Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 2 Claudio Pizarro and Michael Essien help Chelsea set an English record for unbeaten league matches at home.
Under Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho, Chelsea had not suffered a home defeat in the Premier League for 63 games, matching Liverpool's efforts in the top flight between 1978 and 1981.
Former Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell had given the visitors an early lead before Claudio Pizarro and Florent Malouda marked their home debuts with goals for the hosts.
With Mourinho's men looking comfortable, Olivier Kapo drifted in from the left and found the top corner with a spectacular strike nine minutes before the break, to see Birmingham City end the first half on level terms.
Frank Lampard was named skipper in the absence of John Terry, while Birmingham's Liam Ridgewell, the summer signing from bitter rivals Aston Villa, was given the captain's armband in the absence of the injured Damien Johnson.
Forssell was given a warm reception by home fans but almost upset them with a fifth-minute shot from the edge of the area that Petr Cech gathered at the second attempt.
cleared the crossbar
The first chance for the hosts came shortly after Forssell's effort, with the move started by Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross-field pass. Salomon Kalou held the ball up and fed Malouda, who cleared the crossbar with his sidefoot finish. Wright-Phillips was in the thick of the action, crossing for Pizarro to have a header saved by Colin Doyle. The England winger then won the ball off Ridgewell and fired wide after Pizarro played him through.
The visitors, however, took the lead in the 15th minute through Forssell. Gary McSheffrey's curling free-kick was flicked on by Ridgewell, with Forssell's header wrong-footing Cech.
The lead lasted just two minutes, with Pizarro levelling matters. Malouda had set Wright-Phillips away down the right and his low pull-back was met crisply by the Peru striker, although Doyle should have kept the effort out.
unstoppable drive
Chelsea were ahead on the half-hour mark. Lampard was fed on the edge of the area, with his flick finding Kalou who scooped the ball through for Malouda to sidefoot home.
However, Chelsea were stunned in the 36th minute when Kapo drifted in from the left, bundled his way past Glen Johnson and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top corner.
Chelsea regained the lead in the 50th minute, with Wright-Phillips finding Michael Essien on the edge of the area and the Ghana midfielder finding the top corner, with Doyle getting a hand to his curling effort.
Chelsea could have extended their lead when Kalou had an effort saved at point-blank range by Doyle. And Drogba almost caught Doyle off his line with a volley from the halfway line but the ambitious effort drifted wide.
Salomon Kalou had the ball in the net in the fourth minute of injury-time - but he had long since been penalised for straying offside - and soon after the match was over.