors of these cars were plagued by BMW’s thermal reactor thing-a-majig which had the effect of cooking everything that was anywhere near it, including that aforementioned fuel injection. Those motors were not particularly long lasting and rebuilding one would cost a fortune. The 350 swap out makes perfect sense because a nice 350 with a decent cam and 4 barrel Rochester can make a very unstressed 230 hp/270 lbs/ft of torque. Actually much better suited to our driving style and you could easily make it pass 1977 emissions with a simple 2 way catcon and EGR. This combo would probably be lighter than the BMW six and the antique Borg-Warner transmission they were using. Finally, I would wager it uses less fuel, too.
BTW, an old family friend of mine had one, a rather wealthy gent. He kept it for two years and he was incensed with it, since it was the only car he had ever had that left him stranded on the road three times. He sold it at a huge loss and bought a Fox-Mercury Marquis, which gave him no trouble. He said like liked Fords, “Because nobody expects them to be good!”
As I said, I get it. But for what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure by 1983, the thermal reactor was history.
Correct, it was gone by 1979. Not a moment too soon, either!
George Lucas said you get a lot more upset when your Mercedes won’t start, than when your Chevy won’t start.
The E23 didn’t have a Borg-Warner automatic; it was a ZF 3HP 22.
They cost a lot- they must b good!
When faced with difficult/expensive mechanical repair many people turn to tried and true. Now a drunk mechanic with a room temperature IQ could likely tune-up that engine while buzzed on speed. Before the car required someone with a Master’s Degree in BMW to make it right. I’m not saying it was the right thing to do, but I can understand the feeling. I sometimes cruise eBay looking for V8 conversion Jags just cause I know even I could work on the engine with confidence.
I drove one of these about 1985. My best friend at the time worked for a guy who owned one of these, I believe it was an 83 model. My friend got to borrow it one weekend when his boss was out of town. He had been driving it for a day or so, then tossed me the keys. We headed out onto the interstate, and it was amazing how effortlessly the car got to 90, where I kept it for a little bit. Somehow, I did not get a ticket. It may not have been the most powerful car out there, but compared to what most of us were driving in the early 80s, it was mighty quick.
The car just begged to be driven that way and (as the cliche goes) it felt like it was on rails. This was during my very brief European car fetish, and boy oh boy, did I ever want one of these. But at about $35K as I recall, there was absolutely no way that was ever going to happen (I bought an 85 GTI for about $12K).
I have always considered this a graceful design. Simply a beautiful car.
My first experience of large, non-American cars came with 1970s grey market S Class Mercedes products. In particular, I drove, at length, a 1976 280 SE in European spec. The car had no power anything (as German cars of the era definitely should not!) and was wonderfully light on its feet. It had a compliant ride and superb road holding. I remember stomping it and being at 160 km/h in what seemed a flash and how absolutely secure it was at these speeds. Really it was a revelation but perhaps the best thing for this memory is I only drove the car for a couple of months and didn’t have to pay to fix anything!
“someone just got fed up with that exotic German engineering under the hood: the Ultimate Driving Machine was not necessarily the Ultimate DIY Repair Machine. To some folks, a four barrel carburetor on a lump of cast iron designed over half a century ago trumps all the high-falutin’ Motronic-Digifant-Einspritzer Wirbelwannen-Brennraümen that the world’s most famous engine builder can summon.”
To be sure, the 1/2 century old ‘lumpenmotor’ will be plenty easy to wrench on, either you as a DIYer or some other person. I have to wonder how available some of those Digifant/Bosch parts are, and how much they must cost by now. Woo hoo! One can definitely understand the urge to merge GM with BMW…
“For that matter, is a BMW, which stands for Bavarian Motor Works, still a BMW without its motor? A CMW?”
A GMW!
“For that matter, is a BMW, which stands for Bavarian Motor Works, still a BMW without its motor? A CMW?”
A GMW!
