kidroundie
Member
okay, i
okay I will definitely be look the car over well well. thanks for your input really helps!
seth
okay I will definitely be look the car over well well. thanks for your input really helps!
seth
1972 BMW 3.0CS with more pic and info
- Thread starter kidroundie
- Start date
Don't want to be a killjoy...but-
If the rust is coming out through the guards like that and the sills look shot, there could well be a lot behind the scenes. You could well find it all the way up around the inside of the front guards, front sills and all the metal work up through the back of the front fenders (as in the photo) may be quite rotten. Meaning a large amount of metal work and welding needed if you want to own a decent E9. These fenders also don't just bolt off, they need to be cut off to get to the car subframe. The E9's are in a whole new league with their ability to rust and what you can't see is normally much worse.
For 10K you probably cant go wrong, but am just saying that fixing a very rusty E9 can become an expensive pain in the butt. One thing I was always told with buying an E9 was "find one with a decent body and interior - worry less about the mechanicals as they are easily fixed and parts a plenty".
If the rust is coming out through the guards like that and the sills look shot, there could well be a lot behind the scenes. You could well find it all the way up around the inside of the front guards, front sills and all the metal work up through the back of the front fenders (as in the photo) may be quite rotten. Meaning a large amount of metal work and welding needed if you want to own a decent E9. These fenders also don't just bolt off, they need to be cut off to get to the car subframe. The E9's are in a whole new league with their ability to rust and what you can't see is normally much worse.
For 10K you probably cant go wrong, but am just saying that fixing a very rusty E9 can become an expensive pain in the butt. One thing I was always told with buying an E9 was "find one with a decent body and interior - worry less about the mechanicals as they are easily fixed and parts a plenty".
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Take your iphone and grab a video of the inner fenders. There is a hole in the upper posterior part of the front wheel well. Put your phone in there and make some videos of what it looks like up in there. It will probably look like the green csl seen above.
Also get upside down under the dash and make the same videos with your phone.
Show them to the owner and make a lowball offer
Also get upside down under the dash and make the same videos with your phone.
Show them to the owner and make a lowball offer
Be sure to pop the glove box door and the fuse box door and peek inside. That will give you an idea of the severity of the fender boxes.
This is the from a '74 that I looked at, peering up from the open glovebox. There is a welded patch of steel in there. You can see little nubs of the MIG rod.
My fenders have no lower rust. They actually look quite good. One was patched at some point and the other was original. It looks nothing like the car you are interested in. Now let's take a look inside the area that craterface is describing...
That stud is for the beltline trim. That last bulge in the sheet metal below the stud is the recess for the side grille. The aforementioned hole is the visible dark cave in the photo below.
Here is what it looks like inside. Honestly not terrible, mostly surface rust. The very black spots are shadows from rust bits hanging from webs. Still rusty as hell but I consider myself lucky.
This is the driver's side. There is enough sand in there to build a small castle.
Unsuspecting from the outside right?
This is the same passenger side area on my parts car with less visible rust than the car you are looking at, but much more rust on the inner fender near the shock tower. What you are looking at is a giant hole. That shiny green thing is a piece of cellophane in the driver's-side rear seat of the coupe.
These rust photos are why my wife never tries to look over my shoulder when I am perusing the Forum. Apparently way too "gross"! 
Mike
Mike
These rust photos are why my wife never tries to look over my shoulder when I am perusing the Forum. Apparently way too "gross"!
