The BMW E23 is the first BMW 7 Series

BMW 7 Series

The BMW 7 Series is a line of full-size luxury vehicles produced by the German automaker BMW. Introduced in 1977, it is BMW's flagship car and is only available as a sedan or extended-length limousine...

 luxury car, produced by the German automaker BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

. Replacing the BMW E3 large sedan, the E23 was produced for ten years from 1977 to 1987 and was replaced by the BMW E32

BMW E32

After almost 7 years in development since September 1979, in July 1986, BMW introduced the second generation of the 7 series, known internally as the E32. Aimed at the high end of the luxury market, the car offered some of the latest innovations in automotive technology, and a new, top-of-the-line...

 7 Series in 1986.
All E23 7 Series models (with the exception of the 745i) were built with the 12-valve M30

BMW M30

The BMW M30 is an inline-6 cylinder engine built by BMW and was used in many different models since 1968. It was originally developed in the late 1960s as an extended 2.5-liter version of the robust inline four-cylinder BMW M10 first used in the 'Neue Klasse' BMW 1500, with which it shares a...

 six-cylinder engine as used in the older E3 and E9 cars. Although most E23 engines were fuel-injected

Fuel injection

Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....

, two models (the 728 and 730) were available with a Solex four-barrel carburetor until 1979, when they were replaced by the fuel-injected 728i.