Bringing Chamonix to the Arizona mountains - making it mine and fixing the little things

[Minivansomeren]

Just this past weekend I brought my lovely E9 home to me in Flagstaff, Arizona. I used it to take the kids down to the lake on Sunday and couldn't be happier with how it looks or drives. It pulls easily to 6000, the stebro exhaust sounds fantastic, and the steering, suspension and wilwood brakes feel tight and well controlled. Still, I have made a list of little things I want to improve, and also things to personalize it a little.

When I did my hello intro thread, somebody suggested I make a thread for my car to document the changes I make. So here goes! I guess for my first post I'll document the history I've been able to discover. I found the VIN on the motor (5085830 on a M30B30 from a '78 530i) and googled it, and it led me back here! A prior owner had posted a few times on here under the name @Ich bin ein E9er which helped color in some more of the history.

My car (VIN 2280386) was built as a Chamonix 2800CS Automatic on 2/3/70, but it was not imported by Hoffman Motors until 12/4/70. It seems to have spent most of its life in California. Some time around 2001 or 2, 2002AD worked on it, but we don't have receipts. However in 2006, Bill Merricken, formerly of 2002AD, wrote this about the car: "a rust free California car stripped down to a rolling chassis, installed a rebuilt 3.0 engine, five speed box, and added a/c"

Some time between 2002 and 2008 it was brought to Santa Fe, NM. Then in 2008, Steve (@Ich bin ein E9er) bought the car on ebay for around $12k. He writes on here about his drive from Santa Fe to his home in Temecula, CA. His primary complaint about the car was that it had a loud whining sound. He originally thought this was the transmission, and he installed a Getrag 265 from an E24 himself, but this didn't solve the issue. He eventually put in a new diff which fixed the whine. Steve also owned a 63 Ferrari GT Lusso, and a 72 911S, and I hope my car picked up some good habits sharing the garage with them! Here is a picture from 2011:

In 2011 Steve listed it as a BAT exclusive, for $15,500, and it sold within 3 days to Darryl, who brought it to the SF bay area. Darryl had a post-purchase check at Phaedrus, who said it had "minimal rust" and repaired a 1" spot under the passenger floor mat. It had 140psi compression on all cylinders. Phaedrus replaced the valve and timing cover gaskets for leaks, replaced the thermostat housing, removed the front US marker lights and re-sprayed some areas where the paint was pulling up along the chrome belt trim. They installed the Wilwood 300mm big brake kit along with the trailing arms from a 3.0CS and Bilstein HD shocks, and a Stebro stainless exhuast. At some point Darryl also installed a JBL amp and stereo along with a an original Becker Europa radio, and a 30-pin apple iphone connector. Darryl reportedly only drove it 5000 miles in the 14 years he owned it. Here is the charming interior from the July 2025 BAT listing:

Because of all the traffic around Monterey car week, it took Reliable Carriers a month to get it delivered to me in Flagstaff. Here it is coming off the truck. I will post a better photo shoot later.

 

[HB Chris]

It is awesome that you have some history on your coupe. What is a puzzle is that the coupes built in Feb/Mar 1970 are around VINs 2280100 thru 2280195. VINs similar to yours were built in July of 1970 (2280397 is 7/10/70) being one of the last Model Year 1970 2800CS coupes. The first 1971 MY automatic was 2280426.

I had 3/3/70 as the build date for you as BMW used to give me build dates for ten coupes at a time, they no longer do this. I think the Hoffman acceptance date at the port in Germany must be a mistake, perhaps 4/12/70 and even that is late.

 

[Minivansomeren]

Hmm that is a puzzle. You mention that the Hoffman acceptance might be a mistake, however I wonder if the build date is a mistake? That way, the VIN would line up better if it was built in July and then shipped later in the year?

It sounds like either way, I should consider it a 1970 model even though it is registered as a 71?

Anyway, the info I posted was from our own forum on this thread:

I

Thread 'What was 70 is now 71'

May 15, 2008

Here is an interesting fact. I found out my ‘71 coupe is actually a ’70. I know it’s not unusual for cars to carry the date they were first registered rather than their actual manufactured date. This is usually due to the fact that they were delivered late in the build year and were not sold (i.e. registered) until the next model year. I had a ’59 Porsche that was registered as a ’60. But this seems a little odd that the car was manufactured in February and not delivered to the dealer for nine months. Go figure.


The 2800 C Automatic US was manufactured on February 3, 1970 and...

• Ich bin ein E9er

The 2800 C Automatic US was manufactured on February 3, 1970 and delivered
on December 4, 1970 to the American BMW importer Hoffman Motors Corp. in New
York City. The original colour was Chamonix, paint code 085.

