1977 BMW 3.0 CSL Alpina Gosser Beer tribute car

Sandy Washburn

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@Sandy Washburn would you consider bringing it to the Boston BMW CCA Concours July 30th in Canton MA as a display showpiece?
I would be pleased to trailer the car to the concours event on July 30th. I would also like to bring my 1987 BMW 535is that has a 745i KKK turbo installation
and is configured like an M5. See pictures of the car below
 
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Sandy Washburn

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@Sandy Washburn I am so thrilled to learn you'll be coming to Road America. I'll plan on coming up and hope to meet you in person.
Stephen
Stephen

My first BMW was an 1800 Ti which a friend purchased for me in Munich in 1965. I had seen the 1800 TiSA sedans racing at Sebring in 1965 and
owning one was an easy choice. The friend drove the car at 100 MPH on the Nurburgring during engine break in and this ended up ruining the engine after three years.
Most of my BMW sedans have been E28 535is and my current daily driver is a 1987 which my son has installed a KKK turbo system from a 745i which produces about 300HP. I installed M5 suspension and brakes which could make this a great track car if I did not own the CSL tribute car.
My son and I look forward to meeting you and other CSL owners at Road America. My car should provide a unique sound on that historic course.
 

Sandy Washburn

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My son Bill and I are looking forward to bringing our BMW CSL to the BMW Octoberfast Road Americal event in late September.
We competed in the GridLife event at Watkins Glen in June and we will compete again at the GridLife event at Lime Rock
in mid August. The cars engine is running like a swiss watch with more power and torque than last year. The Larry Chen video
interview has received a lot of attention as well as the article in the Bimmerlife national magazine which describes the car's
history and my 60 year BMW owner experience which began with an 1800 TI in 1965 after watching the race versions at Sebring.
 

Sandy Washburn

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I had a great time with SCDA at Watkins Glen in July. Perfect weather and six 20 minute sessions.
The GridLife event at Lime Rock should be even better this year and, after watching NASCAR at
Road America last week , we can't wait to run the CSL on that historic course that was recently repaved.
 

Sandy Washburn

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During the first time attack practice session at the Lime Rock Gridlife event, our BMW CSL experienced damaged connecting rod bearings which ended our track time.
The issue was the result of a malfunctioning Accusump system. The engine will need to be torn apart and repaired. We have decided to install a VAC dry sump oil system
which should be more appropriate for running the car at 7200 RPM in the future. We have delayed our attendance at the BMW Octoberfast event until 2024 but we are committed to running Road America next year.
 

Sandy Washburn

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Das Gosser Beer E9 CSL Tribute

By Sandy Washburn

My 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” tribute car was built about 18 years ago by Rolf Humberg of Burlington VT. Rolf ran it for many years at Watkins Glen until my purchase in 2019. Since then the car has undergone continuous improvement while trying to stay period correct. This has been due in no small part to the engineering skills of my son Bill and his friend Franz Diebold.

Mechanically the car was already in excellent shape with a European M6 sourced M88/3 24- valve race prepared engine with a Metric Mechanic prepared head with shimless buckets, Rally intake cam, and forged high-compression pistons which had been recently rebuilt by the original owner. VAC Motorsports in Philadelphia has since installed proper M88/S38 heavy weight valve springs together with stronger factory valves properly seated with full head machining. While the engine was apart, my son replaced the main bearings with coated bearings from VAC. He replaced the rod bearings two years ago with similar bearings. VAC also supplied a special steel head gasket which they use on competition engines.

My son also installed a modern Life Racing engine computer, wasted spark ignition, modern Siemens Deka fuel injectors, Cosworth Omega data display and Stack ST400 tach for track use. He also built a System 25 sealed engine wire harness for the car. The chassis harness uses a Mclaren Electronics solid state relay box for all engine power electronics and a Bussman relay box for chassis duties. The set allows tuning from a remote location.When we were at Watkins Glen event in July 2019, a professional tuner familiar with the M88 engine and LIFE Racing computer helped tune the car further, eventually finding about 50 horsepower.

My son also fabricated a custom stainless twin pipe side exhaust system replicating the system in the 1975 Sebring-winning factory prepared BMW 3.0 CSL models, which provides the sound unique to those competition models. The car already had the desirable Euro long tube exhaust manifold. The transmission is a close ratio dog leg Getrag 265 (which enables plenty of upgrade paths to close ratio gearsets in the future), a triple plate Tilton clutch, AKG works type shifter adapted from an E30 and a plated LSD (75% lock) unit in the OEM E9 differential housing.The car had a coil over front suspension when I purchased it. The shocks are Bilstein but I am still not sure about the springs. The front shock tower construction of the stock E9 is quite strong but a strut tower cross brace is needed when power is added. The coil over system also provides for camber adjustment. The car has CCW two piece wheels, 10.5 x 17 in front and 12.5 x 18 in the rear. I have also installed an OMP full containment race seat and Schroth six point harness, as well as a new fire suppression system and Fuel Safe fuel cell. The car already had a well designed fuel system with lift pump, surge tank and Bosch 044 high pressure system.

Upon purchase it was immediately apparent that although the paint and decals were very tired, the body was totally rust free with an excellent roll cage. I have since repainted the car dark green in tribute to the unique 1977 Gosser Beer BMW Alpina CSL race car with appropriate Alpina decals.

