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Upper Nose Panel and Lower Valance This area can be rusty on the underside of the upper nose panel without showing signs of rust from the top. Its also difficult to see without taking the grilles off, but you can shine a flashlight down inside the holes on the upper panel and get a good idea...

The rear shock towers collect most of their moisture from underneath from the road. If the trunk has the "skins" over the wheel wells it can be hard to inspect the shock towers but most of the issues occur around the top mount area and can weaken over time, causing catastrophic damage.

The spare tire well can rust from moisture collected because it's the lowest part of the trunk, so if there's any leaks around the trunk seal, rear panel or anywhere from above around the rear window all the water ends up in the spare tire well. It's fairly easy to inspect, first by looking...

Front and Rear Windows The front and rear window frames are one of those areas that can have rust problems without any visible signs from the outside. The car pictured below looked fairly nice up until the rear window actually fell out! The entire rear sheet metal section of this frame had to...

Front Fenders Usually pretty easy to spot since its visible under the hood, but there is a factory installed sound deadening material adhered to the top of the fenders that can cover up rust areas. Pay attention to the seam just inside the edge where the hood meets the fender. E9 fenders are...

Floor Pans Inspecting the floor pans can sometimes be a little challenging. From the inside you have to pull the carpeting and padding back first, then the sound proofing material is exposed. The material is bonded on to the floor pans and is not easily removed. The only way to check for rust...

Rocker Panels The "rocker panels" are located below the doors and extend from one wheel well to the other. Even though rocker panels on most cars are important, the fact that the CS doesn't have a "B" pillar makes them that much more vital. A decorative rocker cover is mounted on the outside of...

Front Wheel Wells Probably the most common area on a coupe to have rust is in the front wheel well and firewall area. There's an inherent design flaw in the area behind the front wheels and in front of the firewall that allows water and moisture to collect. All of the seams that connect the...

What does e9 mean anyway? The BMW 3.0CS/i/L, 2800CS, and the 2500CS all share the same body style. BMW names its models based on the body. This particular chassis has the designation E9. So, to cover all the possible models, this kind of car is usually referred to as an E9.

What models were available? There were several versions of coupes using the E9 chassis: 2800CS, 3.0CS, 3.0CSi, 3.0CSL and 2500CS. The numbers denote the displacement of the engine (2800=2.8L, 3.0=3.0L, etc) and all cars share the same basic engine (M30) which is a single overhead cam straight...

How long were coupes produced and how many were made? The production run lasted from December1968 to mid 1975. The body started as the 2800CS and ended with the 2.5CS. Approximately 30,565 E9s were made over the entire production run. Official US cars came entirely through Max Hoffman, as there...

How much were coupes new and what did they come with? The car had a base price of ~$10k US when launched and the base model had quite a few options from the start. The price eventually reached $16k US in 1974. Buyers could add several nice options, including: Leather seats Air Conditioning...

What is the difference between a euro e9 and a US e9? There are many significant differences between US and Euro E9's, surprisingly most of which have little to do with the drivetrain. Fans of euro cars often look to the bumpers for clues on the initial target market. An important note for...

Where should I look for an e9 purchase? More often than not, coupes can be found in the normal places. https://www.ebay.com and https://www.bringatrailer.com are the usual starting points, a variety of classic car trader sites and craigslist.com is becoming more and more popular. However, one...

How are e9 values looking? Edit: 08/2020 - E9 values are very fluid, but have seen positive growth since 2008 that would rival the best investments in your financial portfolio. This is evident and almost humorous by revisiting forum classified ads from 5-10 years ago. What hasn't changed is the...

Will it cost a mint to restore my e9? The mechanicals for the car are still available from BMW or are (for the most part) interchangeable with a later car, with that part still being made by BMW. Unfortunately, the mechanicals are the easy part. If you find a coupe with no drivetrain but a...

What are common issues withe the e9? Mechanically, the cars are very durable, although the M30 can be prone to blowing head gaskets. This is largely due to the lack of cooling on the stock E9 for hot climates. The car was designed for the far more moderate European climate, hence the trouble...

How can I find more information about my e9? BMW Classic maintains records on all the coupes produced, so if you can get the VIN you can email them and they can tell you a bit about the car. They can usually tell you when the car was made, when it was delivered to the exporter, what kind it...

I think this happens a lot more than we think. Small dealers have some space and want a car that attracts attention, along with the chance to make some good money. The owner gets free storage.

+1 My mechanical pump works just fine, but if the car sits for a while, which it does, I sometimes have to put a battery charger on it and also a squirt of carb cleaner or WD-40 so it doesn't crank a long time.