Are you calling my baby ugly?
xjan99
Well-Known Member
Markos just gave a very good reason to think of the E9 as a "build not buy" car. Even with well documented restoration I'd be vary of the job done for even the highly priced resto-cars 
. If you do it yourself, at least you know whom to blame later down the road too
. If you do it yourself, at least you know whom to blame later down the road too
Of course not, after all, beauty is still in the eye of the beholder or is that "beholden" ?Are you calling my baby ugly?
kidroundie
Member
Yeah, the rust I have been hearing about.
floridabmx
Well-Known Member
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Post pics of the 2002's
Hey he's going through a divorce, get it from him before his soon to be ex does. Rake him though the coals as much as she's going to. Life's rough....get a helmet.... buy a coupe cheap............$5K. Ask him how many people have come to look at it in the middle of winter in AK? Tell him how beautiful you will make it and use your age to your advantage. No $$$, blah, blah, blah. Just business my friend..... tell him you will throw in some cold ones.....and maybe if your nice you'll let him take it for a spin by his ex's and honk the horn with his new 20 year old GF sitting next to him once restored....Good luck!
Did you ever close the deal? I lived in Nome, AK btw. Clearly I didn't have BMWs when I lived there. Excited that I'm picking up my Coupe tomorrow from my shop. Had to repair a cracked exhaust manifold plus a bunch of tweaks and tune up. Will drive an hour back to the storage facility for the rest of the winter. All set for spring!!
I'm not being a wise guy here, but you are in Alaska, if the owner does not sell it to you he probably won't sell it, I would offer him 4K and here is why, just the $ you will eventually spend getting her up to snuff will be 2X as much as buying a decent car where it's warmer, these things are not getting any cheaper to fix. It would be great to see it in your hands, but unless you really have lots of "nuggets" then the owner is not going to expect you to offer much more than that. Hope that helps-
Hi Coldcs, I hope the comments were not too seemingly negative, I think everyone on this site really loves these cars and we get passionate, sometimes "emotional" about them. My comment today, because I have also sold cars I wish I hadn't, is geared more towards seeing the car get put back right; the longer you hang on to this car likely the worse it's condition will get and the higher the cost of fixing it will get-I'm pretty sure you know this- but if the buyer is an enthusiast and he can give you a little money for the car and he is able to get the right parts by spending allot of time hunting around then you will have the satisfaction of really watching her come back to life. Almost every car I have rebuilt I have kept in touch with the seller and posted pictures etc and invariably the previous owners have grown in appreciation of the car that was brought back to its former glory days by people who believe certain cars actually have a soul
Best of wishes regardless of your decision-
Best of wishes regardless of your decision-
Honolulu
Well-Known Member
Seth F:
I've had 15 2002's including '72 and '74 tii's. Owned the '74 twice. Have a '73 CS and had a VERY RUSTY '72 2800CS. Anyway, sold the '72 tii when I had both and wasn't intelligent enough to a) convince the wife that I could in fact have both and b) thought "I can always get another tii, but not another coupe" which was at the time (15 years ago, almost true. But time passes and things change; both are quite rare to see in Honolulu nowadays, the coupes more so.
You should do a lot of reading about resto costs for rust repair on this forum and in the "restorations" tab. One thing runs through all of it: there's A WHOLE HECKUVA LOT more rust than you can see, and more beyond that. Unless you're familiar with the locations CS's rust, you aren't likely to correctly assess the car. There are no "small" cancer spots. Check out the online availability of patch panels, maybe Walloth and Nesch in Germany can provide but shipping from there...
Some guys, mostly in Europe it seems, have themselves done, or paid for, restorations from really rotten hulks. But they've paid majorly in various ways. You can easily spend $10k on a car that will be worth $7k or less when you're done. It's been said here that coupes are for their time built with modern techniques in the back but ancient methods in front. Really: front fenders stuck to the body with LEAD? Who does that? No one, not any more.
OTOH if you're a decent MIG or TIG welder, and a good painter, go for it. It'll keep you off the streets for years. You won't afford a GF, dope, or trouble - you'll have all that and more in your very own garage, and you better have a (heated) garage!
About the pictures: red is the fastest color. The wheels are NOT "Alpina style" they are bone stock CS rims, and they are a humbug to clean, although some are much worse. The seller's suggestion of "Alpina style" colors him as not particularly knowledgeable and this may work to your advantage if he doesn't realize what he's got, or against you if he's full of manure.
