bmwe21.net forums

Hi!

My name is Pedro, I'm portuguese and I've got my BMW E21 320/6 for almost 2 years.
The car was buit in 11/1981 and was matriculated in Portugal in 01/1982. It's an original M20B20 engine, with Getrag 5-speed gearbox, Zypressengrun-Metall color, and cloth interior in 0094 - Pergament color.
The car has only 70500 Kms and I've managed to know almost its entire history in the 37 years old...
The interior was in very good shape, but the drivers seat lower cloth was a bit weared out so I managed to find 1 meter of the original cloth in France that I used to substitute the lower center cloth of the front seats.
In order to maintain the original cloth (that I learnt that is extremely rare) I made and installed some seat protectors, with the same factory pattern and design.
The car was never restored, only resprayed because original painting was in bad shape because of the year it has been stopped.
Other goodies that I installed after I bought the car were the BMW Petri Sport steering wheel and 13 inch original BBS Mahle wheels (I'm a great defender of the original spec..., although I like all good taste upgrades!)...
Mechanically, I've overhauled the Solex carburator with the complete restore kit, and substituted rubber stuff like cooling system tubes, brake lines and fuel lines. I've also substituted the fuel pump and central and rear exhaust.
In the future I'm thinking in the possibility of an Eibach Prokit in order to lower a bit the car, and maybe a Weber conversion carburator...

Here are some pics of it:









and the original seat cloth:

Very nice and well conserved car!! Seats look like new!
You have the normal 5 speed eco gearbox, not the sport gearbox, or the plate on the shifter is wrong. Sport gearbox has the 1 below the R. So the 2 and 3 and the 4 and 5 are opposite of eachother, to be able to shift faster.

Hi!
Thanks for the correction! I've been wrongly told that my gearbox was a sport one and I believed because gears are very short...
But I've read about dogleg gearbox and it makes sense that dogleg is the sport one.

Yeah, dogleg is the sport gearbox. I have one of those in my 323i.

What a beautiful original car!

Hi Pedro, welcome here and amazing car indeed!

Thank you for the compliments!
It's indeed a good car and it is in good shape...
But I'm in a dilemma. In order to retain its value I must maintain it's characteristics, but at the same time I'd like to improve it in some key areas like suspension, brakes and carburetor.
I must figure this out

As long as you don't go over the top, keeping original parts, the value even improves.

- brakes: convert to vented 323i brakes in front, and 323i discs (complete swingarms) at the rear, maybe even with e30 calipers. (How to on the forum here)

- suspension: bilstein b8 shocks, eibach springs for a much better handling suspension, 15" Alpina or BBS Mahle

- Carb: weber conversion, but modify the original air intake, so it looks original. Keep the original carb with the car.

For more suggestions: take a look at Peter V. his 320/6.

Nice pics - Looks great!

uwbuurman wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:52 pm As long as you don't go over the top, keeping original parts, the value even improves.

- brakes: convert to vented 323i brakes in front, and 323i discs (complete swingarms) at the rear, maybe even with e30 calipers. (How to on the forum here)

- suspension: bilstein b8 shocks, eibach springs for a much better handling suspension, 15" Alpina or BBS Mahle

- Carb: weber conversion, but modify the original air intake, so it looks original. Keep the original carb with the car.

For more suggestions: take a look at Peter V. his 320/6.

My idea for the Weber conversion was the direct fit Weber 38 DGES, that includes the adapter for original air filter case.
The 3 side Webers kit is a dream, but way too expensive for me right now And almost as important as the cost, having someone locally that's able to tune them up correctly...
Suspension wise, Billies B6 or B8 and Eibach springs seems the best setup right now.
And brakes, well, that's really difficult to get 323 material here, at least at reasonable prices...

To be honest, I'm beeing a little picky with the original Solex 4A1 carburetor...
After its restoration it just works normally apart from random low idle at normal temperature (most of the time around 500 rpm). Sometimes it just works like a charm around 800 rpm, but most of the times it's just low (although the M20B20 manages to stay alive without shaking the car!).
Other thing that bothers me a bit is the exhaust smell. It's very very strong! When I bought it, it was obvious that was carburetor related because the mixture was way too rich, and at MOT the CO value was high. But after carburetor restoration, the mixture has been adjusted, CO has lowered, but the smell keeps strong
Here I can't compare with other 320/6 because there aren't many (at least near the state of mine), but 323i don't smell roses, but a lot better compared to mine.
And it doesn't burn oil, at least in a measurable way...

Very nice car. Just keep it like original but modify only what gives you a better drive.

Since my car is mentioned.... The eibach with bilstein B6 has made a big improvement, even with 13 inch wheels.

The solex carb is rebuild as you said. I think you know that you have two mixture screws in it which must be in balance. The 320/6 always smells a bit richer from the exhaust then a 323i. If you have more questions about the 320-6 just tell and there is always someone here to help.

By the way, where in Portugal do you live?

Fantastic car in a beatifull color !!!

Peter V. wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:26 am Very nice car. Just keep it like original but modify only what gives you a better drive.

Since my car is mentioned.... The eibach with bilstein B6 has made a big improvement, even with 13 inch wheels.

The solex carb is rebuild as you said. I think you know that you have two mixture screws in it which must be in balance. The 320/6 always smells a bit richer from the exhaust then a 323i. If you have more questions about the 320-6 just tell and there is always someone here to help.

Thanks Peter!
I really apreciate the exchange of knowledge