1974 / 1975 Kidney Grille Options

[Markos]

Edit: This was a listing for a two-car package in Miami, but there is more value in the 1974 grille discussion.






Old: https://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/5853284875.html

 

[Markos]

Mods - Can you move this to the cars section?

Edit: Done! (by me )

 

[aearch]

whats the black 5 bar?
is that the bumber trim?

 

[Gary Knox]

Should we call this a "Tree Find"? Not too much different from the "Farm Find" mis-labled as a Barn Find.

 

[Markos]

whats the black 5 bar?
is that the bumber trim?

It is the kidney grill found all CSL's and many 74 CS's. If anyone tells you that the 74 only got a four bar grill, I'll point them the numerous examples otherwise. Anyway i've been looking for one...

 

[Stevehose]

I removed my silver bars, painted them black, and reinstalled. I love the look.

 

[HB Chris]

Well, I beg to disagree.

It is the kidney grill found all CSL's and many 74 CS's. If anyone tells you that the 74 only got a four bar grill, I'll point them the numerous examples otherwise. Anyway i've been looking for one...

I think the five slat grilles went NLA for a few years and only four slat was available.

 

[Markos]

Haha Okay let's go there in the FS section. I started the thread and nobody is going to buy these cars so let's hijack the hell out of this thing!

Well, I beg to disagree. I think the five slat grilles went NLA for a few years and only four slat was available.

As I've said before I'm no BMW expert, but I'm a visual learner and particuarly versed with the internets.... I will say and you may agree that the polished aluminum border around the four slot grill is a bit more chubby (here) than that of a five slot grill. This is comes into play below.

So here is what I have...

Now it's possible that people are frequently painting these things, but for as 'rare' as these things are I've encountered three (edit: four) in the past month.

1. Ebay Ad - the dented one that sold for $110
2. The car in this tread
3. Edit: Almost forgot the one on George Brigg's workbench. Not for sale.
4. See Image 5: https://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5856722266.html


First-hand testimony from a member:

Grille Confusion! Bert my Very Late (12/74 production) has 5 Bar with Black Center.

...my VERY LATE Production (12/74) and 9th from the last US E9 has a 5 bar with Black Center and thin outside. That car is VERY original in almost every detail so I use it as a reference...

This is the front-end of the '74 CS that I personally examined in Seattle. I was particuarly interested in the grill because I thought they only came on '74's. I found no evidence that it was modified.

It's difficult to gleam a four bar from a five bar from cars that are far away by counting slats. However it is relatively easy to tell the difference between a 'chubby' polished aluminum kidney and a slender one. I would assert that these are all five bar grills. There are numerous other photographs of what seems to be five slat 74's, but the shot isn't dead on. You can still make out the low profile chrome surround however. I'd say it's 50% black four bar, 30% black five bar, and 20% silver five bar on the 74's with grill pics...

Perhaps BMW ran out of five bars during the production run but they came available as replacements later, and nobody paid attention to which one was ordered.

From E-9 Driven Registry:

3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Fjordblau
Starting off easy, all five slats are visible

4315192 - 2.5 CS - 1975 ( Color: Granatrot )
Also a vid:

4310027 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Polaris )
Skinny Grill identified

3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Fjordblau )
Skinny Grill identified

2.5 CS - 1974 ( Color: Fjordblau )
Skinny Grill identified

4335295 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Polaris )
*Chubby 4 Slat Grill identified - Throwing this in there after looking at skinny grill five slats. Note the clear difference visible without counting slats.

4335003 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Fjordblau )
Skinny Grill identified

4335302 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Polaris )
Skinny Grill identified

4310354 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Polaris )
Skinny Grill identified

4335395 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Malaga )
Skinny Grill identified
Painted? - What's with the shiny slats?

