2240310 1972 BMW 3.0cs

boonies

Air, Fuel, Spark...Repeat
Site Donor $$
Messages
1,557
Reaction score
1,185
Location
US - Philadelphia suburbs
I decided after several years of work on the coupe to put together a consolidated post to share the history of this vehicle and track the work already completed along with the many tasks left to complete on this vehicle.

Manufactured July 13, 1972

Delivered to Hoffman Motors Corp. NYC: August 7, 1972

Leased by George May: January 31, 1973

The car was leased for George May by his company, Potter Instrument Company, Inc in New York where he was the president.

As the lease end date approached George kept a close eye on the value and eventually purchased the vehicle and it remained in his family until 2019 when it was offered for sale on consignment through a dealer.

In 1992 George and his wife obtained quotes from several firms to perform sheet metal restoration work. The car was, by then, a little worse for wear given its life as a daily driver in the northeast. That work was performed by Integrated Automotive Services in Easton Pennsylvania.

The work performed at that time was extensive with substantial sheet metal purchase and installation followed by painting the affected areas. This work totaled ~$22,000.

Documentation:

A full binder of documentation from the original purchase order and lease agreement through to the end of the May family ownership exists, regrettably only a few photocopies of pictures of the vehicle exist for this period of ownership.

My wife and I had both loved the 3.0cs body style after seeing one parked in front of the San Francisco city hall when we both worked in the area in the 1980’s. Fast forward to 2020 and we decided that the 3.0cs was a car that we both would like to own.

In 2020 we acquired 2240310 the vehicle and began a rolling refurbishment process to bring the vehicle back to a better state. The interior pigskin leather was in rough shape with the leather splitting anytime weight was applied. The headliner had a small rip and the dashboard wood was in rough shape. The documentation for this work is shown in following link describing the full removal of the interior and subsequent work to bring it back to like new condition.

Upholstery project link

While the interior work was underway I was planning for the refurbishment of the engine compartment and front axle and suspension, as well as the installation of a 5 speed transmission to replace the original 4 speed.

While I had the engine out of the car I decided that it was time to have it rebuilt as there was substantial variation in compression between cylinders. The engine rebuilding process is also described in detail as a part of the link above.

Transmission swap & Engine Compartment refresh link

Next steps are to drop the rear axle to refresh the bushings and limited slip differential (that it was born with.

Thanks to all of you who have provided such a great information about the work you have done. Your journey inspires us to keep pushing forward!


Rocket Dogs outing Aug 2025-3.JPG
1972 BMW Chestnut Leasing Doc January 1973_0001.jpg
 
Last edited:
It was a good day in the garage today.

I replaced my old drive-on lift with a Max Jax lift that would fit in my low ceiling garage. Our house was built in 1960 and the garage pad was not thick enough to support the lift so I had to saw cut the floor, excavate and add steel rebar and insert dowels in the old pad to secure the new footing. After curing for a month this was the first use of the lift. What a nice improvement.

I adjusted the parking brake following the information that @Ohmess and the blue books provided. Also made adjustments to the parking brake ground switch.

I pulled the steering wheel and removed the turn signal cancellation tab which was not in the correct position, and also set the distance to the turn signal lever. Fingers crossed this will enable cancellation from both directions!

With those tasks out of the way I took the top of the 123 Distributor apart to check for oil infiltration and found the assembly under the electron boards to be dry.

I still have a few tasks to do to prepare for the BMWCCCA 20th anniversary drive at the end of October.

IMG_1807.JPG
 
That’s lovely and a nice garage setup!

Any idea what color they painted it? It’s really nice color combo. What color are the carpets?

Keep at it.., always lots of small things to fix… it never ends… but that’s the fun!
 
That’s lovely and a nice garage setup!

Any idea what color they painted it? It’s really nice color combo. What color are the carpets?

Keep at it.., always lots of small things to fix… it never ends… but that’s the fun!
Thanks. The garage seems to be a continuous work in progress.

The original color was chamonix, the color they painted it after the body work was almost chamonix...but not a perfect match. Every time we do some body work they need to custom mix the paint to get a match.
 
Back
Top