Advice Please

[Glanceb]

I have just recently purchased a 2800 cs in Copenhagen. My plan is to restore the car to good quality. I bought it with rust in the hoot etc but the more I look at it I see unstraight lines all over the car. So I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on it.

1: Was I robed at €9000 euro
2: Where can I get parts especially seat covers
3: There is a terrible gas smell from inside and worse when you rev it would you have any advice
4: It looks like it has been lowered in the back with causes a squeak and ideas.
5: The car had the fan removed to get more brake horsepower is this true as it is overheating on me now when Im stuck in traffic and cools down when I drive.


The car is on the following site from which I purchased it.

http://www.wrmcars.dk/BMW 3,0 CSI 1970.html



I'm hoping to gain alot of advice from this site and will update on my progress as they are really beautiful cars and it is a shame to let it rust away.

Cheers

 

[30csl]

If the fan has been removed it should have had an electric fan placed in front of the radiator. See if this is present and if so perhaps the switch for it is broken or a fuse gone.

It looks like a nice car and I don't this you were robbed. Are the inner wings solid? The rust on the bonnet is common enough as is the bit on the doors.

 

[BarryG]

I see a fan in your box of parts..Put that bad boy back on.

 

[dang]

Welcome to E9 ownership!

The un-straight body lines may be from a previous restoration or body repair. I had a very nice '72 3.0CS that was very solid rust-wise, had a few nice modifications but had some amaturish bodywork done to it in the past. Waves in the doors and quarter panels for the most part, which always bothered me to a certain extent.

9k Euros for the car is hard to comment on without seeing it in person, but based on the photos its priced about the same as cars in similar condition here in the states.

Fuel leaks are common on any old car and it doesn't take much to stink up the place! Check all the rubber hoses first.

Rear squeak could be a number of things... urethane bushings, etc. You'll have to inspect it closely.

Sounds like the fan is your cooling problem. Put it back on and you'll probably be fine. If you use a fan clutch the HP thing is a non-issue. Besides, who cares about HP if your car is running hot!

Nice looking car!

Dan

 

[Arde]

Pictures look nice. The only objectionable content in that page is:
- LADA picture
- An infant seat on the front and facing the front (?)

Does the cabin odor smell like gas fumes or like exhaust smell? Gas smell that gets worse with RPM it must be leaky hoses rather than the tank itself. If it is exhaust there is a list of items to check and from my experience it is usually some combination of them.

 

[DJSimca]

First congratulations to the wonderful world of E9 coupes and welcome also to this forum.

1: Was I robed at €9000 euro

Hard to say without seeing the car 'in the flesh' but judging from the pictures I'd say you weren't 'cheated'.

2: Where can I get parts especially seat covers

Interior parts are difficult to come by. If the seats need fixing you can either try eBay (complete E9 interiors do come up for sale occasionally on the German eBay) or simply have an upholsterer fix them.

3: There is a terrible gas smell from inside and worse when you rev it would you have any advice

Probably one of the many fuel rubber lines that is leaking. Doesn't have to be anything serious.
Does the car idle/run OK? How's the cold start?

4: It looks like it has been lowered in the back with causes a squeak and ideas.

Hard to tell from the photos. The rear end doesn't look lowered to me, whereas the front on the other hand looks too high. Squeaks can come from many places.

5: The car had the fan removed to get more brake horsepower is this true as it is overheating on me now when Im stuck in traffic and cools down when I drive.

You need to put the fan back on asap. The M30 engine is virtually bomb proof, however the top may crack if the engine overheats. Really stupid to remove it IMHO unless there's a Kenlowe mounted in front of the radiator.

I also read the short test in 'motorclassic' magasine (which you also include a scan of) and of course it is not a genuine 3.0 CSi but a converted 2800 CS and as they point out there are things that need to be fixed, but obviously you knew all of this when you bought the car.

Jeg kunne godt tænke mig at tage et kig på bilen.. jeg kan sandsynligvis give dig et par tips .. så hvis bilen .. og du er i Danmark, så send mig en PM, så vi sammen tage et kig på de ting, der skal laves.

