1961 BMW 502 V8

[Wes]

After chewing it over and haggling on price I've agreed to buy the above car.
Condition wise it's not a basket case but probably not far off. The chassis has a lot of structural rust and it looks like the sills and pillar bases might be similar. I suspect it was driven on salted roads during its life.
What it does have going for it is the car is essentially complete and the motor runs.
It probably wont land here for a couple of months as there's a freight backlog thanks to Covid. I've also made a promise to myself to not start any restoration until the CSL is on the road.
I've two reasons for this:

1. I will keep my skates on with the CSL as I'm excited to get into this;
2. Don't have the time or resources to run two ground up restorations at the same time.

Looks like most of the parts can be sourced and it's supposed to be a less complicated car than the E9 - fingers crossed.
What gets me is this was the top of the line BMW only 10 years prior to the CSL (although that was the end of the production run) the difference in styling and technology are world's apart.

If people are interested I can keep this thread going with updates on shipping and restoration.

W.

 

[Belgiumbarry]

i'm surprized most parts can still be found . Good luck with the restoration !

PS but i assume it's more for show and nostalgic looks.... wonder if driving it gives any fun ? Must be real old school ?

There is a nice '56 for sale in my neighbourhood.... ( 40k € )

Oldtimers te koop

www.oldtimers-te-koop.be

 

[Wes]

i'm surprized most parts can still be found . Good luck with the restoration !

PS but i assume it's more for show and nostalgic looks.... wonder if driving it gives any fun ? Must be real old school ?

I'm sure it will feel slow compared to a CSL. But it was supposed to be the fastest factory 4-door saloon when released, capable of 100mph. The production numbers on these are quite low and they almost sent BMW broke.
A friend of mine runs a BMW garage and has a pretty good collection of cars, so it may well end up on display there as I work on it.

 

[autokunst]

Hi Wes, I love the order of operations you've set up for this car and the CSL. It is good to have motivators. Is this project in lieu of the 507 replica? Very interested in watching the process on this one!

 

[Stevehose]

Good luck and keep the updates coming!

 

[zinz]

Fantastic! What an exciting project. I will share this thread with a couple folks here in Austin who have some resources to these early cars; perhaps they can help you out.

Best of luck, friend,

Ed Z

 

[Ohmess]

Wes -- to inspire you, here are some pictures I took of Lothan Schuettler's 502 at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in 2015:

 

[HB Chris]

I would make sure parts are available, trim, interior, glass, door and window seals, etc. Is someone besides BMW making parts? BMW doesn't even support coupes very well.

 

[Wes]

Hi Wes, I love the order of operations you've set up for this car and the CSL. It is good to have motivators. Is this project in lieu of the 507 replica? Very interested in watching the process on this one!

Yes mate this was going to be the donor car. After looking at more pics I think it can probably be saved so that's the first option.

 

[JayWltrs]

You might reach out to @Dirk and sign up for the BMW Classic Car Club of America. The magazine is great and there are many more of these vintage cars than I've seen elsewhere. They have some great articles on the restorations that discuss where they source certain things. (Which reminds me I let my subscription lapse). He can probably point you to the past issues with articles on the 502.

Good luck, you intrepid soul!

 

[Stevehose]

I think you mean @Dirk ?

You might reach out to @Dick Steinkamp and sign up for the BMW Classic Car Club of America. The magazine is great and there are many more of these vintage cars than I've seen elsewhere. They have some great articles on the restorations that discuss where they source certain things. (Which reminds me I let my subscription lapse). He can probably point you to the past issues with articles on the 502.

Good luck, you intrepid soul!

 

[JayWltrs]

I think you mean @Dirk ?

Yes. Sorry. That auto filled first, and then I doubted myself. I’ll edit.

 

[Wes]

Yes. Sorry. That auto filled first, and then I doubted myself. I’ll edit.

Calling @Dirk ........

 

[Stevehose]

I’ve messaged you his contact email

Calling @Dirk ........

 

[Dirk]

@Wes Not much early-post war V8 activity going on in the English speaking parts of the world.
Contact me at [email protected] and I will send you a list of German parts suppliers.

 

[Wes]

@Wes Not much early-post war V8 activity going on in the English speaking parts of the world.
Contact me at [email protected] and I will send you a list of German parts suppliers.

Have done mate. Looking forward to your reply.

 

[Wes]

Just an update here to say the car (or more accurately the rust with the car parts attached) arrived here yesterday. Having now had the chance to actually examine the car I'm of the view it can be saved but it's pretty borderline. What's tipped me over the edge is that I believe it's the only one out here and is almost complete.
The other big issue here is it's a chance for me to really get to grips with doing quality metal work as that's a weak spot in my restorer skills matrix.

Despite an almost overwhelming urge to tear into the job I'm only going to tinker until the CSL is on the road. The first order of business will be to install some supporting steelwork to give some strength so I can then pull a few panels off firm up on how to make a start.

My plan so far is to rebuild the sills first as they are totally shot along with the pillar bases. This should get some rigidity back into the body before I then turn my attention to other structural parts of the body ahead of then lifting the body off the chassis, which is also shot.

This car looks to have gone an age without any love or even basic care and it also lacks a support network like the E9 has. Provided nobody objects I'm hoping it can find a home here I can document the process so others can learn from it.

 

[JayWltrs]

Just an update here to say the car (or more accurately the rust with the car parts attached) arrived here yesterday. Having now had the chance to actually examine the car I'm of the view it can be saved but it's pretty borderline. What's tipped me over the edge is that I believe it's the only one out here and is almost complete.
The other big issue here is it's a chance for me to really get to grips with doing quality metal work as that's a weak spot in my restorer skills matrix.

Despite an almost overwhelming urge to tear into the job I'm only going to tinker until the CSL is on the road. The first order of business will be to install some supporting steelwork to give some strength so I can then pull a few panels off firm up on how to make a start.

My plan so far is to rebuild the sills first as they are totally shot along with the pillar bases. This should get some rigidity back into the body before I then turn my attention to other structural parts of the body ahead of then lifting the body off the chassis, which is also shot.

This car looks to have gone an age without any love or even basic care and it also lacks a support network like the E9 has. Provided nobody objects I'm hoping it can find a home here I can document the process so others can learn from it.

You're a beast, Wes--especially among lawyers. I'd love to follow this build here, if the powers-that-be do not mind.

 

[Wes]

You're a beast, Wes--especially among lawyers. I'd love to follow this build here, if the powers-that-be do not mind.

Ok then. I'll post stuff as I go then. One of the things that amazes me with this car is that it was BMW's flagship model only 10 years before the CSL. The difference in style and technology is astounding. I did have a bit of a chuckle though as the cabin light is actually the same as in the CSL, who'd of thought? The biggest difference is when you try to push it around the workshop - thing must weigh 3 tonne

 

[jmackro]

What gets me is this was the top of the line BMW only 10 years prior to the CSL (although that was the end of the production run) the difference in styling and technology are world's apart.

What gets me is that BMW was building what is essentially a pre-war design as late as 1961. You can see why they were struggling in the early 60's.

Best of luck with this project. You're a braver man than I.