'72 Bavaria on BaT

[CSL177]

1972 BMW Bavaria

Bid for the chance to own a 1972 BMW Bavaria at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #62,458.

bringatrailer.com

Caveat emptor. Should be interesting to see if the warts are exposed... thanks to @Nicad for the assist, I was interested in this car a few months ago.
It's a disarmingly nice looking car in the pics, but is the perfect example in how photos can seduce the unwary. Sweet interior, though. How to warn bidders?

A big Thank You! to Nicad

Recently on the hunt for a good E3, one in a preferred color combo showed up in Toronto. Unfortunately, sending a pro PPI agency to inspect the car proved impossible, and forum member Nicad was suggested as a local contact. A huge thank you and debt of gratitude to Bob, who kindly offered to...

e9coupe.com

 

[Nicad]

I enjoyed looking the car over and imagining where someone would start with this project. After the hoist inspection I didn't even bother starting the motor as I recall. The paint job was among the worst I have seen. Who does such work? With a Green like that, you can get the camera to make it look ready for the show. I could see myself getting caught up in the excitement of that Bat auction. Hmmn BMW's are blue chip? I'll double my money next year. Long ago I was with my Brother at an auction in Montreal. We watched all the cars go by and I wasn't really that interested in any of them. Then at the very end, they pull out a Red VW Golf GTI. It doesn't go anywhere in the openeing bids. Wow, that is low for a GTI. Always wanted one. I get involved, raise my hand at the end without too much thinking and a 30 second flourish of bids later I own a GTI. What did I buy?? After the auction fees and taxes it was a lot more. It was also a total abused and corroded POS which I realised the second I closed the door with the worn out hinge and started my new sports hatch with compression in two cylinders and shifter flopping from side to side. Needed everything. Since I didn't live in Montreal I had my brother get what he could for it. Forget how much I lost. but I'm guessing half the price. it was stored in a section of memory I don't revisit....till today. I'm going to leave a message on BAT as my good deed to the unwary. I'll bet it gets drowned out by Jacki O excitement. I forget what I told CSL 177 what I thought it ws worth, but something like a ($6,000 project.)..**Edit....I think my pricing is from the previous era, when you could pick these up for $2500 easily. In the showroom they also had a 72 Tii in Orange. They wanted $80K US for that one. I own a 72 2002 and thought to myself....I'm glad they are asking this.

 

[Bearmw]

Your post reminds me of when I was more naive and went to look at a Craigslist GTI. I spoke to seller who was located about 2 hours away and he assured me there was no rust but unfortunately I didn't demand more pics. When I went to look at the car I could see rust holes from his driveway. Man was I pissed. Live and learn. I also once bought a Malibu with a "rebuilt" 350 which meant covered in fresh paint and a new chrome air cleaner and valve covers. The seller became unavailable after getting my money.

 

[HB Chris]

@Nicad You did the right thing but bidders will ignore your advice sadly.

 

[bavbob]

Just sad that so many people want to mislead.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

It is already over what (I think) the car is worth...and with 6 days to go. The dealer may get his $24k price after all.

BaT carefully words their description to insure any claims are the seller's...not BaT's. Smart for BaT to do this, but I hope they get feedback from buyers in cases like this and with enough feedback stop accepting cars from sellers with a poor track record.

 

[Nicad]

Just went back to my phone to see the shots and jog my memory. Structurally it was decent. I know Russ was hoping for a nice car he could easily make better. I know he wasn't looking for a car that hid stuff like this.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

Well, at least they used a SHORT nap roller to paint it.

 

[CSL177]

Just sad that so many people want to mislead.

Sadder yet that so many people want to be misled. An awful lot of the BaT peanut gallery swoon over all the wrong things.

As Dick says, it's already bid beyond a realistic number considering the costs involved to repaint, and that's with no other surprises.
I bet you're right @Dick Steinkamp , it'll end at close to the retail dream number Gentry was looking for, and the lucky buyer will not be pleased.

But that's on him.

 

[tferrer]

And when you do say buyer beware, the mob screams you down. That's why I'll probably never buy anything on Bat unless I or someone I trust can lay eyes on it....

 

[HB Chris]

I was going to post on BaT that we have an excellent e3 Forum here with this topic pasted into the post. Good idea or bad?

 

[bavbob]

Chris, the question is, does BAT care? I don't know how it works but assume BAT take is a proportion of the sale price so behooves them to get the max. Is there something written that says if the buyer feels misled, they can void the sale?

 

[HB Chris]

I don’t think the buyer has any recourse other than an outright fraud.

 

[Paul Wegweiser]

Chris, the question is, does BAT care? I don't know how it works but assume BAT take is a proportion of the sale price so behooves them to get the max. Is there something written that says if the buyer feels misled, they can void the sale?

BaT absolutely does NOT care, as long as they legally cover their ass with using the word "reportedly" ad nauseum in their boilerplate descriptions of cars. See also "power is delivered to the _________wheels" and other insultingly lazy ad copy to any reader with a functioning brain.

It's great that our cars are finally worth more money, but I fear it's bringing out the very worst in people.

 

[BarneyT]

BAT is Interesting, it just so happens I made the first bid of $4000 on this car just to get it started…but having purchase a 2002tii on bring a trailer and sold the same 2002tii on bring a trailer two years later, this was four/five months ago it’s a ride that once you get on you have very few choices, they would not change the verbiage in the ad to something i was happy with…both purchase and sales when well really

i have no complaints buying and selling a car is never easy…

 

[JMinPDX]

Hammered at $16k. $8k less than dealer’s website asking price.

 

[CSL177]

Astonishing how much of the commentary was nostalgic drivel. Seller never posted images of the areas we KNOW are crap, so the buyer's gonna love all the up-fixen ahead.

I still think the rational number for this piglet is around $8K TOPS.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

I wonder how much above the sellers reserve the $16k buy price was?

I'd hate to be in the buyer's driveway when it shows up.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

Hammered at $16k. $8k less than dealer’s website asking price.

It looks like the seller has had it since 2018. That's a long time to have a relatively low priced car in inventory. He must have decided it was time to free up some space.

 

[Nicad]

I hope it works out for the buyer. It's likely going to cost more than anticipated to set straight, but that is probably typical. I liked his story of picking one up new as a young professional.