CSL Restoration Questions

Atavistic

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Firstly, thank you to all those who have posted useful information in this forum. Secondly, my apologies if my search skills have not uncovered the answer to any of the questions I will be posting as we put back togther a bare metal restored RHD City CSL Polaris Silver that was imported to Australia a few years ago.

Question 1: The boot is bare except the spare wheel and a wheel wedge and the jack, and the elephant skin covered panels on the boot floor. My research suggests the following are most certainly missing:
- full Oyster tool box
- elephant skin side panels behind the tool box

Questionable gaps include:
- the white edge protectors that sit on the wheel arches
- the ditty box

Does anyone have the definitive answer to the last two items for a UK delivered RHD City Pack?

Many thanks in advance.
 

rsporsche

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i can't speak to exactly what should or shouldn't be in a CSL - but you can buy a new clamshell toolbox from BMW. 71111102916 (tomkinson - $292.24) ... i think that is the new number (it should be verified that isn't the 74 number)

the last CSL i saw didn't have the elephant skin panels around the wheel arches with the white trim on them ...


Firstly, thank you to all those who have posted useful information in this forum. Secondly, my apologies if my search skills have not uncovered the answer to any of the questions I will be posting as we put back togther a bare metal restored RHD City CSL Polaris Silver that was imported to Australia a few years ago.

Question 1: The boot is bare except the spare wheel and a wheel wedge and the jack, and the elephant skin covered panels on the boot floor. My research suggests the following are most certainly missing:
- full Oyster tool box
- elephant skin side panels behind the tool box

Questionable gaps include:
- the white edge protectors that sit on the wheel arches
- the ditty box

Does anyone have the definitive answer to the last two items for a UK delivered RHD City Pack?

Many thanks in advance.
 

jvrenaudon

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Contents of boot

Atavistic,

Sounds as though your car could correspond closely to mine of which I am the only registered owner fron March 1973. My VIN is 2285295 and was dispatched in December 1972.

The contents of the boot were the three elephant hide floor panels, the two elephant-hide underside boot lid panels, the toolbox incorporating emergency window stick, a small kit of touch-up and lacquer (probably supplied separately by appreciative dealer or Dover Concessionnaires).

There were no plastic coverings to wheel arches, no white plastic jointing strip, no elephant hide to the inner face of the rear quarter panels. There was no goody box.

Beneath the removable boot-floor panel was a spare wheel, securing plate and nut, jack with winged securing screw, wheel-chock and wheel -brace fitted, thoughtfully, with a spacer to save your knuckles hitting the tarmac.

Hope this helps. Incidentally, my Series 2 CSi is fitted with the stuff decribed as missing above but I only acquired this car last year so cannot vouch as to accuracy. Regards, John.
 

Atavistic

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Thanks

John and RS - much appreciated.
Will skip the ditty box and edge protectors and seek further advice when we get to the next tricky milestone.
Thanks again.
 

Atavistic

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Alpina Wheels are they authentic?

The wheels have been dipped and resprayed.

The restorer highlighted that the stamped detail in the outside casting (around the wheel nuts) looks much less raised than on other Alpina wheel pictures, so qustioned their authenticity.

They are clearly made of aluminium, look old (are somewhat pitted from the dipping and past soda blasting) but have Alpina stamped on the outside and inside of them.

Three pictures attached. Does anyone have wheels like this from a RHD City Pack CSL. Were after market replicas ever sold/used to cheapen restoration work?

Any guidance or confidence building (either way) would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance
 

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rsporsche

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no idea - perhaps they were media blasted or sand blasted at some point in time that wore the castings down or rounded them out.
 

Simufly

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Alpins

Genuine Alpinas have the makers name (Ronal) cast on the inside usually on one of the spokes. A date matrix should also be present. PM me if you need a picture.
Being picky the colour should be matt or satin black and should extend about 3mm onto the front surface.
 

rsporsche

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Genuine Alpinas have the makers name (Ronal) cast on the inside usually on one of the spokes. A date matrix should also be present. PM me if you need a picture.
Being picky the colour should be matt or satin black and should extend about 3mm onto the front surface.
i think it would be good to post a pic ... so people have a reference of what to look for. this would be very helpful
 

bela22

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these are THE proper early CSL wheels. you can even see the manufact.date stamp 73/3 (?)
 

craterface

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Wheels look just like mine

I run 16 inch wheels but have a spare set of 14s (not for sale) for cars shows etc, and yoursel of 14s looks just like mine.