Speaking of GMWs, doesn’t that side profile look vaugely 1992-1999 Pontiac Bonneville minus the silly spoiler? 🙂 https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ED-Bonneville-promo-pic.jpg
Sharp eye there, Edu Dan! Although the Pontiac has a higher beltline, they could be relatives…
In a recent Hot Rod or Car Craft magazine article ( can’t remember which ) some guy transplanted a late model GM LS1 motor into an 80’s era 5 series. THAT was a sweet ride!
Years ago I spotted a grey-market 745i of early 80’s vintage sitting behind a fence at an independent european car repair garage in West L.A. The car sat there for several years an eventually vanished. What became of it I have no idea.
The biggest, baddest Chevy V8 available (outside of the Corvette) in 1983 was the 175 hp 305 (5 liter).
You could still get the 454 in trucks, SUVs, boats, and RVs.
True, but it didn’t make much more than the 175hp of the 305. It was extremely de-tuned.
Extensive internet research says the ’83 454 made 205hp.
So suck on that non-existent ’83 Corvette!
A 308 Holden put out more.
A big-block: Yes, just the thing to keep the BMW’s excellent handling intact.
It might work in an E38…
Every big block I had ever experienced reminded me of a huge lump of iron designed to be in a truck.
That is because it WAS a huge lump of iron designed to be in a truck. In passenger cars, the big block had no redeeming qualities. A well tune small block would run rings around a big block and would not have such terrible understeer.
Yes, back in the early-mid 80’s, I spent a fair amount of time driving a 454 and a five speed manual….
In a six ton GMC box truck.
It used to impress the crap out of my friends… until I told them it was a GMC…
I was really starting to love BMWs around the time this came out. The 3, 5, and 6 of the era and into the 80s were some of favorites. Sales were still low enough to make them special, the qualites were unique compared to pretty much everything else, and were just different enough from Mercedes that made most people prefer one over the other.
About two years ago, I knew someone who had an ’85 that she bought new. I always told her that when she goes to sell it, she should let me know. I had never seen the car, and thought it only had around 80K miles on it. She was going to be traveling for an extended period, so she told me to take the car for a few months to see if I liked it. Well, it had about 160K miles on it, and while the condition was still quite nice, it wasn’t mint or flawless. But if not for the sagging seat, which made it tough to get a good and comfortable driving position, and some weak shocks, it was still a remarkable car.
I thought it would make a nice and interesting near-classic car to drive around town on weekends, but what really surprised me was how incredible and at home it was cruising down the highway at 70 mph.
Since I really only wanted a cal like this if it was mint, I gave the car back. She sold it a short time later for around $2,000.
Great looking cars these but try finding one that runs, The guy I bought my parts Hillman from has one of these with a good motor free to a good home noone wants it the electrical problems have rendered it scrap a SBC is a better bet than the bavarian money waster engine at least they are easy to fix if they go wrong the original once out of warranty just keeps the dealer fed but for the electrical faults this would be a good car but curing a short on one of these could bankrupt anyone.
That is no longer a BMW. Just as a Jag is no longer a Jag and a Porsche is no longer a Porsche once that TreeFiddy gets welded in.
I’d like to see the install quality on this thing. I’ve seen plenty of Jags done like this around here and they all rated in the category of substandard to.. Umm.. It rhymes with pity.
I happen to be great friend’s with the ASE certified mechanic who owned and did the conversion in this car. He probably has more knowledge in his elbow than you have in your whole body. Dont knock his ablilty to creat something like this until you have a good look at his work. I have driven this car and it haul’s ass… It handles like a dream
I performed my Chevy conversion on mine for the simple fact that bow parts were very expensive, I had on exhaust – cat manifold that was bad and just the part was 3000.00 U.S. Dollars and the cylinder head cracked as a result of the overheating, I only had about 15-1700 dollars total in the complete swap, I performed all the work myself in about 2-1/2 months time in my spare time
I’ve never quite understood the urge to put a 350 V8 motor in a Jag. I’ve always heard that the Jag engine was somewhat reliable–it’s just everything else that’s absolutely horrific.
