1983 BMW 7-Series

Sedan

3.3 inline 6

Manual

WBAFF7401D7395750

Clear

Gasoline

This is an amusing, comfortable car that has an old-baseball-glove feel to it (and not just because of the well-worn leather seats). It's a throwback to an era when BMW's top-of-the-line sedan could be had with a stickshift and manually adjustable seats. It runs and drives well, almost everything works, and it looks great -- the rare 80's car that could be described as "classy." The e23 bodystyle was the first of the 7-series.It's also seemingly the exact same car that the Steve character drove in "Stranger Things." Same color and the same year, assuming Steve's rich parents got him a brand new one. Don't know if he had the stick, though. Seemed like an automatic kind of guy. Great hair though.In addition to the 5-speed, it came from the factory with a limited slip differential. It has a modern stereo with bluetooth and a microphone for hands-free calls. The cruise control still works. I also have a mediocre-condition set of Euro bumpers that I never got around to installing. I painted the body color portions to match the car, but didn't do a great job. I also found when trial fitting the rear bumper that the aftermarket exhaust system installed by the previous owner would need to be modified to not stick out so far, so I put that project on the back burner. These will go with the car if the new owner wants them.While it seems to have been well taken care of its whole life (and certainly has been in the 9 months I've owned it), it is 33 years old, so it's not perfect. The front seats have some cracks in the leather, and the horsehair padding in the rear bench is mostly gone. The body and paint are in great shape, but there are a few small spots where the clearcoat has flaked off. There are some discolorations on the carpet, headliner and door panels.Actual mileage is unknown, as the odometer was frozen at approx. 155,000 when I bought the car. I replaced it with a used speedometer that was at 185,000 and change, but that odometer soon quit working as well (thought the speedo is fine). The rest of the gauges, and even the service indicator lights, work great.Other recent work includes:Brakes -- previous owner did front pads and rotors not too long before I got it, and I did the rears. I also did a brake fluid flushValve adjustmentWater pump (new)Radiator (good used)Repair of automatic climate control (everything works with the exception of the air conditioning. . . the compressor was noisy, so I removed the belt)Repair of gauge pod / service indicator lightsclutch master and slave cylindersFuel pressure regulatorSpark plugsOxygen sensorThe remaining problems are small and don't get in the way of daily driving, but are as follows:1)Rear defroster doesn't work. It's getting power, but the grid lines must be too far gone2)The thermo-time switch is disconnected. It seemed to be forcing the car to go into cold-start mode when it didn't need to, causing it to run rich sometimes. I disconnected the switch and that solved the problem; it just means it has to crank a few seconds longer on cold starts, which I don't mind3)There's a very slow coolant leak that I haven't been able to track down. It needs the coolant topped up every couple of weeks (there's a coolant level warning light to remind you). It's not burning it -- spark plugs all look good and uniform, no coolant in the oil, no white smoke -- and it doesn't leave any puddles, in or out of the car. So I suspect a very slow leak. I replaced the water pump with a new one, and installed a good used radiator, in an attempt to track this down, but no luck so far.4)I suspect it could stand having the injectors cleaned, as it occasionally runs a bit rough a idle, but then smooths out as it's given more throttle.Tires and battery are good. Again, it's a really pleasant car and could be daily driven as-is or fixed up a little bit more, depending on the new owner's desire. I'm selling simply to thin the herd a bit. Email with any questions.