Yours sincerely,
Kai Jacobsen
BMW Group Classic
ST-4/Group Archives

 

[rsporsche]

my 2800cs 2280487 was built in feb 26, 1971. funny that 2280397 was imported to the USA on 7-10-1970 way before 2280386. 2280433 was delivered on 9-7-70, as was 2280431. i show 2280432 (Mike Burger) was built on 2-19-70, 2280416 was delivered 7-24-70, as was 2280411 + 2280410

 

[Minivansomeren]

my 2800cs 2280487 was built in feb 26, 1971. funny that 2280397 was imported to the USA on 7-10-1970 way before 2280386. 2280433 was delivered on 9-7-70, as was 2280431. i show 2280432 (Mike Burger) was built on 2-19-70, 2280416 was delivered 7-24-70, as was 2280411 + 2280410

OK well those serial numbers and build dates line up better with mine. Maybe my coupe failed the 12th grade and had to finish summer school before they would let it leave the country?

Anyway, I mentioned I have a list of things I'd like to do. I think #1 to address is the driving position. I'm 6'5" and had read on here that these are good cars for tall guys. The driving position is pretty good for an old car, but I do feel tight between my right knee and the lovely 360mm Nardi wheel. It would be easier to keep my hands on the wheel and heel-toe if I had some more space there.

At first I thought the easier route to fix this would be a different steering wheel hub that would bring it closer to me (and also up a little because the column is angled). But after looking on here, I found a thread where an owner had to have a custom spacer made to accomplish this. I also found some mentions of people either re-drilling the connection between the seat slider and the seat, or making a steel-bar adapter to move the seat backward. Moving the seat would probably be my preference... Since the seat slider is angled, it would give me a touch more head room and allow me to stretch my legs better. That tends to be my default in a newer car: seat as low as possible, as far back as possible, and then angle the back forward until the wheel is in reach. I end up sitting pretty upright but it works for me.

Does anybody have any thoughts on what would be easier? Moving the wheel away from the dash, or moving the seat backwards?

 

[Ohmess]

I used a spacer to move my Nardi further away from the dash and closer to me. Works well for me.

I too sit fairly upright. I have a set of Koenig seats in my car that allow the seat back to move into a more upright position.

 

[rsporsche]

my 2800cs has the telescoping steering column from a 1974 model. there are a lot of pieces needed to do this, in addition to the telescoping part. the under dash panel is different as is the under column trim and a few other pieces. but being able to pull the wheel closer to you is a great advantage. i know that @HB Chris has a 40cm petri with the CSL hub, which moves the wheel at least 1/2" away from the dash. @Ohmess might be able to tell you where he sourced the spacer.

you can look at the bottom of the seats and the sliders, mine are put away right now, but it might be possible to move the sliders forward on the seat ... allowing it to push back further. i have Scheel seats and an adapter plate, so i can put it where it makes the most sense.

 

[HB Chris]

Acceptance by Hoffman usually occurred within one week of build date, BMW wanted to be paid promptly I would guess!

For the seat, just install a 1/2” or 1” bushing from Ace Hardware between upper slider and seat, no need to drill anything, and use a longer M6 bolt. I am also 6’ 5” and it helps immensely. The retractor prevents the seat from sliding back any farther.

 

[Minivansomeren]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I really love the Nardi wheel and the stock seats, and I’d like to keep them.

@Ohmess can you share what spacer you have and where I could get one?

@HB Chris I’ve read about people angling the front cushion up - is that what the bushing and longer bolt would accomplish? So that your thighs have support on longer drives? That sounds nice and I will look into it, but I still think if I could get my butt lower and further back that would be best, and (maybe I’m visualizing wrong but) I don’t see how the bushing would help the seat slide back more? Unless the bushing keeps the slider from engaging and “locking” in place? I guess I’ll take a look at it when I get home.

 

[HB Chris]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I really love the Nardi wheel and the stock seats, and I’d like to keep them.

@Ohmess can you share what spacer you have and where I could get one?

@HB Chris I’ve read about people angling the front cushion up - is that what the bushing and longer bolt would accomplish? So that your thighs have support on longer drives? That sounds nice and I will look into it, but I still think if I could get my butt lower and further back that would be best, and (maybe I’m visualizing wrong but) I don’t see how the bushing would help the seat slide back more? Unless the bushing keeps the slider from engaging and “locking” in place? I guess I’ll take a look at it when I get home.

Yes, I use a 1” spacer on both my e3 and e9. You can’t get the rear any lower and your seatbelt retractor will prevent it from sliding back any farther than it is now. My height is all in my legs and it gives great thigh support. Pic is my e3.

