E3 Tail Panel Changes over time

bavbob

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I will have to plug my Vin into the registry. Lost my official production date email...
 

Dick Steinkamp

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Mine is December 72 build, brushed alu panel, however not a Bavaria so may not be the same.

That fits the model. If the info and data is correct, we've narrowed down the painted panels to between April of 71 to June of 72. December of 72 should be brushed like yours is.

(Beautiful 2500! :cool: )
 

Dick Steinkamp

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Mine (my father original owner) was purchased in April 1972, 3102336, Atlantik Blue, painted panel.
Great! We now know it was April 71 to at least April 72, but not as late as June 72.

Pretty neat to have your father as the original owner of your car.
 

CSBM5

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Meant to post this pic.
Right Rear.jpg
 

CSBM5

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Great! We now know it was April 71 to at least April 72, but not as late as June 72.

Pretty neat to have your father as the original owner of your car.

Yeah, he loved the car. His prior three "interesting" cars were a 1963 Corvette (stolen in '65), a 1965 Corvette (stolen in '68) and a 1968 Firebird 350HO, all manuals of course. He was drawn into the Bavaria formula and sucked me in too (as a 13 year old muscle car drag racing crazed kid).
 

bluecoupe30!

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We all realize that although we love this stuff, no gained knowledge of car trivia here will allow any of us to win a round of Jeopardy. Have you ever seen " BMW trivia for 40 please"? I do love this stuff.
Yes but, this site keeps us from trying to explain to our spouses why our particular car is "super rare" and even more of a special class of collectible, because it has the "never- before-seen-in-this -country, factory-installed-speaker-fader-switch" or similar, and she looks up and then goes back to her book ;)
 

Dick Steinkamp

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Yes but, this site keeps us from trying to explain to our spouses why our particular car is "super rare" and even more of a special class of collectible, because it has the "never- before-seen-in-this -country, factory-installed-speaker-fader-switch" or similar, and she looks up and then goes back to her book ;)
Are we married to the same woman? o_O
 

CSBM5

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Great look with the stance, wheels, and blacked out trim. :cool:

I painted the trim all black in 1980! Kinda of ahead of the time... :)

I had Ray Korman build a nice engine for it in 1981, did lots of suspension work, Recaros, etc; it was an amazing car for its time.

Engine.jpg
 

Simufly

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My first e3 was a base model with the painted rear panel and slatted cabin extraction, when I saw the facelifted version I thought it was an improvement, so got to work with the paint stripper. The panel beneath was indeed brushed alloy.
 

Dick Steinkamp

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My first e3 was a base model with the painted rear panel and slatted cabin extraction, when I saw the facelifted version I thought it was an improvement, so got to work with the paint stripper. The panel beneath was indeed brushed alloy.
Do you have the serial number of that car?
 

GolfBavaria

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I have not heard back from Christoph yet, but I found this on their website

https://bmw-e3-club.de/historie/

2500 first introduced September of 1968

2800 introduced January 1969 (wooden steering wheel, LSD, level control suspension)

2nd series introduced with the 3 liter April 1971 (black headlight grills, changed air outlets in the C pillar, small tail lights...I assume that at this time the rear panel was changed from brushed to painted)

Late summer 1971 3.0Si introduced (D Jet). Also 2500 and 2800 revised to look like 3 liter models.

Late summer 1973 Series 3 (last changes) introduced. (four-spoke steering wheel, height-adjustable driver's seat and electrically adjustable exterior mirrors. The three-liter models also received rear seat heating and rear headrests. Black kidney grill, different wheel trim rings)


No indication of when the painted panel was changed back to brushed (although as Christoph indicated, "they only did that for about one year". Bearmw's post (#12) shows his January of 1972 car still with the painted panel) . No indication of changes unique to the US market (smog, safety)

I know this is about rear panels but I've never seen a four spoke steering wheel stock on a 73', height adjustable driver seats, electrically adjustable exterior mirrors, rear seat heating.....especially if you are talking E3 Bav. Maybe, maybe..... Euro 3.0S. Where are you getting that info?
 

Dick Steinkamp

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I know this is about rear panels but I've never seen a four spoke steering wheel stock on a 73', height adjustable driver seats, electrically adjustable exterior mirrors, rear seat heating.....especially if you are talking E3 Bav. Maybe, maybe..... Euro 3.0S. Where are you getting that info?
The info I linked to is on the BMW E3 Limousine Club's Web Site.

The section that discusses the third series cars and the changes that came with them (4 spoke steering wheel, height adjustable driver's seat, etc) states that these changes were introduced late summer 1973. My guess is that these cars were sold as 1974 MY cars. That's the same time frame that US auto makers start producing the following MY cars.
 

CSBM5

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I know this is about rear panels but I've never seen a four spoke steering wheel stock on a 73', height adjustable driver seats, electrically adjustable exterior mirrors, rear seat heating.....especially if you are talking E3 Bav. Maybe, maybe..... Euro 3.0S. Where are you getting that info?

It notes "late summer 1973 series 3 (last changes)", so that would correspond to the 1974 model year here in the USA.
 
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