4335294 - 3.0 CS - 1974 ( Color: Nachtblau )
Skinny Grill identified

Some Vids:

 

[GK-E30M3]

My 74 has 5 Black Bars and I am 95% its original
My 71 has 5 Silver Alum. bars but this car had some front end repairs

 

[HB Chris]

Hard to know for sure but all coupes started with polished five slats (through 73 models), CSLs got the black five slat, then at some point the chubby four slat appeared during the model 74 run. In three of your pics of Polaris coupes I see no black decal under the side grilles telling me they were repainted. Remember, the surrounds are easily dented, the replacement grille was the four slat and many owners like the black grill better anyway. The polished five slat was NLA for a long time, became available in the last ten years, went NLA several years ago and now will supposedly be available again this spring ($600?). And many like the black better than polished and placed these grilles on 73 and earlier coupes.

 

[HB Chris]

I love researching these obscure bits of information, here is what I can deduce from reviewing the parts books and the ETK:

51 13 1 801 604 - Polished five slat grille, usage 8/68 thru 9/73, last produced 4/11/14, hopefully available next year

51 13 1 819 632 - superceded by 51 13 1 826 809 which I believe is the black four slat, usage 9/73 thru 2/77, and retroactively interchangeable with 632

From this I think 632 is the black five slat, last produced 6/20/80, the orange parts book shows it as a CSL only grille

And the e3 used the same grille as e9 and they also changed in 9/73 per the ETK.

 

[HB Chris]

2/74 e3 Brochure, chubby grille

 

[JMinPDX]

Learn something new everyday.

Markos, that's my Polaris e9 with the chubby 4 slat grille and NJ plates. Had you asked me I would not have been able to tell you which grille my car had without checking. My 74 e3 has the same chubby grille.

So the grille pictured below has been hanging on the wall of my garage for years. I think it came off an e9 I parted out 22 years ago.

Are they really that rare?

I had no idea.

John M

 

[Markos]

Learn something new everyday.

Markos, that's my Polaris e9 with the chubby 4 slat grille and NJ plates. Had you asked me I would not have been able to tell you which grille my car had without checking. My 74 e3 has the same chubby grille.

So the grille pictured below has been hanging on the wall of my garage for years. I think it came off an e9 I parted out 22 years ago.

Are they really that rare?
View attachment 21165

I had no idea.

John M

Hi John,

I would say the five slat black grill is desireable. If yours didn't have a dent in it i'd be passing it along to my Seattle friend. He's looking for a really nice one. I'm arriving at the conclusion that they aren't that rare.

What I see is that there are heck of a lot of 74's running with five slot grills. Either BMW threw on what they had or replacement grills were painted silver. As mentioned the one I reviewed up close looked factory. I'll post the other suspects that aren't dead on later. How many does it take before we determine that this was a factory introduced phenomenon?

Here is a 3.0 at the BMW museum with the five bar grille:

Also a video of the car:

 

[Markos]

2/74 e3 Brochure, chubby grille

74 e9 Brochure, skinny grille (photo credit Bert35csi):

1974 UK brochure. Notice the CSA has a skinny grille:

1975 2.5 CS Skinny Grille:

 

[JMinPDX]

This grille is far from perfect. The e9 I parted out was a 74. The slats seem to be anodized aluminum. Black on both sides. Hard to tell in the picture but the shade of black varies abit on the slats so they are not all exactly the same.

 

[WISE9UY]

Great hijack @Markos. Good to know the differences in grills and to know to check for these details. I too am on the hunt for a replacement grill but not sure I would buy these cars for it hahaha. Looking at the bumpers, are the rubbers just missing or are these "rubberless" bumpers? I am not seeing 5k in cars though...

 

[Stevehose]

BMW used brochures for more than a year, yes? So this car could be a year or more old?

74 e9 Brochure, skinny grille (photo credit Bert35csi):

 

[Markos]

BMW used brochures for more than a year, yes? So this car could be a year or more old?

I'm not sure how that changes anything. As Chris mentioned the CSL grill was listed as a CSL only part, and the car on the cover is definitely not a CSL. Click on Bert's name in the link above and you will see quite a few more colors with the same grill. Strange mystery!


2:58

 

[HB Chris]

Photos were recycled in brochures, even the US brochures showed velour interiors. Is it possible the euro only CSi got the black five slat, that's a possibility. I think the ETK has more credence than photos of coupes with unknown provenance. Does anyone have a 1974 publication dated brochure with the chubby grille? That is why I posted the e3 brochure.