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: