I’m about to embark on a full restoration of my 1974 BMW 3.0 CS (#4335301). Factory exterior in Riveria Blue (horrible re-paint that will be completely stripped and brought back to factory correct), but I cannot find what the original factory interior color would have been. Any help from the E9 community about what the original factory interior 1974 E9 colors would have been? Yes, I ordered the BMW Classics Birth Certificate. Useless. Any guidance from the experts out there? Thanks!
E9 Factory Interior Colors
- Thread starter Bajasur
- Start date
Here are th options for 1972, not sure how that would have changed for 1974.
Here’s another chart, but it’s for pre face lift and European cloth/ velour exterior with paint combinations from factory.
Red leather and white leather were also options, not sure of what the years are on those colors I think red was available for the whole run. Not sure about white, my friend Mike's (he just bought off of BaT) is a 73 and has the factory white leather.
My Riviera 72 2002, back in the day, had black. FWIW...
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Thank you for the replies thus far! Really helpful. I’ve read (somewhere) that all US spec E9s came with leather (not velour or leatherette). Wish the BMW Classic certificate came with the factory interior color, but I’m guessing my Riveria Blue exterior was most likely paired with something in the tan family, or perhaps black. A cognac/tobacco could look stunning, IMHO. Keep the replies coming! Thank you again.
Riviera is a tricky one. Recommended interior colours changed at least once, same as Baikal and the high impact colours. The ECE Colours&Trim cards Sep. 73 & Feb. 74 both combine Riviera with Light Grey, for all E9 models cloth (Stoff) S0010 or vinyl (Kunstleder) K0008. USA models should be the same; some months ago a Riviera Bavaria was on offer, also with the common Light Grey vinyl.
The grey cloth yellows like hell but don't mind because it is unavailable anyway. Vinyl will be difficult, too, you need the plain and the perforated material. Moreover, grey was only introduced in late 1973.
Good news: from Sep. 73 on change of interior colour was not an option at extra cost anymore. The first owner of your 3.0 CS A might have chosen Sandbeige, Marineblau or Schwarz for the same price. Dark blue or black cloth materials were remanufactured at some time, the others not.
Last exit leather. Six colours, all available for every exterior colour. Schwarz L9090, Marineblau L4141, Beige L0303, Englisch Sattelleder L0707, Weiß L8181, Veloursrot L2727. Englisch Sattelleder = English Saddle = rich medium brown. BMW used very good leather, with regular care you can pass the seats to your children. Factory quality material today probably is not cheap. Bad news: leather interiors had matching vinyl colours for doorpanels and so on, only black and dark blue are identical to cloth and vinyl interiors. As above, you'll need the plain and the perforated material. And the doorhandles. And the carpets.
The grey cloth yellows like hell but don't mind because it is unavailable anyway. Vinyl will be difficult, too, you need the plain and the perforated material. Moreover, grey was only introduced in late 1973.
Good news: from Sep. 73 on change of interior colour was not an option at extra cost anymore. The first owner of your 3.0 CS A might have chosen Sandbeige, Marineblau or Schwarz for the same price. Dark blue or black cloth materials were remanufactured at some time, the others not.
Last exit leather. Six colours, all available for every exterior colour. Schwarz L9090, Marineblau L4141, Beige L0303, Englisch Sattelleder L0707, Weiß L8181, Veloursrot L2727. Englisch Sattelleder = English Saddle = rich medium brown. BMW used very good leather, with regular care you can pass the seats to your children. Factory quality material today probably is not cheap. Bad news: leather interiors had matching vinyl colours for doorpanels and so on, only black and dark blue are identical to cloth and vinyl interiors. As above, you'll need the plain and the perforated material. And the doorhandles. And the carpets.
Your original seat color was probably the same as your door panels and armrests. Riviera blue will complement a tan colored interior per your thoughts in a previous post#6.
General Motors back in the 60's used to have cars with the same color exterior, interior,dash, steering wheel and carpet. That only works with black. Keep the blue on the outside and let your interior complement it.
General Motors back in the 60's used to have cars with the same color exterior, interior,dash, steering wheel and carpet. That only works with black. Keep the blue on the outside and let your interior complement it.
So incredibly helpful! Thank you to all who have posted their expertise. I found some photos of old brochures online and am leaning strongly towards L0707, English Saddle, and think it would be a deep and rich compliment to a proper Riveria Blue exterior. The door panels and armrests on the car appear to possibly be L0303, so it seems changing to L0707 during the restoration would need to include matching vinyl door panels, carpets, doorhandles….. the restoration hole deepens! .
@Bajasur : Congrats, great decision! English Saddle is abnormally beautiful and goes well with a lot of colours. If it weren't that rare. For the E3 I know a lot less English Saddle interiors than even White or Red ones.
