M535i not the fastest sedan in 1980

["Brian Foster" <prsncat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> At the time of its debut in 1980 it was
> the fastest production sedan in the world.  
> At the time it did 0-60 in 7.1 secs and topped out at 141 mph.  

I am sorry to contradict Dr. Garrettson, but I must beg to differ with
this statement. The "World's Fastest Sedan" title was claimed by Alpina
and not "M" for their 530i modified into the B7. Ron Wakefield wrote
an article for R&T -- if I remember right -- re-iterating Alpina's claim
that their turbocharged B7 was the "world's fastest sedan."

According to my Alpina references, the B7 has:
 - 2986 cc
 - 300 hp @ 6,000 RPM
 - 340 lb-ft @ 6,000 RPM
 - ~155MPH top speed
...but I don't have the "M" information to compare to.

I owned one of the 60 E12 B7S's. They were not actually built until late
1981 (mine was #13 built in Nov 1981) so they don't qualify as the fastest
sedan in 1980.

BTW, building the B7S in 1981 is unusual -- think about it -- the factory
was already building the E28's at this time! FWIW, the B7S were a step
above the B7 with a 3.5L and 330 hp (mine had the later head so it was
estimated to be over 350 hp).

However, I might add that the price he is asking for the M535i is not
unreasonable for a car like this. 

The E12 rear differential mount repair should have been done differently.
The best way to do this is to remove everything in the rear (suspension
mounts, gas tank, etc.) and reinforce the entire circumference of the
trunk floor in addition to strengthening the diff mount area. Ask the
buyer of the B7S (from me) how I know that! :-)

Cheers,
Brian Foster

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