The is the car I have had the second longest.
1983 BMW 745i. Most folks in the U.S. don’t know what it is. Never sold in the U.S. A physician brought this one over when it was brand new in 1983. Factory turbocharged. It was the second fastest sedan in the world in 1984. I converted mine from auto trans to a five speed in 2001. Completely changed the character of the car. None of the original 745i cars were stick shift. Interior is all water buffalo hide. 37 years old and not one crack in the leather. I bought it out of a salvage yard in the mid 90s with most of the engine in the trunk, and lots of little Euro only turbo parts missing. But, the body was cherry. Had it up and running in less than 6 weeks. I moved a lot faster back then.
This car originally had a self leveling rear suspension, referred to as SLS. A previous owner removed it. When the SLS was removed, the PO installed M tech springs at all four corners. These springs are not common, and virtually impossible to find. I thought it sat just a bit too high, so I cut one coil off each spring. At the same time, I installed Bilstien HD struts at all four corners. Again, the car was transformed. The M springs are already stiffer than the standard U.S. model 7 series would have . Cutting a coil effectively raises the spring rate, so it is considerably stiffer than a stock 745i, and way stiffer than a U.S. model 733i or 735i. I have a friend down in Texas that has a set of larger than stock Dinan sway bars. He won’t sell them, but keeps saying he is going to manufacture some copies.
I started messing with adjustable boost controls and a performance chip in about 2003. At one time I was running 15 to 17 psi. Factory boost is 6 psi. Caused too many issues; head gaskets, cv joint breakage, guibo destruction, and even twisted a driveshaft about 10 degrees. Chassis just wasn’t made for the 500+ pounds of torque I was making. Have it at a more sane 11 psi since 2012 and it is much more reliable, although not quite as exciting. Still, for some unknown reason, rear tires wear out at an alarming rate.
This one was my daily driver for years. I still enjoy driving it. We take it to work from time to time. It keeps up with most modern cars (not the hyper performance cars by any means). I had to replace the air flow meter last month. The original had 320,000 miles on it, so not surprising that it finally quit. I sent it off to be rebuilt. While waiting on that part to come back, I ran across an NOS AFM for a measly $275 with free shipping. What a stroke of luck. When they were available from BMW, they were $900. I paid more than $275 to have the original one rebuilt. Just got it back the other day, so will keep it as a spare. One problem with Euro only cars is you have to have spares of all the Euro only parts. I have three ECUs for this car. After getting the new AFM on, I took it for a test drive. Had to make sure I had the “chipped” ecu in it. It is easy to tell the difference. On the stock ECU, when boost gets to about 8 psi, it cuts off the fuel. So, I take it out to the interstate, get on the on ramp and put my foot in it going through the gears. I look down and my boost gauge is at 11 psi, the fuel pressure is up and my AFR meter shows 12.5:1. All is good. Cruises at about 16:1. Look at the speedo, and I had just hit 120 going uphill and wasn’t even off the on ramp yet.
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