Demographic research

[BlueBomb]

I guess I am on the older end of the spectrum. I am 71 and just have my first 3.0CS. I am finally ready to retire and thought it would be great to have a beautiful hobby car to work on. I have always admired them, and decided to just get one and restore it. I previously had a 1969 1600 (1978 - 1984), a 2002 325i (2002 - 2011) and a 2011 328i (wife's cars). Now I have a 1972 3.0CS for myself!!

Oh, I am a shortie, just 5'8"!

 

[ccr2002]

51, wanted one in high school. My friend had one! I drive a tii. Bought my first about 10 years ago. Now I have four.

Once read that you always love the car you wanted when you were 14.

 

[Arde]

Once read that you always love the car you wanted when you were 14.

Renault R4 for me then.

 

[bmwkai]

I was born in 1970, and the first car I remember was my granddads brandnew 2002. He really loved it, but when we looked at carmagazines he told me that the 3.0 csi was the dream car. He never could afford one, but I saw his passion about it and fell in love with it as well.
I bought my first coupé when I was 30 - a 1974 3.0 csi.
In 2008 I bought a 1970 2800 cs, it should have ben a parts-car, but now my DD and my daughter aged 4 loves it...

 

[mulberryworks]

Bell curve

I purchased my car two years ago when I was 55. I'll be 58 in a few days.
I had seen one parked in San Francisco only a few years before when it really caught my eye. I really didn't have much awareness of the Vintage BMWs before that as I had never ridden in one. 20 years of Volvo and Mercedes ownership preceded BMWs.
I was 5' 11.5", but now that's about 5'10".

Ian

 

[Rek]

I was born in 1970, and the first car I remember was my granddads brandnew 2002. He really loved it, but when we looked at carmagazines he told me that the 3.0 csi was the dream car. He never could afford one, but I saw his passion about it and fell in love with it as well.
I bought my first coupé when I was 30 - a 1974 3.0 csi.
In 2008 I bought a 1970 2800 cs, it should have ben a parts-car, but now my DD and my daughter aged 4 loves it...

I'm glad there are some young people on the forum. One never knows when one might need some spare parts, like a kidney or two (spleen?).

 

[Aussiecsi]

...so it seems by now we have a representative statistical sample ?...if you own an E9 , the probability is that you're an old(ish ) bastard .

 

[Aussiecsi]

...so it seems by now we have a representative statistical sample ?...if you own an E9 , the probability is that you're an old(ish ) bastard .

...but 6' 2" and starting to shrink (probably with a dowager's hump ) . Lucky this survey is not about owning a Model T Ford !

 

[GGR]

Yes, I'm surprised that most of us are over 50. I'm also into older Mercedes (110, 111, 113 chassis) and there too people are most often (well) over 50, and often originality Ayatollahs. Originality is a bit less of an issue on this board (5 speed and 3.5L conversions) so I thought age average would be lower. It may not be only a question of age after all.

 

[Arde]

I'm glad there are some young people on the forum. One never knows when one might need some spare parts, like a kidney or two (spleen?).

Oh, my organ donor card just lists a huge spleen and a brain with low miles...

 

[Philippe db]

Like with many other hobby's the question could be raised if interest in these cars, once our generation is gone, will still be there.

Something I also noticed at the Essen Classic show, 1950 & '60 cars seem to attract more interest by the generation before ours. Given the choice I would always go for an early 911 or a Mercedes Pagode or an E9 in stead of a 356 or a 190 SL or 2000CS. The opposite seems to be true for people born in the fifties.

So who knows what younger generations will like to own when they reach our age.

 

[Gransin]

Seems like I'm one of the (few?) younger guys here, currently 28 and bought my e9 when I was 25.

I can't say that I fell in love with e9s when I was young, because I don't think I've ever seen one before I was around 22. But when I rested my eyes on that one I knew I had to have one someday, and that day came faster than I could have wished for. I've had many different BMWs before, several E30s, E39, E46, E61 and now we/my gf have an E91 daily driver.

