4 Bar vs. 5 Bar Front Grille what is the story?

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execmalibu

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DETAILS DETAILS...4 Bar vs. 5 Bar Front Grille + Door Panels With/Without Holes?

I have seen both 4 bar and 5 bar grilles on E9s... Also black center and silver center.

Also the door panels with and without holes for emergency access to the motor for the tool. Some cars have the plugs in the front door panels others do not?

Which are correct for the model years?
 
Last edited:
execmalibu said:
I have seen both 4 bar and 5 bar grilles on E9s... Also black center and silver center. Which is correct for the model years?
Click to expand...

On my '72 csi euro, I imported from Original owner, I have a 5 bar grill. It is black on the sides of the 5 bars as well as the inside edge of the surround but the face of the bars is alu. Not sure what is "correct", just know what I have.
 
In the photo gallery the Grilles are usually 5 Bar but both black or silver

On the 3.0CS photo gallery the grilles are mostly 5 bar but both black centered and chrome centered...
 
Here is my understanding of the different factory mounted kidney grills. All coupes (non CSLs) up to 9/73 were fitted with the 5 bar anodized aluminum grills. Post 9/73 CS/CSi coupes were fitted with the 4 bar black plastic grills with slightly thicker aluminum outer frames. CSLs were fitted with the 5 bar aluminum grills but the bars were either painted or anodized black. Maybe the late CSLs were also fitted with the black 4 bar grills.
 
And all this time I though the assembly guys just wanted to match the hood and side grills. If they were chrome you got unpainted aluminum and if they were black, then you got black.

My '73 has 5 bar black.
 
Grille Confusion! Bert my Very Late (12/74 production) has 5 Bar with Black Center.

There seems to be a lot of confusion among the E9 experts about which grille is correct! Where are the grill Police when you need them?

The reason I am confused is because 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.

My 1970 which is also very original has the exact same grille! But my 1973 has a 4 bar Black Center with the wide outside?



Also anyone know about the door panels with/without holes?
 

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Jeff,

I think Bert nailed it with his explanation. Also, at some point I think only the four bar version was available. The original Orange (now White) parts books list by VIN series when the versions changed. My copy is at home so I can't check right now. Murray will tell you that all U.S. coupes from 2800 through `73 3.0CS had the five bar silver finish. The last U.S. `73's were built in July of `73, the first `74 was October `73.

Chris
 
Door Panels

Forgot the door panel question. Since electric windows in front were an option, you got the plugs with electric windows to access the mechanism if there was a problem. My own car has been redone so I don't have plugs, I assume it had them at one time. Perhaps by 74 plugs weren't used, does your `74 have them?
 
The kidney grill on an E9 or an E3 can be easily dinged or dented and it can be changed or swapped out so this easily leads me to believe very few of these grills on present day coupes are original. This is hard to believe now, but at one time, our treasured coupes were daily drivers, so it not hard to imagine that many original owners probably went through a few replacement grills.

During the first 6 years of ownership of my first CS in the late 80s and early 90's, I bought at least 3 new all aluminum grills due to how frequently they were dinged up. So in essence, these grills were consumable items back in the day. Present retail price for a new all aluminum 5 bar grill from BMW is about $400, but back in the early 1990's, they were selling for about $70 and probably quite a lot cheaper back in the 1970's.

Count me in as a fan of the black 5 bar grills as I've never really like the bulkier looking 4 bar units. Have never like the cheesy looking all aluminum 5 bar grill either, with all the chrome on the coupe, BMW should have had the grill made of a heavier chromed alloy.

My first CS came with a fully chromed grill and gave the coupe a regal appearance similar to vintage MB all chromed front ends. Unfortunately, the chrome started flaking off after about a year due to the fact that aluminum is so hard to properly chromed well. All the replacement anodized grills never really measured up.

My present coupe has the later black 4 bar unit, but I'm hoping to replace it with a nice black 5 bar grill.

According to the original orange parts book, the black 5 bar grills, part #: 51 13 1 826 809 were fitted to CSLs only. But back in the day, these NLA grills can be bought and swapped in place of the original or possibly ordered when the car was purchased new.
 
Jeff
Here is my take on 4 and 5 bar Kidney Grills.My car is a very,very Late 74.Perhaps one of the last,if not the last CS to be imported.I bought it in 1979 and I still have the original grill that came on it.It is a 5 bar Black one.

Also my very late 75 CSL Batmobile has the exact same 5 Bar Grill on it.It is also believed to be the original.I am pretty sure all of the last batch of CS's and CSL's had 5 Bar Black front grills.Yours probably is the original or was replaced when you could still get 5 bar grills.I bought a new 5 Bar Black one in about 1990.

I think for awhile after that, when you ordered a new front grill for replacement they would send you a 4 Bar Black one. Not sure what you would get now when you order a new one from Mobile Tradition.Has any one ordered a replacement lately with the part # from the orange parts book?If so ,did you get a 4 Bar or 5 Bar?Just curious
 
Chris neither my 1973 nor my 1974 have holes in Front Door Panels

Both of my 3.0CS car have power windows but neither has the emergency holes.

There seem to be a lot of minor details that are different from car to car?
 
I believe later cars had different, beefier motors with no access holes.

HB Chris said:
Forgot the door panel question. Since electric windows in front were an option, you got the plugs with electric windows to access the mechanism if there was a problem. My own car has been redone so I don't have plugs, I assume it had them at one time. Perhaps by 74 plugs weren't used, does your `74 have them?
Click to expand...
 
Stevehose my Car is Production Date 7/72 is that Considered Late?

What I am trying to learn about E9s is what is correct for specific model years. Although maybe like some 356 Porsches there was no absolute change over date, they used whatever they had on the shelf...

I also have a print out from Adreas Harz that states the car left the factory in late August 1972 but on the original DOT door sticker it shows a Production Date 7/1972. Obviously it sat at the factory for a few weeks waiting for a part or perhaps a paint touch up. Or for Max Hoffman to send money. I read that there were a few issues in the early 1970s between Hoffman and BMW.

Is August 1972 considered a late car with later type window motors?

> Subject: AW: E9 Information
> Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 15:25:57
>
> Thank you for your email.
>
> The BMW 3.0 CS US Automatic VIN 2250279 was manufactured on August 17th,1972 and delivered on August 28th, 1972 to the BMW importer Hoffman Motors Corp. in New York City. The original colour was Fjord metallic, paint code 037.
>
> We hope this information is helpful for you.
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> Andreas Harz
 
Steve, That would make sense as the motors, lift mechanism and switches changed in the middle of `73 production. My May `73 coupe has the later motors.
 
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