Owning a race prepared CSL has been a long term goal since I saw them win the Sebring 12 hour race in 1975. The stewardship purchase of this CSL tribute is more than I could have ever hoped for. With over 300 rear wheel HP and a curb weight of 2500 pounds, modern Wilwood disc brakes, and Bilstein shocks, this car performs as well as the historic 1975 Group 4 factory prepared BMW CSL models did in the USA IMSA series. It is a joy to drive at Watkins Glen, Lime Rock and Club Motorsports, which I anticipate doing for many more years. The car is now strictly used in HPDE track days with BMW CCA and other clubs, which is a lot safer option at my advanced age than true vintage racing.
 

Sandy Washburn

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Awesome video of my son driving the CSL at the Gridlife Watkins Glen event last spring with the FCP Mercedes 190 race replica in the rain.
The sound of the CSL in the rain and the control of the car exhibited by my son is exciting to watch and listen to. I suggest that you
listen to the video with professional headphones to hear the CSL sound properly. The CSLs were fan favorites back in the 1960s and 1970s.
 
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Sandy Washburn

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During my talk to the White Mountain BMW chapter about my CSL tribute car and my 60 years of BMW sedan ownership, I neglected to speak about my experience repairing my CSL after a head on accident at Watkins Glen in 2021. At the time, I was unaware of the problem sourcing body parts for BMW E9 sedans and finding a repair shop experienced in repairing these unique bodies. The E9s were one of the early BMW sedans post WWII and they were made with thinner metal and lacked any rust prevention applications. This is the reason there are so few E9 sedans remaining today and those that remain unrestored suffer from severe body rot deep in the frame.
My accident destroyed the right fender and the complete front grill pieces and severely bent the inner right fender lining. Fortunately the E9 has a strong shock support structure that was unharmed. It took me six months to source the body parts and I was fortunate to find the perfect body shop willing to take on the repairs. Tom Kelly and his son Zack at Precision Motorsports in Milford Mass did a magnificent job which was quite complicated. They have specialized in repairing race cars for 30 years and both of them race BMW M3s in SCCA competition.
My car has flared fiberglass fenders that are attached to the steel OEM fenders. I needed to find a replacement steel fender and complete steel front grill members and then have a replacement fiberglass fender made. I visited Mario at VSR1 in New Hampshire and he was extremely helpful with advice and an offer to purchase the front grill parts in Germany for me and provide illustrations of how the repair would be done. He informed me that BMW had ceased making most body parts for E9s years ago. The body molds were sold to a Polish company which went bankrupt. During my six month search, I discovered on Ebay someone in Long Island that was parting out three E9 sedans and I purchased two sets of front and rear fenders and a front grill structure and had them sand blasted and zinc treated for rust prevention. I then contacted the Coupe Guy in Colorado who is one of the few sources for fiberglass CSL Group 2 body parts and had him build two sets pf front and rear flared fenders and front spoilers. The repair took several months and the results are amazing as you can see in the pictures I have posted earlier. Owning an E9 BMW is a goal for many BMW club members, but
I advise anyone considering this purchase to be totally aware of the problems associated with this particular BMW model before paying the very inflated price for these beautiful cars.
 

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Stan

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During my talk to the White Mountain BMW chapter about my CSL tribute car and my 60 years of BMW sedan ownership, I neglected to speak about my experience repairing my CSL after a head on accident at Watkins Glen in 2021. At the time, I was unaware of the problem sourcing body parts for BMW E9 sedans and finding a repair shop experienced in repairing these unique bodies. The E9s were one of the early BMW sedans post WWII and they were made with thinner metal and lacked any rust prevention applications. This is the reason there are so few E9 sedans remaining today and those that remain unrestored suffer from severe body rot deep in the frame.
My accident destroyed the right fender and the complete front grill pieces and severely bent the inner right fender lining. Fortunately the E9 has a strong shock support structure that was unharmed. It took me six months to source the body parts and I was fortunate to find the perfect body shop willing to take on the repairs. Tom Kelly and his son Zack at Precision Motorsports in Milford Mass did a magnificent job which was quite complicated. They have specialized in repairing race cars for 30 years and both of them race BMW M3s in SCCA competition.
My car has flared fiberglass fenders that are attached to the steel OEM fenders. I needed to find a replacement steel fender and complete steel front grill members and then have a replacement fiberglass fender made. I visited Mario at VSR1 in New Hampshire and he was extremely helpful with advice and an offer to purchase the front grill parts in Germany for me and provide illustrations of how the repair would be done. He informed me that BMW had ceased making most body parts for E9s years ago. The body molds were sold to a Polish company which went bankrupt. During my six month search, I discovered on Ebay someone in Long Island that was parting out three E9 sedans and I purchased two sets of front and rear fenders and a front grill structure and had them sand blasted and zinc treated for rust prevention. I then contacted the Coupe Guy in Colorado who is one of the few sources for fiberglass CSL Group 2 body parts and had him build two sets pf front and rear flared fenders and front spoilers. The repair took several months and the results are amazing as you can see in the pictures I have posted earlier. Owning an E9 BMW is a goal for many BMW club members, but
I advise anyone considering this purchase to be totally aware of the problems associated with this particular BMW model before paying the very inflated price for these beautiful cars.
Something to write up in more detail and submit to the Vintage Classic magazine BMW ClassicCCA
 
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