Jag 6s are ok but its the cost of an overhaul that usually causes a V8 install
Loving your poetry there Bryce! (overhaul…install)
If it’s an old Jag, the crossflow Falcon six bolts up to the BW35. A mate did that to his. He had a paddock full of XDs so pulled a 4.1, rebuilt it, welded up mounts for it and all before he found someone who’d rebuild the (somewhat rare) 2.8.
It’s also that getting AT anything in the engine you might want to replace is sort of a project.
@ Canucklehead-
I’m sticking a big block in my ’66 Biscayne 🙂 . Handling was never ful-size Chevys’ forte anyway :)) .
The aluminum heads, intake, and water pump, along with a fiberglass front clip and trunk-mounted battery should help some.
I’m in shock. This is probably the first time ever where I’ve thought the US-spec bumpers look better than the Euro-spec ones… I never much liked that shape 7-series (proportions are a bit off I think), but with the bigger bumpers it actually gels!
Agreed on the looks. The sides are a bit flattish and the droopy tail ruins it for me.
Ah, this car brings memories, esp the cabin image. I practically grew up in one. Except the one I remember was a stick. It was also the first stick that I learned (almost) how to drive. I remember the frustration, too.
My then uncle drove an E23 in the mid- to late 90s. He worked on it and that car got a lot of love – I remember him wrenching regularly. This was in Europe so I’m pretty sure it was a stock Euro spec engine. Almost all of my current car “likes” go back to that car: boat (check), RWD (check), drivercentric dash with switches and controls all over the place (check), middle console dividing the front portion of the cabin (check), window switches in the middle console (check), thin a-pillars (check), no miles of dash between me and the windshield (i know, i’m describing most old cars, but this was where it all began for me), automatic (this was the car that turned me on to them, as a kid trying to get it right while still nervous about driving *period* was pretty frustrating).
The memory that trumps the driving lessons, however, is this one: my uncle took the car for a spin for no reason and I went with him. This was right after it had rained and he was spinning those wheels a lot. He had an aftermarket CD player installed and played Ozzy’s “No More Tears” album that day. He took the car to a back area behind the suburbs of a small town we lived in and drove it through about a dozen turns practically without braking, sending it into a tailspin several times, as the title track played. By the time he slammed the brakes finally bringing it to a stop I had been scarred and branded a motorhead forever.
Oh, and his was a black on black, and that leather interior was always perfect too… just a mean machine.
Chevy Chase drove one of these in the terrible movie “Nothing But Trouble.”
It was black, had chrome wheels, and I think a body kit.
Demi Moore was impressed at the time.
I have a 1983 BMW 733i with Black exterior & Red interior with a straight 6 cylinder, which is ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT? I have 259,000 miles & I drive it daily at speeds of 80-90 miles an hour? All this chariot needs is a hood! Remote control stereo w/ sirrus implanted 4 life by Kenwood. Come & get it 4 a measly $4000, will post to Ebay in October. Chevy material has no place in my BEAMER, only Chevy I have is a 99′ Chevy P30 Step Van 24′ length???
A mate was recently given a 733i with a very noisy motor. Was quoted $8000 to rebuild the engine. Old gent who owned it was was offered $200 at the wreckers for the vehicle! Body & interior is in pretty good nik so he give it to mate who is an engineer. I was curious if anyone had done a 350 Chev converion on one of these. We were wondering what to do with it so maybe a 350 Chev is the answer.
Go on Ebay & U will find an engine (rebuilt) for $4000? Its not hard to replace yourself, probably a weekend under a shade tree. Mine is still stroking @ 275,000 miles. A cloud of smoke upon start up and nothing else but power. HAND
I did a conversion on a 1979 733i, put a carbureted 350 v8 Chevy with a Chevy th350 auto, a lot of modifying to get it to be right, I had installed rack and pinion steering, remote oil filter and front sump oil pan just to get it to sit low enough to clear hood and still have no exhaust issues
My father bought an 1984 733i new. It was a beautiful machine. It could easily cruise at 85 mph all day. When my parents used to visit us at camp during the summer they would caravan with a Porsche Carrera and the guy in the 911 said he had trouble keeping up with the 7. Also, had it for a little over ten years and 150,000 miles, it did require a transmission rebuild but that is all. Pretty Reliable is what I mean. Wasn’ a nightmare.
