BMW e23 build

[softg]

this is great, love the old 7's

subbed

[foxtrot wagon]

I already said it on the previous page, but Im absolutely in love with this.

I recently picked up an 86 e23 for a daily. but thanks to you, my w108 is slowly taking a backseat because all I want to do is put my e23 on the ground hahaha.

can't wait to see more photos of it man.

[csermonet47]

Love it! Nice work too. Looks like you know what you are doing.

[2win]

Great, finally a E23!

[Snappy]

I've wanted one of these for years. I'm still waiting to find the perfect one to jump on!

[P78]

damn

laid on the floor it looks wicked

[foxtrot wagon]

this car is perfect. absolutely perfect.

[MommysLittleMonster]

Psh, lower it more.










Just kidding. Car looks amazing! I'm pleasantly surprised to see you're swapping in a 5-speed, too- automatic cars are just so... dull.

Keep up the great work, this should turn out to be an incredible build.

[markshulikov]

dope man, lookin g!

[NegativeCamber]

awesome, saw one of these at the junkyard yesterday and was strangely attracted to it.

Whats strange? They are awesome cars. Once you drive one, you will understand.

haha. +1 to what Rodney said....plus I think he still has one for sale

[Rdn86lude]

awesome, saw one of these at the junkyard yesterday and was strangely attracted to it.

Whats strange? They are awesome cars. Once you drive one, you will understand.

[budski]

awesome, saw one of these at the junkyard yesterday and was strangely attracted to it.

[NegativeCamber]

So the stock alternator had worn out brushes and was taking a pounding with my two compressors running for the suspension. The stock '83 alternator was a weak 90A, so I decided it was time to upgrade with a larger unit. The cheapest way to get there is to use a stock 140A BMW e32 unit. Rebuilt ones can run under 100 dollars, so there is much bang for your buck. Here is how I made it work.


First remove the top nut so that you can slide out the adjustment bolt.



Lower the fan shroud so that you will be able to pull the lower alternator bolt out. You will also need to remove the oil filter housing, since it will be in the way when you install the new lower alternator bolt.






On the e32 alternator, you can see that the mounting points on the housing are much further apart than the e23 unit.



A 5.5" long M8 bolt should do, but I couldn't find one of that length, so a 6" long 5/16" bolt would do as well. You will need to fill that gap with spacers.




After measuring how long the spacer needed to be, I taped up the washers so that its easier to handle. Jiggling that lower bolt in from up top can be tricky. You will need to insert the lower bolt starting from the oil filter side, as the new bolt is too long to be inserted from the radiator side.






Once that is in place, a couple of washers are needed to space out the top adjustment bolt as it may be a tad long. You will need to crimp a new larger wire ring terminal for the D+ post, as its a bit too small. You can see here that its necessary to remove the oil filter housing in order to access inserting and tightening the lower bolt. I will later install an elbow for the alternator's air flow port.

[WideFive]

i think i need to cop the 735i like this one that's for sale locally now....and do this haha

[rossrz]

keep going please. so my girlfriend and I don't have to rent a movie. we find this build is very intriguing.