Early LDH UK imports?

Wes

Wes

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Took my car to the bodyshop today to quote up.
We've hunted all along the fire wall (both sides) and can't see any evidence of a LHD to RHD conversion.
According to BMW my car is a 1972 3.0 CSA that was imported to the UK that year - it's a matching numbers car.
Production records show there were no RHD CSA's made at all and only a small number of CSAi's from 1973 onward.

Both of these statements cant be correct, what's going on?
 
We read here that BMW's records are not All That, so maybe a special order slipped through without documentation. Could you post your VIN so the date of production could be verified?
 
Sure.
Below is a cut and paste from my email response from BMW.
The number matches what's on the car.


"The BMW 3.0 CS Automatic VIN 2231367 was manufactured on October 23rd, 1972 and delivered on October 24th, 1972 to the UK. The original colour was Ceylon metallic, paint code 008."
 
Then "production records" have to be incorrect? I am vaguely unsurprised.

OTOH you may have one of a kind - go with it.
 
I'm pretty confident it was a CSA as you can see where the pins located for the badge on the boot. That said it could be a non-original boot.
But no evidence of a RHD conversion, although it does have that chrome strip along the base of the dash board mentioned in other threads.
Got me flummoxed.
 
HB Chris said:
It’s definitely a CSA VIN built in 72. Our UK members are more knowledgeable on the conversions.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. I guess some past owner could have got mixed up with a four speed to five speed conversion via Chinese whispers?
Either way it doesn't explain why there is no trace of the RHD conversion on the car, unless BMW supplied an entire new firewall?
 
Wes said:
Took my car to the bodyshop today to quote up.
We've hunted all along the fire wall (both sides) and can't see any evidence of a LHD to RHD conversion.
According to BMW my car is a 1972 3.0 CSA that was imported to the UK that year - it's a matching numbers car.
Production records show there were no RHD CSA's made at all and only a small number of CSAi's from 1973 onward.

Both of these statements cant be correct, what's going on?
Click to expand...
According to the info I have, BMW UK made the decision that auto boxes would only be offered with carbs and injection only with manual boxes. The practise was carried across to the e3. It remained in place on the e9 until the end of production, and until the introduction of the roll out 3.3Lia.
 
Simufly said:
According to the info I have, BMW UK made the decision that auto boxes would only be offered with carbs and injection only with manual boxes. The practise was carried across to the e3. It remained in place on the e9 until the end of production, and until the introduction of the roll out 3.3Lia.
Click to expand...

That's really interesting. Its's contrary to the production numbers I've seen for 1972 that show no RHD CSA's being made.
Are we to assume it was actually a LHD CSA prior to UK import and was then converted in such a manner that's it's almost impossible to tell?
Seems a little odd to me.
 
image.jpg
Wes said:
That's really interesting. Its's contrary to the production numbers I've seen for 1972 that show no RHD CSA's being made.
Are we to assume it was actually a LHD CSA prior to UK import and was then converted in such a manner that's it's almost impossible to tell?
Seems a little odd to me.
Click to expand...
This is for RHD cars though. AFAIK there are no factory/concessionaire converted RHD CSa with injection although there are some later conversions.
 
The registry records show post 73 models (433xxxx) as being CSiAs, obviously incorrect as Simufly stated, BMW Concessionaires decided manuals would be injected only.
 
Wes said:
So mine (2231367) came into the UK as a RHD?
Click to expand...

Probably!

The Autocar had short test of the 3.0cs in 15 July 1971, this was a carbed Manual car (APM300J FWIW!) The long term test of this car printed in April 1972 says "in this factory built RHD coupe"
With the introduction of the CSi on the 7th June 1972 Autocar says " There is no automatic transmission option for the CSi"
Again from Autocar 4Oct 73 issue on the CSl , they state the following"... our test on the 3.0CS being published on 15July 1971 when factory built RHD examples became available in the UK. A year later fuel injection was offered with manual transmission only, the carburettor engine remaining as a natural mate for automatic on the 3.0CSA which is still available"
So there we have it, factory built RHD 3.0 e9 coupes were available from 15th July 1971 both with auto and manual boxes. Following the intro of the RHD CSi on 7th June 1972 , the auto box was only available with carbs and the manual box only with injection. However, as the concessionaire at the time probably had a fair number of cars waiting a purchaser, it seems likely that some carbed manuals might have been sold after the cut off date. A factory RHD auto injection model seems very unlikely.

It seems that the factory did not specify LHD or RHD in the parts book from which the thumbnail above was taken as there is a RHD CSi with a chassis 22654..
It seems they only specified L or R HD with the CSl and the 74 models.

Geek mode to "OFF"
Simon
 
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This is why I love this site sooo much.
So it looks like factory RHD CSA's were produced in 1972?
Wonder why the production numbers I've seen don't show that?
Do you have any idea as to how many were made, cant have been many.
 
Wes,

Mine is a November '72 built RHD CSA (now 5-speed manual). Originally delivered to the UK, now in Brisbane.

Most of the LHD to RHD conversions were done on 2800CS models in Dover before RHD production started.

In an interesting factoid - You can tell these cars by the flat in the wooden grab rail of the dash on the passenger's (left hand) side. This is the flat that sits in the wooden grab rail that helps prevent obscuring the instruments when they were on the left.

Cheers,

Rod
 
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