air cleaner color

dbower

dbower

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Folks: I know this has been discussed before, but here is some new info (I think) regarding the debate about correct color for your air cleaner.

I contacted BMW Classic for what I hope is a definitive answer for the original air cleaner color on my '71 2800 CS (June 1970 build). Here is their response:
________________________________________

Hello Mr. Bower,

thank you for your inquiry.

The Paintcode of the Aircleaner is RAL 7021

kind regards

Maximilian Karmann


0


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BMW Group
Maximilian Karmann
Corporate Affairs
BMW Group Classic AK-51
Product Manager Parts Sales
Moosacherstrasse Straße 66
80809 München

Mailing address:
80788 München

Email [email protected]
Web: http://www.bmwgroup.com/

http://shop.bmw-classic.com

-------------------------------------------------- ------------------
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Board: Harald Krüger (Chairman),
Milagros Caiña Carreiro-Andree, Markus Duesmann,
Friedrich Eichiner, Klaus Fröhlich, Ian Robertson,
Peter Schwarzenbauer, Oliver Zipse.
Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Norbert Reithofer
Register court: Munich HRB 42243
_________________________________________

Note that Mr. Karmann is responding specifically to my vehicle so I don't know if the color changed before or after this. For reference, here is the RAL chart, showing clearly that RAL 7021 is a dark gray:

http://www.ralcolor.com/

As an aside, this confirms what Lothar Schuettler told me recently. I remain mystified why so many (including mine) are light gray.

Don
 
The grey that I am referring to is this one as found on my '73 in 1986, I've seen it on others as well:

pb4OdSVkFnnPmY2-zL_vKBNwru3migcuIru4tGLLTt_DOIiqF05oVXx25ZWREUbURMMdEp1kft9WhZ4QyY2MMpAv7n4oVhaWBVWpzpRkaSX2YlV_NnHlmbXiFyG9zJnESxP2T74adNye9ftl6FjulKb-3v0Ug_nPtYLa7v0AOrBkrI291dSFY7jIr_3SLdGAHRd0Fxh-vDpzhFdUm1iSJqlW5ysn3GkpfBJtiXNsFJC7aT41pRmbUeocn9_GinEcM-yEr9FS3PtgDVzJA1DGrWmnn36pY4PcoU0pmR4TW5xm4nWW2ynVclxI00dgyzhYoSb819H_0SHtuOXYuP7PIVaeDYi4lg1QZy2w5_2XjfvCpNQfU-X5fsj8e5akaKDkGygSm4F8SSSfOVcf8X2QDb27nxibWCI_LfEi79Fk6jGC1VIl9gRkKgyTQw-ad4uleRzpm24QjQpbL39fEEHSQX_0Clyyuw7gMK4ZRKdwiATJPBDo-X0jmdYUMwAlz4P9rJW-lEfG0R1h1_k2-nVuLqNzZj2Sk1i5jax3QG4FVgqvKW9dE1icnhwMSWNoqrabxs3YvZZNXuOIvw89mVz_NuE3r0sQXPombaxf96jpI94zsGIy=w997-h699-no
 
not a respray,
@Stevehose yes you are right, there were at least 2 different greys, one dark green grey and the other light grey

and i even wonder if there is not a third one as a sort of olive green

as to ral, i recall discussing with a shop about 7021 and 7043, for the greendark version, but i have to check

nonetheless i give little trust to bmw official response, not sure if they are aware of what happened in "Chez Karmann" back in the seventies,...;-)
 
I'm looking at an actual RAL 7021 chip (you can't judge color on a monitor) and there's no way that's the right color—its charcoal gray, almost black. I think the number may have been accidentally transposed, because 7012 is a dark gray/green that matches the BMW Museum images above almost perfectly. Its also the color of the air cleaner on my '74. Here's a pic from my trip and you can see how lighting throws things off because here the color has a bluish tint.
IMG_2747.JPG
 
The plot thickens. I contacted Mr Karmann again to follow up on the note copied above, asking specifically about the reason for so many light gray air cleaners. Here is his answer:
______________________
Hello Mr. Bower,

Attached you can see the engine bay of two different cars.
One is a engine with a carburetor, the other is an injektion engine.

Kind regards
Maximilian Karmann

Von meinem Windows Phone gesendet
_____________________

As you can see, he doesn't really answer the light gray issue. I assume the photos below (attached to Mr Karmann's note) are of air cleaner housings that Mr Karmann considers to be original color. They appear to me to be very similar to the photos posted above of the engine on display at the factory -- and somewhat lighter in color than RAL 7021. So glad I could clarify all this.

Don
WP_20161116_09_44_10_Pro.jpg
WP_20161116_09_44_57_Pro.jpg
 
dbower said:
The plot thickens. I contacted Mr Karmann again to follow up on the note copied above, asking specifically about the reason for so many light gray air cleaners. Here is his answer:
______________________
Hello Mr. Bower,

Attached you can see the engine bay of two different cars.
One is a engine with a carburetor, the other is an injektion engine.

Kind regards
Maximilian Karmann

Von meinem Windows Phone gesendet
_____________________

As you can see, he doesn't really answer the light gray issue. I assume the photos below (attached to Mr Karmann's note) are of air cleaner housings that Mr Karmann considers to be original color. They appear to me to be very similar to the photos posted above of the engine on display at the factory -- and somewhat lighter in color than RAL 7021. So glad I could clarify all this.

Don
View attachment 21335 View attachment 21336
Click to expand...


aha ! so mr karmann, you said, hmmmm, this is really a plot, is this karmann niece of the original herr rust karmann ?
 
I took a paint sample on the inside of mine. Being a 2800, it should have been green, so it was either repainted before or swapped from a 3.0cs.

3A49FC35-CF88-4E8A-A468-4D73813373B5_zpsvoh0wwaq.jpg
 
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