 

[corsachili]

Well color me confused. Am I the only one that is asking why something billed as a 2800 CS has a D-Jet engine in it? If nothing else, your car is highly un-original, which is not necessarily a big deal (coming from the President of the "upgrades are good" club, even if they besmirchify the original sanctity of a CSL interior. The D-Jet engine is a good one, but some of the electrical components are becoming rare and expensive. Hopefully yours is complete and functioning. And yes, for god's sake, put that fan back on. The one weakness on the early engines is the head, which is prone to cracking if it overheats. If yours is the original head and it hasn't cracked yet, I'd consider myself lucky and I wouldn't drive it without a fan on it.

Oh, and by the way, congratulations.

 

[Glanceb]

Many thanks for all your replies,

I will get cracking on the fan replacement ASAP.

With regards to your questions.

1: The smell is more of fumes that gas if that exsplains it better but it does get worse when you rev it. The fumes would sting your eyes and tickle your troat when you are driving.

2: I didn't read the article when I bought it as I don't speak german so perhaps you could explain why you said it is modified D-Jet??? I don't really understand "converted 2800 CS "

3: I also got an extra head stamped BMW 2.5-2.8 which I was told would be better performance. Can you please explain what is wrong in the article as I don't really understand the differences in the engines and mods?

4: The car starts fine in the cold but does mumble a bit for a while, and it is reving extremely high when idle.

Best regards,

Glanceb

 

[DJSimca]

I didn't read the article when I bought it as I don't speak german so perhaps you could explain why you said it is modified D-Jet???

When you said you had bought the car in Copenhagen I assumed that you were from Denmark (or Sweden) and therefore were able to read the article .. my mistake, sorry (assumption is the mother of all f...ups )

I don't really understand "converted 2800 CS "

This comment scares me because it seems to indicate that you were not informed that this car is not a 3.0 CSi but a 2800 CS converted to be a CSi :shock:

Let me translate for you the section that talks about the BMW.
The article is from the Danish oldtimer magazine 'motorclassic', issue #3, winter 07-08:

Style for the skillful person
BMW connoisseurs are probably surprised by the year - and rightfully so because the 3.0 CSi version of the stylish E9 coupe was introduced only in the autumn of 1971. This '70 model is a converted 2800 CS and the engine, sports steering wheel, wider wheels and the larger 3.0 brakes have duly been entered into the German papers. The car has had two owners and has been standing still in a heated garage for 11 years. The price is lower than normal for the sought-after E9 models - which are currently experiencing a dramatic increase in price - but the car is not without issues: The body seems to be rustfree in all of the expensive places but there are bubbles here and there, the leather interior is worn out and both outside and inside there are numerous small things that need fixing - seller is going to fit a couple of missing trim parts however. On the positive side the car drives really well and the straight six has full compression on all cylinders. The valves need adjusting and the high mileage is felt on the gearchange. There are however no strange sounds from the transmission and the 3.0 looks like a good project for a skilled BMW enthusiast.

And in the red 'bubble' it says:

BMW 3.0 CSi 1970. Imported from Germany, 334.000 km, 2 owners (father and son). Momo steering wheel, alloys, can be sold without Danish import duties. Price .......

As I said above ... I hope this does not come as a surprise to you

 

[Arde]

...

1: The smell is more of fumes that gas if that exsplains it better but it does get worse when you rev it. The fumes would sting your eyes and tickle your troat when you are driving.

I had a royal headache and dry throat after driving mine for the first time. If it is exhaust fumes here are the things that collectively solved it for me.

1) Fumes were getting into the cabin through the transmission tunnel, on automatics there is a rubber donut that seals that path, on manuals there is some yellow rectangular foam I recall.

2) Fumes should not have been below the transmission tunnel in the first
place. Check the exhaust path, I had leaks right at the exhaust manifold
and afterwards. Check every connection.

3) From the engine bay, replace the rubber seal above the firewall. Make sure it mates well against hood. Make sure the rubber water drain hoses are there at the firewall, and that the rubber is fresh, if they are rigid they are stuck open to fumes.

4) From the trunk. Common wisdom is that fumes can get sucked into
the trunk from the exhaust. One test is to have a volunteer inside the trunk while you drive (not just rev in neutral, as it involves aerodynamics)
and tell you about fumes smell. Make it a short ride... The other test I heard is to use white "double side adhesive" tape against the rubber seal
on the inside and see if it gets dark from exhaust fumes. Never tried it. I
just replaced the trunk rubber seal.