Careful with beige doorpanels and armrests. Those for Beige leather are called Beige, they are brighter in colour and slightly yellow compared to the ones for Beige cloth or vinyl. The cloth/vinyl gear is called Nylonbraun, it looks more like hospital beige or, a bit nicer, the colour of ladies' stockings. Odd, but true. Took me several days to understand.
@Drew Gregg : I could stare for hours at a 57 Chevrolet in Larkspur Blue, including headliner. Probably because they are so unusual here. That said, I fully agree. Better have some contrast between paint and upholstery.
Careful with beige doorpanels and armrests. Those for Beige leather are called Beige, they are brighter in colour and slightly yellow compared to the ones for Beige cloth or vinyl. The cloth/vinyl gear is called Nylonbraun, it looks more like hospital beige or, a bit nicer, the colour of ladies' stockings. Odd, but true. Took me several days to understand.
@Drew Gregg : I could stare for hours at a 57 Chevrolet in Larkspur Blue, including headliner. Probably because they are so unusual here. That said, I fully agree. Better have some contrast between paint and upholstery.
Can’t comment because my E3 is European with a velvet and corduroy interior which I absolutely love. But my all factory all original E3 is Riviera blue and the interior is all tan with tan loop carpet.
Fritzie
Well-Known Member
See the site from Germany club:
www.bmw-coupeclub.de
Fahrzeuge - BMW Coupé - Club e.V.
Hier können Sie die einzelnen Fahrzeugtypen und die Fahrzeuge mit spezifischen Daten abrufen. Wie z.B. BMW 2800 CS • BMW 2.5 CS • BMW 3.0 CS • usw.
www.bmw-coupeclub.de
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day66
Well-Known Member
Mine is Baikal blue and originally had the blue velour (though it will be going to blue leather with sports seats). That's quite a lot of blue, though it is broken up by the carpets which are the original blue/grey fleck ones! If I was starting afresh I would probably go down the route of a biscuit/tan interior (black is a bit dreary, white impractical), but there's a lot to change, so I was content to stick with blue on blue.
Yes, you could. Why not? And perhaps add when your car was built. With Sandbeige seats, beige carpets and (Nylonbraun) doorpanels it is most likely something between Sep. 72 and Sep. 73.
Well done by the Coupé-Club and really helpful. Like the lists. On the down side they omitted Riviera in the 73 to 75 list.
If you are going to use the world except North America colour cards as a reference, and you should because BMW was far too small then to be able to offer special colours or upholstery for America alone, then why not go for the original BMW cards? Look here:
Farben Polster, September 1973: <https://www.bmw-grouparchiv.de/irc/resultlist/detailpage?id=3133550>.
Farben Polster, Februar 1974: <https://www.bmw-grouparchiv.de/irc/resultlist/detailpage?id=3133567>.
This is extraordinary for sure. Baikal is weird. BMW first recommended grey cloth or black vinyl (mid 69), then beige cloth or brown vinyl (late 71) and finally grey cloth or grey vinyl (late 73). Exact change dates may differ, I only looked at three cards.
I meant my E9 is European, my E3 is a Bavaria so U.S.
Here's a good example of a 1964 Cadillac with all one color. It is safe to say that the German translation of "Turkis" was "Firemist Aquamarine" in General Motors language...
This land yacht would look nice in a 30 ft deep garage next to my Coupe...
This land yacht would look nice in a 30 ft deep garage next to my Coupe...
Marvellous. All one colour but different shades. The two tone dashboard and steering wheel are just wow. I always admire how courageous Americans were with colours. From that Cadillac on most Europe would need at least another six years before some here dared to buy brightly coloured cars.
When I changed the color of the interior of my car, I found that the vinyl took very well to the leather dye I used to change the color of my seats. I mention this because as Christoph notes, you may have a hard time finding vinyl door cars, etc. that match the color of your seats. Planning on having someone make a dye to match the color of the leather you select for your seats might be an alternative to seeking to buy vinyl that matches. And you would then have a suppy of touch up dye. I used Color Plus to make up the dye for me. You have to send them a small sample of your leather. https://colorplus.com/
I have dyed leather seats in 3 cars with excellent results. Cleaning and prep is the key to adhesion along with several thin sponge coats.
Sterling advice. We are in a strange situation - the expensive stuff, interior leather, is easily available whereas the cheap gear, vinyl doorcards, is not. Even worse, the doorpanels are impossible to reproduce, at least in Germany. The different materials, plain and patterned, are pressed together in a heat press or what it is called. The machines that did it seem to be gone completely. E3 and E9 people alike tried to find someone who would make new doorpanels. In one shop they suggested painting existing pieces which would not look right at all. The rest just dropped out.