And oh yes, 6' 4"

Cheers,

 

[Ski coach]

I purchased my first E9, a 74 3.0Cs, in 1994 at age 40. It was totally original having been owned by an old BMW dealer from Maine. I sold it in 1999 with a total of 32K miles and have since learned it has won several Greenwich concours. I regretted that sale soon afterwards.
I began my search for my next E9 in 2013 and stumbled into the opportunity to purchase a 73 CSL with an extremely interesting history. A complete restoration of the car was completed in 2015 at VSR and I'll be proudly showing it this August at The Quail.
I am now 61, partially retired, and passionate about BMW's with carburetors.

 

[Doug Dolan]

I'll turn 70 in May. Bought my first E9 (1973 Agave 3.0 CS) in 1996 at age 50. Bought my second (current) E9 (1972 Tundra 3.0 CS with S38 M5 engine) in 2000 just before turning 54.

 

[Honolulu]

Okay, I'll confess to having mine for some 25 years or so, can't remember exactly the year I got it, but there was one job then, and several since...

I'm 63, 6'6", 270 lbs but I was lighter then, and still surfing. Surf racks on a CS? Heck yeah, and they carry a lot of lumber when the surf's flat.

Had a 2800 CS briefly. You could slap a door and get - literally and repeatedly - a double handful of red cornflakes from the ground below. I took one part from it and sold the rest, running but pulling to one side, for $750. A $35 brake hose would have had it going straight, but the rust, no...no...no...

 

[x_atlas0]

Snagged mine when I was 20, now I'm 31. I'm pretty sure I'll finish it "soon".

 

[doubledutch]

Bought my coupe on Craigslist 4 years ago at the age of 44. I have always loved the early-mid 70's European cars. For me it was a toss up between a Romeo GTV or a BMW E9, the coupe won out. My uncle in Holland owned a E9 in the mid 70's and I remember sitting behind wheel many a times drooling over the interior, I knew I had to get one at some point in my life.
5.10" (180cm) not quite 6'" Stan...

 

[Roger S]

Purchased my first e9 (1970 2800cs) from a forum member in 2004 at 32 years of age. Sold it to another forum member a year later and immediately regretted the sale. This led to the expansion of the disease, and the purchase of two more e9s (1973 3.0cs). Paul Cain's 3.8csi only made it worse. I abandoned my 911 and turned my back on my 80s "Jones."

The "Jones-ing" or lust was for the 6 series (e24) models of the mid to late 1980s. Moonlighting and Spencer for Hire, for me, were more about "the" car. Admittedly, Cybil Shepherd was, well, I rarely missed an episode. I recall visiting the Frank Lloyd Wright designed BMW showroom in Midtown Manhattan (now gutted) and the salesperson being very accommodating to a skinny 14 year old with a T-square and drawing tube sticking out of his bag, and offering a new brochure and full access to the showroom. Architecture and automotive design was, and still is, two of my greatest passions.

I learned to drive on a 1976 BMW 2002 and a 1974 Ford Capri. I still chuckle at the memory of shifting all my weight to sink the clutch, then garnering all my strength to turn the wheel, only to have the car buck and stall.

I am a shrinking 6'1 due to spinal compression.

 

[deQuincey]

i have no age,... but i was born in 1968
never saw an e9 in my whole life until i saw the blue one that is now mine
bought her in 2008 for 6750 €
i am not interested in bmws, only e9
i love all what is around this car, the people, even when something goes wrong, because, despite what GQ said: " a broken toy, is still a toy, now there is the chance to fix it;-)" IMHO
i am 1,80m tall

 

[johanaxelson]

Am 52 and 6'3", bought current coupe in like 2000. Had one for a few years around 1990 as well.

Saw my first when I was like 8 or 10 and it stuck in my mind.