E9 - Color placement - what color goes where?

rsporsche

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E9 - color placement - what color goes where?
The main premise of this thread is to get things painted correctly, if you are striving for the look of originality. I am sure there will be some debate about certain items, and that discussion helps us all have better examples. So this is a work-in-progress. I have been collaborating with our friends HB Chris and Markos.
BODY EXTERIOR
These items - body color
1. All topside panels welded to the body
2. doors, hood + trunk
3. Inner wheel wells
4. gas flap and hinge
These items - body color with schutz (texture)
1. Lower front valence - below chin panel (below bumper) follows indent line
2. Lower rear valence (below the centerline of the bumper) - follow the inset line
1611864245069.png
These items - painted satin black with schutz (texture)
1. Rocker panel covers
These items - painted satin black
1. Bumper brackets
2. cover panels within wheel wells
These items - painted sign painters' lettering enamel 154-L peacock blue or 153L process blue
or blend of Testor's 1108 light blue and 1110 blue - rgb (0, 138, 201)
1. Roundel Blue
These items - Testor's 1145 white
1. Roundel White
These items - Testor's 1147 Black (semi gloss)
1. Roundel Black
These items - body color
1. all items welded to the body, including fixed radiator mounts1.
2. hood
3. head light access covers
4. hood support / bracket arms and bolts
5. hinges + hinge bolts
These items - satin black
1. Radiator
2. Radiator side bracket (removable)
3. Brake Booster and mount
4. Wiper Motor and mounting bracket
5. PS pump
6. PS reservoir body & cap
7. Hydraulic Steering box
8. A/C muffler and drier
9. Heater intake cover
10. Hood latching catches
11. Metal Coolant overflow tank
12. Plastic plug at hood release cable
These items - warm grey with green tint (RAL 7043) - close, but not perfect
1. Air cleaner
These items - warm grey with green tint (RAL 7022) - close, but not perfect ... some say RAL 6015 is better
1. Csi airbox
These items - dark gray with greenish tint (RAL 6015)
1. Subframe
2. Strut housings
These items - painted Tamiya Color code TS-34 Camel Yellow
1. Dipstick hoop
These items - yellow zinc
1. Hood light activation bracket
These items - not painted / clear zinc
1. Hood latches
2. Strut top bolts
3. Wind shield wiper pushrod arms
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1611864397001.png
IN THE TRUNK
These items - body color
1. all items welded to the body
2. trunk lid
3. torsion bars, support arms and bolts
4. hinges + hinge bolts
5. trunk stop brackets
These items - satin black
1. torsion bar clips
2. gas tank
3. gas filler pipe
4. spare tire hold down bracket
These items - not painted (clear zinc finish)
1. Trunk latch
2. Trunk latch mounting bolts
3. Trunk lid catch
4. Spare tire nut
Trunk trim - painted SEM Storm Gray
1. Elephant skin trunk panels and floor boards
2. Tool box
3. Taillight covers
Trunk trim - painted SEM Ranger White
1. Panel edge trim
1611864420826.png
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INTERIOR
These items - body color
1. All visible body metal welded to the body
2. door hinges, bolts / screws
These items - painted satin black
1. removable metal panels below windows (that wood mounts to)
2. Hand brake lever + bracket
3. Steering wheel hub
4. exposed portions of steering column
These items - krinkle black
1. Metal steering column covers
2. instrument surrounds
These items - unfinshed (clear zinc)
1. door brake (flat bar)
2. door latch
3. front seat sliders and lever control
4. visible door fasteners (other than hinge screws)
Trim pieces - painted SEM Satin Black (or Landau Black)
1. Dash
2. Dash instrument binnacle
3. Dash Grab rail
4. Glove boxes
5. Underdash panels
6. Console sides
7. Dash top vinyl
8. Vinyl trim above wood (doors + rear)
9. Grab handle (rear seat)
door break (flat) rod
Trim pieces - painted interior color
1. Kick panels (if not leather)
2. Door + Rear Side panels (if not leather)
3. Door pulls
4. Rear armrests (if not leather)
5. Welts between door panel and door
Trim pieces - painted SEM ranger white
1. Headliner
2. Headliner molded panel
3. Sunvisors
 
Last edited:
put all this in a spreadsheet so I could sort what things I needed to paint in what colour when taking to the powder coaters. Paying it forward and copying it here is its any use as the list was very helpful to me.
 

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  • Paint Colours.xlsx
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@jpg10 ... in actuality the information was all done in excel. i guess i could have posted the spreadsheet. thanks for the correction @HB Chris ... its picked up above as well
 
These items - warm grey with green tint (RAL 7043) - close, but not perfect
1. Air cleaner
These items - warm grey with green tint (RAL 7022) - close, but not perfect
1. Csi airbox
These items - dark gray with greenish tint (RAL )
1. Subframe
2. Strut housings
These items - painted Tamiya Color code TS-34 Camel Yellow
1. Dipstick hoop
This spring, some of these were discussed in the little German E3-Forum, with Coupé Club people involved, too. Results might be quite good, neither all accurate nor all wrong.
Air filter housing (Zenith) - early Verkehrsgrau B (RAL 7043), late satin to dull black
Colours probably changed at the beginning of 1975 for both, E3 & E9. Exact date remains unclear.
Another suggestion was Eisengrau (RAL 7011). Verkehrsgrau B might be the better match.
Air filter housing (Bosch) - grey for D-Jetronic, satin to dull black for L-Jetronic
L-Jetronic is not important for the E9, I guess.
Oil filter housing - Rubinrot (RAL 3003)
Dipstick - early Rubinrot (RAL 3003), late Signalgelb (RAL 1003)
BMW Service Info 75/may says red until 71/mar, then yellow. Not interchangeable, the red one is slightly shorter.