 

[Minivansomeren]

Hmmm ok I’ll have to look at the seatbelt retractor. Having more support under the thighs would be nice, but it won’t solve the problem of my knee hitting the steering wheel. For that I either need to move the wheel up and out, or move my seat back so my leg can un-bend more and not have my knee so high.

 

[rsporsche]

the 2800cs doesn't have (originally) a seatbelt retractor. there might have been one added ... the 2800cs had the manually adjusted spaghetti belts.

 

[HB Chris]

3.0CS had the retractor for the lap belt only.

 

[E911]

and in 74 they added retractors for shoulder belts as well

 

[Minivansomeren]

When I was shopping for a coupe, the #1 thing I internalized was rust: avoid it, protect against it. So I bought a SW car and got all the pictures I could have the rust prone areas. But I’m somebody who would rather know about an issue and deal with it, so I decided to get really invasive looking for rust areas. I took a lot of representative pics, mostly for my future reference, but I’ll post them here.

The first, most visible place I wanted to check is in the engine bay around the strut towers, where the butyl has cracked. Because of the structural importance, I wanted to make sure this metal is solid. I didn’t lift up any more of the butyl insulation but I did take a strong, needle-like pick and probe quite hard wherever the butyl is cracked and (sigh of relief) the metal feels solid. It also looks good from underneath, but it’s harder to tell because of the rubbery undercoating in the wheel well. Then I brushed some fluid film into the the places where the butyl has cracked or flaked, in order to seal the area.

The only paint bubbles from rust are on the driver’s side rear rocker, and only visible after the black rocker cover is removed. This section behind the door has clearly been repainted - I don’t know if the metal was replaced during the 2003 refurbishment, or if they just sprayed over bubbles when the car had a partial respray 13 years ago? Either way, the bubbles are small considering that the paint is apparently at least 13 years old.

Because of how small they are, on solid metal, I will watch these rather than have them repaired now. I did decide to get a borescope to look inside. I’ll put all those pics in the next post:

 

[Minivansomeren]

Ok, coupe, time for your endoscopy! First off, the L rear rocker where the rust bubbles are. It doesn’t look too bad inside, the rust must be coming from moisture trapped in the insulation and/or debris at the bottom. Either that or it is coming from the outside, where grit between the rocker cover and the metal scratched the paint?

Next I got out my 10mm wrench and pulled off the panels behind the front tires. Here is the driver side before doing any cleaning:

Passenger side was dirtier, but after scraping a bit, it still looks pretty good:

I then put the borescope through the slots above the screw holes to look at the inside A-pillar structure As expected based on the “outside”, the passenger side looks worse, but still no bubbling/flaking to make me concerned that the metal is compromised. Driver:

Passenger:

Next I scoped the box section frame rails. Here, the passenger looks better. The driver side has lots of surface rust but no bubbling or flaking. You can see where somebody drilled the rail to zip-tie a sensor cable that runs to the back of the trans. I think this drilling must be recent because you can see some bright steel burrs attached to the hole, that haven’t oxidized.
Passenger:

Driver:

Lastly, I scoped into the open “sand traps” at the top of the front wheel wells. This time it is the driver side that has more surface rust. On both sides, you can still see the weld structure of the metal, so once again, nothing structurally concerning. I contorted my body to break up all the sand and debris at the bottom of these cavities, then used the shop vac to suck it clean.

Passenger:

Driver:

Overall I’m quite pleased with the pathology report from this endoscopy lol
This seems to be a true survivor car, as I don’t have any record or significant evidence of rust repairs. If it has developed only this amount of surface rust after 50 years in the Southwest air, I’m optimistic for the next 50. I plan to keep it in Arizona and avoid driving it in the rain. Still, I don’t want to take chances - even in Northern AZ, we occasionally get unexpected showers and humid air that can carry moisture into these spaces. I opened up all the rocker drains, cleaned them with wires, and blew them out with compressed air. Then I got a can of Eastwood internal frame coating paint with the flexible spray tube. It was able to spray all the areas I photographed here, but after re-scoping, I’m not happy with the coverage. It seems that it mostly sprays out the front, hitting one spot heavily and leaving other areas uncovered. So I got a couple more cans and a sprayer tube that advertises 360 coverage. We’ll see how that looks. Then I’ll button it back up with the rocker covers and new gaskets on the wheel well panels. I’m excited to start driving it again, and move on to less grungy and more exciting projects.

 

[HB Chris]

Looks pretty common for over 50 years, I don’t see anything troubling to worry about.