I still think this is a gorgeous car especially compared to almost anything else available at the the time, it looked modern and sophisticated even compared with the W-126s. My favorite BMW body style including it’s younger brothers the famous 6-Series’ of the same vintage.The interior was really nice, The dash was angled towards the driver, the red gauge cluster was extremely legible. I loved the gear lever. just loved this car, wish I could have kept it. If anyone wants to see a cool Hollywood version of this 7 rent the movie “Nothing but Trouble” Chevy Chase has a really cool black one.
My GRM subscription and some articles posted in TTAC by SM, plus forums, etc… show that it’s neither the first nor the last BMW getting some sort of small block heart transplant.
I would like to see an E34 with some of the aluminium V8s swapped in. How about a 562i?
Did you check if Biff applied the three coats of wax requested by McFly Sr?
I have owned my E23 745i for over 12 years and at one time it was my DD. It’s s far from slow and has enough power to scare me. Especially when I stick my foot in it and the turbo has spooled up look out the beast is unleashed. It is a quality car with a lot of character and fun to drive. I will admit they are not cheap to maintain, especially if you rely on some else to do the work. I own American, British, Japanese, German, French, Italian, and Swedish cars and I love them all for their own characteristics. But one thing I would never do is put an SBC in a BMW.
In some camps BMW stands also for “Bring Mich Werkstatt”. Translation should be fairly self evident…
Unauthentic engine swaps make me a little sad. I wonder if a newer BMW I-6 would have worked, or perhaps a BMW V8. I get why people do it, but it just doesn’t feel right…
Always interesting to read of German cars being considered unreliable, or at least high maintenance.
In the UK, both BMW and VW are considered durable and reliable, probably with Mercedes the most reliable European brands.
American cars, however, although we get few, are considered to be flimsily made of cheaper materials.
Not saying either view is necessarily always right though…..
Big 6 BMW engines of this era are rugged durable units that can accumulate many miles. They are simple when compared to a Ford modular motor or a Cadillac Northstar. One problem I have encountered in my 12 years of BMW ownership is the indie shops. They are a bunch of prima donnas with very high labor rates. Some of them are very competent but they act like they are doing you a tremendous favor. I had one shop owner refuse to work on my car because it was “too old”. He didn’t think I was providing an adequate learning experience for his techs. After all how many 20+ year old BMW came through his shop anything they learned on my car was a waste of their time. Never mind that I was willing to pay his inflated labor rates for his knowledge.
Since when was the Ford Modular engine complicated? It’s a chain driven ohc motor with no necessary service intervals other than oil changes, and given that they’re practically bulletproof, there’s never any need to tear one open in the first place. The Northstar on the other hand…. +1 😛
I don’t hold vintage BMWs in quite as high regard as I do with Mercedes-Benz of the same period. Whatever Leather or simulated leather BMW uses has nothing on MB-tex. The seats are always severely cracked and worn, while the rest of the plasticy black interior has faded to varying shades of grey. Frankly, besides better ergonomics and design, old BMW interiors really aren’t any better than the average American car interior in terms of materials.
Chevy 350 engine is the most massed produced engine ever.. so there will be one in the corner of any Middle Town USA garage to transplant. Its always going to be a cheaper fix
than that complex Bimmer Mill. Fuel injection ah!. Any garage can fix a 350with a coat hanger.
Part of the reason the 350 chevy was sp popular inJaguars was that Jaguar used Turbo 400 transmissions. There’s no driveshaft shortening, no crossmember moving, and no hole cutting. Jaguar V12s also like to melt electrics.