One of the guys said all grey panels in the boot were Verkehrsgrau A (RAL 7042). Hard to tell.

The upright part of the bonnet hinges were usually painted body colour first and then painted over with a brush in dull black. Light coloured hinges would have shown behind the front grilles, BMW didn't like that.

Same with some parts of the mounting consoles of the front seats. A quick layer of black with a brush, not done expertly. Anyway, found that on an E3 last month, not on a Coupé. There should be pictures of it somewhere.
 
I’ve never seen a carb housing in black, same for d-jet, always grey. And I think 2002 bonnet hinges definitely had black brushed on them but I’m not sure that applied to e9. Markos will find some brochure pics I’m sure!
 
I’ve never seen a carb housing in black, same for d-jet, always grey. And I think 2002 bonnet hinges definitely had black brushed on them but I’m not sure that applied to e9. Markos will find some brochure pics I’m sure!
The nice one is a '76 2500, for sale in 2010. The other is a '76 3.0 S, for sale in 2014. Pictures courtesy of the sellers. Could add two more '76 3.0 S with their air filter housings not repainted.

D-Jetronic is always grey. L-Jetronic is black. My fault if that was not clear enough.

Will look for pictures of the black hinges. The car I'm thinking of was very dirty, you might need a bit of imagination. Also, the pictures weren't taken with the black hinges in mind. May take two or three days.
2500-76-6-14.jpg
30S-76-2-08.JPG
 
This spring, some of these were discussed in the little German E3-Forum, with Coupé Club people involved, too. Results might be quite good, neither all accurate nor all wrong.
Air filter housing (Zenith) - early Verkehrsgrau B (RAL 7043), late satin to dull black
Colours probably changed at the beginning of 1975 for both, E3 & E9. Exact date remains unclear.
Another suggestion was Eisengrau (RAL 7011). Verkehrsgrau B might be the better match.
Air filter housing (Bosch) - grey for D-Jetronic, satin to dull black for L-Jetronic
L-Jetronic is not important for the E9, I guess.
Oil filter housing - Rubinrot (RAL 3003)
Dipstick - early Rubinrot (RAL 3003), late Signalgelb (RAL 1003)
BMW Service Info 75/may says red until 71/mar, then yellow. Not interchangeable, the red one is slightly shorter.

One of the guys said all grey panels in the boot were Verkehrsgrau A (RAL 7042). Hard to tell.

The upright part of the bonnet hinges were usually painted body colour first and then painted over with a brush in dull black. Light coloured hinges would have shown behind the front grilles, BMW didn't like that.

Same with some parts of the mounting consoles of the front seats. A quick layer of black with a brush, not done expertly. Anyway, found that on an E3 last month, not on a Coupé. There should be pictures of it somewhere.
hi Christoph, great information such as this is well received and appreciated.
 
On the 2002s BMW reverted to black air cleaners in 75, since we didn’t get any 75 e9 here perhaps they were black, I have never seen one. I agree l-jet is black.
 
I’ve never seen a carb housing in black, same for d-jet, always grey. And I think 2002 bonnet hinges definitely had black brushed on them but I’m not sure that applied to e9. Markos will find some brochure pics I’m sure!

I suspected that the 2800CS had a carb housing in black. That is why I looked it up in the other thread. Both the 2800CS manual and the period pics show that the color is “not black”.

We tend to forget that the e3 had a longer run than the e9. It got special treatment, such as 1976 colors.

I’ve never seen the black hinges. Sadly the brochures and factory photos rarely show the bay.

Check out this intro thread by @Andy the aussie. His very original 1975 2.5CS has the black airbox, but the hinges match the hood.

 
I suspected that the 2800CS had a carb housing in black. That is why I looked it up in the other thread. Both the 2800CS manual and the period pics show that the color is “not black”.

We tend to forget that the e3 had a longer run than the e9. It got special treatment, such as 1976 colors.

I’ve never seen the black hinges. Sadly the brochures and factory photos rarely show the bay.

Check out this intro thread by @Andy the aussie. His very original 1975 2.5CS has the black airbox, but the hinges match the hood.

@Andy the aussie, the car wll cause a row once it's finished, 2.5 CSA or not.

It is nice we got the 1976/autumn colours though they were not developed with the E3 in mind. These colours were well appreciated when new. Resedagrün became the height of fashion in late 1976, it seems. Today people think differently, however. What is quite interesting, the E24 6 series got some of the colours about nine months earlier than the rest of the range.

We must not forget the E9 got special treatment, too. Nachtblau was a Coupé-only colour all its life. My guess is, they only used it at the Karmann factory but not in München or Dingolfing.

If you like to take a look, last winter we tried to build a colour timeline: <https://bmw-e3-club.de/lackfarben/>. The BMW Group Archiv helped a lot as did Glasurit and others. Please let me know if you spot any inaccuracies. Except for Nachtblau it might be useful for the E9, as well.

The hinges were not completely black. Only the upright parts that would show through the front grilles were brushed over. I still haven't looked for pictures of that, my fault. Unfortunately, Andy does not have any, either. I am sure to have taken photos of an E3 with the grilles off. The hinges were black but it will be hard to tell from the pictures because the car was so neglected and everything seemed to have faded to light grey.
 
Found the pictures. The car is a 1969 2800. Hinges and bolts were brushed over after the bonnet was mounted and adjusted. On the driver's side it may even be visible.
DSCN4961.jpg

DSCN4962.jpg
 
I would also - taking opportunity - like to convince @HB Chris plastic nuts used to mount headlight covers were not only white. :D

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I have also seen black knobs on BMW materials/pictures. Do not have them in front of me to put them here but let's keep this picture as a teaser. ;-)
 
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