Julio Coronado's 323i Turbo

Facts:

Bmw series:	323i
Production date:	13 April 1982
Color:	Polaris-metallic
Owner:	Julio Coronado
Country	Guatemala

It's a fact that the 2002 cult car is very appreciated by collectors which means that there is a lot of OEM parts and accessories available. That's not the case for the E21s with less parts and resources, making more difficult to restore and preserve them. Many people buy a BMW "because of the badge" but a real enthusiast knows: the real meaning is to understand their mechanics and enjoy the pleasure of driving them.

1982 E21 323i Turbo. It is one of the E21's survivors in Guatemala with the original inside and outside look. The reconstruction and performance tuning has been thrilling. I was so lucky to find a really good preserved 323i by its previous owner. It was abandoned because of a simple oil pan hit. The original marketing brochure provided by its first owner says that its original price was 21,150 Dutch marcs. Above, you can see a scanned page by the buy time with some options marked on it.

The body is in excellent conditions, during the general paint work there wasn't any rust to fix. It has all the original moulds, grilles and emblems.

Talking about special equipment, really appreciated by the E21's owners, it counts with OEM Recaro interior, A/C, sunroof, sport steering wheel, LSD with 3.25 ratio, new sport gearbox (dogleg) with 5000 Km. on it, Motorsport rear spoiler, 15" Alpina's rims, Hella front spoiler.

About the mechanics, the car has 90 thousand kilometers on it and only a thousand after a recent professional engine preparation. The highlights include forged Malhe pistons, final displacement of 2,504.36 cc (81mm bore x 81mm stroke), 9:3:1 compression ratio, polished combustion chamber, camshaft designed for M20 Turbo, more rigid valve springs, ETA-325e crankshaft, 323i-E30 cylinder head, mechanic boost activated valve time adjuster (by Porsche), oil radiator from M3-E30, bigger throttle from a 735i, bigger water pump, performance clutch, adjusted admission angles. All of these complemented by a Turbo kit specifically designed for the 323i in California, actually with 15psi of boost. The next step is an air-water intercooler.

Other improvements are the Brembo's front brake rotors, steel brake lines, H&R suspension, front & rear stress bars, Bosch's H4 headlamps upgrade, Hartge's gauge instrument panel replica (with oil pressure, turbo boost and air-fuel mixture). The next step is a bigger brake rotors with 4 pistons caliper.



It is not a limited edition and it only has 28 years on the road but for me is my Classic BMW.

This E21 is also registered on this website.