I met with Kevin today. What a nice guy! Pics on the way!
I would say that this car is definitely worth the full asking price. One would be hard pressed to find a better car for the price. Honestly, if I wasn't emotionally invested in my car and I didn't have a detailed history on mine, I'd consider swaping them out.
This is a good car for someone who wants a cheap project driver. It could be a candidate for a full restoration, but it looks solid enough for a cheap respray, low budget metal work, and pure enjoyment.
How is this for factory turnaround time?
BMW 3.0 CS US VIN 4310104 was manufactured on February 05th, 1974 and delivered on February 18th, 1974 to the BMW importer Hoffman Motors Corp. in New York City. The original colour was Granatrot metallic, paint code 025.
Exterior:
The car appears to have an original color of Granatrot, with a respray to Polaris. There are random rust bubbles around the car, likely highlighting some past bodywork. At 15' the car looks nice.
The fender boxes seemed to be in good shape. The inner fender tops near the shock towers are just starting to rot, but they could easily be patched up. The inner fender seam is in good shape along the edge where the outer meets the inner, save for one sub-dime-sized spot on the passenger side, also fixable.
The windhsield frame looks to be in good shape, as does the lip around the cowl area. I'm certain that there was some leakage at one point, because there is evidence of a repair behind the glove box. The good news is that it was MIG welded and not fiberglassed.
There is evidence of sheetmetal repair need the passenger right footwell. This is where my car has a 2' hole. Also the floor in this area has been repaired with a small piece of sheetmetal (also welded). The passenger floor still has a dime sized hole visible. As kevin mentioned the floors are 'thin'.
I pulled the passenger rear seat and the subframe mounts are rust free and I didn't see much of any rust under the seats. The rear floors have some rust forming in the seam that catches water (see Peter's video), but the rear pans look good enough.
I pulled the spare tire. It looks a bit thin and has surface rust, but seemed sturdy enough with no sign of repairs. The underside looked good.
This is an electric sunroof car. I couldn't examine the rockers due to the trim, but the seam where the rockers meet the floor pans were pretty clean. I saw no signs of holes in wells front of the rear tires
The shock towers looked solid but I didn't want to pull too hard on the elephant skin. There were some very large washers on the shock mounts, but I don't think they were welded in place. I took pics that may help.
Kevin swapped the diving board bumpers out for euro replacements. They look good and I didn't even realize that it was a '74 at first. the rear late model mounting holes could be filled better, but it's a good start.
Interior:
The interior is in fair shape for the price. The rear seats are in good shape. The passenger seat is in good shape, the driver's seat is in fair shape. Kevin also has spare factory stitched seat fabric in very good shape.
The center console is partially assembled and the wood base is disconnected from the console sides. The car has a nice factory boot and a later model , but period correct leather knob. The steering wheel looks like an 350mm (or less) 80's Personal. Kevin has the factory wheel and it's in good shape.
The dash is in fair shape. I don't recall any major cracks on the cluster cover, and there may have been a crack on the main dash top. The dash wood has flaking clear, but is not delaminating. The same goes for the door wood.
The front carpet has been tinkered with to address the floor boards. I'd probably replace it but the rear looked good from what I recall.
Engine:
We fired up the motor, using some starting fluid. It has weber down drafts. The motor mounts require replacement. The engine is missing and it feels like one cylinder isn't firing. I didn't investigate for long.
I think it's fine to drive and the current owner has done so for years. It looked like that when he got the car, which makes sense for everyone who garages their project coupe.