Scott
 

craterface

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One more thing

The more CSLs I see, the more variations I see.

Maybe the RHD cars were more consistent, but the LHD cars seem to be all over the map. The city pack LHD cars vary. I have seen one with rear power windows which I believe are original. Some city pack LHD have power steering, others don't.

I really wish BMW would open up their archives and have some sort of classiche certification for the cars, like Ferrari has. I really have no idea how my car was configured when it was built, versus how it looks now. I would venture to say that there are very few original owner CSLs in unmodified form for reference. And fewer still in the US (probably zero).

Scott
 

Simufly

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CSL Alpinas.

Early CSL Alpina wheels had just five lug holes. These are quite rare and sort after. Later Alpina 7x14s had another set of 5 smaller holes, allegedly to allow adjusting the rear parking brake stops. The BMW 7x14 Alpina style wheels are very similar to these later genuine Alpinas, albeit with different markings on the central black area.
Genuine Alpinas are made by Ronal and this is cast into the backside of the rim as per the photo.
 

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italiangerman

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Early CSL Alpina wheels had just five lug holes. These are quite rare and sort after. Later Alpina 7x14s had another set of 5 smaller holes, allegedly to allow adjusting the rear parking brake stops. The BMW 7x14 Alpina style wheels are very similar to these later genuine Alpinas, albeit with different markings on the central black area.
Genuine Alpinas are made by Ronal and this is cast into the backside of the rim as per the photo.

Very helpful info.
The std factory issue CSL wheels were always BMW Apina style 7 X 14s? Or, were there other wheel options for CSL through the model years?
Thanks for the clarity and the photo.
 

Simufly

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CSl wheels

It seems likely that all UK sold CSLs had genuine Alpina 7x14 wheels from the concessionaires. No doubt other wheels such as Mahle/BBS could also be fitted at buyers/dealers request.
I don't ever recall seeing a CSL on Cromodora 6x14 as fitted to early CS and CSA. With the introduction of the CSi to the UK the FPS 6x14 Alpina style seem to have been the wheel of choice although 7x14 was also available as special order (sonderausstattung in BMW speak)
For the anoraks out there the part numbers are
36 11 1 108 946 early 7x 14
33 11 1 110 344 late 7x14
33 11 1 113 085 6x14
Whether the 946 and 344 are BMW Alpina lookalike or genuine Alpinas I am unable to say, but I would suggest it is only a possibility. I purchased two sets of 14 Alpinas in the mid 70s, one set I picked up from the then Alpina concessionaires TWR in Oxford the invoice only showed a four figure reference. The second set I Collected direct from Alpina in Germany in 1987 again with a four fig ref.
The early 6x14 lookalikes are quite different from the later wheels supplied on the e12and e28 in that the early wheel have smooth spokes. The later ones had noticeable ridges.
 

Arde

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craterface;131266 I really wish BMW would open up their archives and have some sort of classiche certification for the cars said:
More likely to see the Vatican open its archives before BMW does...
Eat healthy and exercise if you hope to see that.
 

Atavistic

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Many thanks

All this is a great relief - thank you so much for your posts (and the correction to matt black).

The car was purchased as a less than mid priced car that some bloggers have warned against buying. It is however 100% complete and has featured in a magazine front cover, and superficially it looked fine, but after starting on the sills it proved to need exactly the same full restoration as a lower priced car. So any news is good news indeed!

To answer some of the other observations: It has power steering and it has power windows front and back, no sound system or speaker holes and full matching numbers.

The engine is now being restored and the shell has returned from its acid bath and has been sprayed, so now we start on some major panel replacement and removal of past poor repairs.

Thanks again!
 
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