Malaga 1972 3.0CS in Tampa (NMNA)

cicada

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I didn't see this one when searching through here. VIN doesn't show on the registry. Does anyone know anything about it?
 
Ugly non-OEM tar insulation. 1st thing I'd do is heat gun those off, but wonder if they're hiding some ugly shock tower repair. However, the underside looks pretty good.


1972-bmw-3-0cs
 
Another odd detail, I think, is it appears the rear shocks are upside down (or at least the blue dust boot is on the bottom where it should be on the top). Are there different versions of Bilsteins that would install this way? I can imagine those blue covers filled with water, which is not the intended purpose.
1972-bmw-3-0cs-shocks.jpg
 
I reached out to the dealer for maintenance records. They only go back to May-2021, trivial things like adjusting carbs and fixing breaks.
 

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Have I turned into a E9 snob in 9 months? I just hate it when they put the wheel balance weights on the out side of the rims. WHY WHY WHY
 
Have I turned into a E9 snob in 9 months? I just hate it when they put the wheel balance weights on the out side of the rims. WHY WHY WHY
Because tires are not uniform it's possible to have weight variations that are not evenly distributed across the width of the tire. If the heavy spot is near the outside and the balance weight is put inside the wheel, you can have a dynamic imbalance that will show up at speed but not when the tire is statically balanced. To be dynamically balanced, it can be better to have the weight on the outside.

There's also a type of balancing called "road force" balancing where a roller is pressed against the tire to simulate the weight of the car to measure the variance in the flex of the tire and allow calculations of proper weight placement. This might also result in weights being placed on the outside of the wheel.


Dynamic Imbalance.png
 
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I don't think you will find many newish cars with weights on the outside of the wheel...

IMG_8592.JPG


I've always had the tire shops use stick on weights in the barrel of the wheel on my collector cars with no balance problems

The wheels/tires are still DYNAMICALLY balanced even with stick on weights. I don't think any shop is STATICALLY balancing these days

Shops (and car manufacturers) have to be more accurate with stick on weights, but most shops have the modern electronic equipment needed for the accuracy required.

As of 2019, 40% of weights used by tire shops were stick on.

Tire shops would not balance wheels/tires with stick on weights in the middle of the barrel if it resulted in vibration. They know you would be back for a redo. :(

 
Went and visited this car today when picking up some furniture in St. Pete.

Paint very orange peely. Looks great from 10 feet away. Some rust visible in usual spot on both rockers. Lots of mismatched or loose trim. Hood didn't shut right. Interior seemed to be in excellent condition (wood, seats, doors, dash), as did the headliner. Loose power window buttons (and gosh, BMW, that is an unforgiveable material). Underside looked great, as pictures show. Some bubbling in places. Grab handle/dry cleaning hanger had loose trim. All the rubber around windows and doors was toast, flaking off/cracked or missing, though that's pretty typical. Pioneer unit looked ugly in there, as did the aftermarket speakers, but whatever. Tar insulation in engine bay was indeed hideous and pretty warped. No clue what that's covering. The antenna was cleverly hidden on an a-pillar, almost unnoticeable. Trunk looked good around the spare. Lots of signs of older work.

Salesman was awful. Made no effort to sell the car, admitted to knowing nothing about European cars in general, did not care to research E9s in particular, did not demonstrate if anything even worked, did not seem to know how to start an old carbureted car (secondhand embarrassment as the engine turned over forever), offered to get a flashlight and some papers on the car but went back to having an inane conversation on the phone. Did not want to relay questions to owner. Consignment dealer facility was nice, but seemed to be mostly American muscle. Feel bad for consignor as these people have no chance in hell of ever selling the car.
 
I looked through the photos again. No tools and a cracked left front turn lens are a surprise for this price point. Too bad the salespeople know nothing about it.
 
I forgot to mention: yes, cracked lens that looked as if water intruded at some point. Totally forgot about no tools.

If I am wanting to be really curious, the seller's contact was left on the service paperwork... regardless, this is the first E9 I have looked at as a serious consideration, and was saddened to notice that one of my size 14 feet covers both the brake and the accelerator. Wonder if a solution has been found for that.
 
I forgot to mention: yes, cracked lens that looked as if water intruded at some point. Totally forgot about no tools.

If I am wanting to be really curious, the seller's contact was left on the service paperwork... regardless, this is the first E9 I have looked at as a serious consideration, and was saddened to notice that one of my size 14 feet covers both the brake and the accelerator. Wonder if a solution has been found for that.
My father had a 1963 Lotus 7 which was quite small. He had rather large feet, as do I and I believe he would wear moccasins sometimes while driving it.
 
I wear size 14 and have never had an issue driving any BMW. In fact I drove a 2800cs yesterday and had no issues with the pedals.
 
You all have me concerned about the width of my feet but I'm somewhere between a medium and a wide with 4.7" width. Maybe it was just my shoes, though it was just a pair of loafers.
 
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