Evaluation: Part of The Bavarian Legends Collection. First owned by BMW AG in Munich and possibly used as a pool car for executives. Great condition factory paint with only a few small chips to the bonnet. The factory sunroof and exterior trim all look undisturbed. The interior follows the theme and is original and virtually untouched. A loaded genuine survivor showing 16,919 km (10,513 miles), but like all cars out of this collection has been sitting for too long to drive it anywhere confidently.
Bottom Line: The E23 is the first generation of BMW’s flagship luxury 7 Series and was produced from 1977 to 1986. It was the first BMW with an on-board computer, service interval indicator, a dashboard warning light panel, and ABS. BMW sold over 280,000 examples worldwide but there aren’t a ton of survivors out there due to complexity and deferred maintenance, and the 745i is the latest, most developed, and quickest.
That only goes a small part of the way in explaining this final price, which is over five times the high estimate. Over 80 percent of the cars out of this collection exceeded their high estimate but this is another one that defies logic in favor of emotion. Even so, the new owner can likely brag of having the cleanest first gen 7-Series out there, and that counts for a lot.
Older BMW’s are incredible. I am (and am not) surprised at the price this one brought.
I have a 1987 BMW L6 that is better than a barn find because it has been kept in my garage since I purchased it almost 25 years ago. Driving it has been such a pleasure. Time to sell it – as is. Wouldn’t take much effort to bring back to showroom condition. Clean, straight.