Haggle down for all you can, you'll spend that and more later. I'd say $7k and see how it goes. If your offer is accepted, you paid too much. When I make an offer I tell the seller not to respond immediately but to think it over for a night. Have cash ready and make sure the seller knows you have it but don't flash your wad while discussing price. I have seen offers written on a scrap of paper, handed over face down.
Just sold a '90 E30 four door that my daughter was driving for the last six years, and which I paid $1500 for, for $2700 and had four would-be buyers on my case about it. The CS may not have a large pool of prospective buyers, but it only takes one. Ask the seller to call you last.
CS's have much in common with 2002's in their layout, even to the electrical system.
I've had 15 2002's including '72 and '74 tii's. Owned the '74 twice. Have a '73 CS and had a VERY RUSTY '72 2800CS. Anyway, sold the '72 tii when I had both and wasn't intelligent enough to a) convince the wife that I could in fact have both and b) thought "I can always get another tii, but not another coupe" which was at the time (15 years ago, almost true. But time passes and things change; both are quite rare to see in Honolulu nowadays, the coupes more so.
You should do a lot of reading about resto costs for rust repair on this forum and in the "restorations" tab. One thing runs through all of it: there's A WHOLE HECKUVA LOT more rust than you can see, and more beyond that. Unless you're familiar with the locations CS's rust, you aren't likely to correctly assess the car. There are no "small" cancer spots. Check out the online availability of patch panels, maybe Walloth and Nesch in Germany can provide but shipping from there...
Some guys, mostly in Europe it seems, have themselves done, or paid for, restorations from really rotten hulks. But they've paid majorly in various ways. You can easily spend $10k on a car that will be worth $7k or less when you're done. It's been said here that coupes are for their time built with modern techniques in the back but ancient methods in front. Really: front fenders stuck to the body with LEAD? Who does that? No one, not any more.
OTOH if you're a decent MIG or TIG welder, and a good painter, go for it. It'll keep you off the streets for years. You won't afford a GF, dope, or trouble - you'll have all that and more in your very own garage, and you better have a (heated) garage!
About the pictures: red is the fastest color. The wheels are NOT "Alpina style" they are bone stock CS rims, and they are a humbug to clean, although some are much worse. The seller's suggestion of "Alpina style" colors him as not particularly knowledgeable and this may work to your advantage if he doesn't realize what he's got, or against you if he's full of manure.
Haggle down for all you can, you'll spend that and more later. I'd say $7k and see how it goes. If your offer is accepted, you paid too much. When I make an offer I tell the seller not to respond immediately but to think it over for a night. Have cash ready and make sure the seller knows you have it but don't flash your wad while discussing price. I have seen offers written on a scrap of paper, handed over face down.
Just sold a '90 E30 four door that my daughter was driving for the last six years, and which I paid $1500 for, for $2700 and had four would-be buyers on my case about it. The CS may not have a large pool of prospective buyers, but it only takes one. Ask the seller to call you last.
CS's have much in common with 2002's in their layout, even to the electrical system.
I agree with Peter, I hate to see these cars rot......doesn't sound like your up for restoring it........let the kid see what he can do?!!? Tough decisions I know....good luck with everything...tough times..... I believe these cars have souls.....more than most people at least....certainly more character........... Cheers!
dj_efk
Well-Known Member
What is the white stuff on the passenger side inner wing (fender) under the bonnet? It looks like filler (bondo) but the picture isn't clear - if the inner wings are solid then that's a start. Also check the metal around the fuse box. On British coupes that's in the glovebox, I think you guys in LHD terrortories have an access panel underneath / to the left of the steering wheel?
Owner here again, comes with Alpina style rims means rims are not mounted on the car! Have all original parts, Steering wheel, carbs, air cleaner and installed Petronix igniter. Have been doing repairs while I enjoy driving it on rain free days and keep it stored in a heated garage during winter. Inner fenders and floor pans are SOLID! Once again car is not for sale at this time. May sell in a decade or so to fund daughters college. Maybe!