FS: Bavaria

The bus will be gone along with the e30 cab. Mike and I are 50/50 partners in this, but it's a keeper!

One owner, 55k miles, parked in a garage in 1981 and forgotten. Bought from Vasel Polak April 1970, owner kept records of every gas fill up. Owners manuals, key case, original spare tire, blue leather interior, no sunroof. The interior looks like one year old, it's perfect as is the trunk, all tools present, the uber rare license plate and frame, the door seals and window felts all look and feel brand new.

Sad story with the owner, lost his house in a foreclosure. New buyer hires guy to haul out trash, they see a car but it's buried under crap. Hauler gets the car, original owner shows up, asks to get some papers from the house, he disappears for a while, new owner finds old owner has dropped dead in old office. Hauler takes car to his house and posts on CL. Mike sees it, calls me, he gives a deposit, we show up with a flat bed next morning. Happy ending! I couldn't even make this up if I tried!

Seller had lots of callers but we showed up with cash, someone here we think also inquired. Sometimes you take a chance and roll the dice. This time it worked out. So far everything works, even electric antenna and radio
but engine is seized right now. If we can't turn it over we have a complete 3L with zeniths to drop in as a temporary replacement and I have a spare 5 speed.
 
Last edited:
>>The bus will be gone along with the e30 cab. Mike and I are 50/50 partners in this, but it's a keeper!<<

If Ms Macha misses her cabrio I have a nicer, newer one that is available.....<lol>
 
Nice! I'm just starting down the e3 road recently. I take it the Bavaria is the "less optioned, lower cost" model and the 2800CS was the high end with the leather and electric windows? If so, the Bav can be converted to the high spec options, correct?
 
Bwana said:
Nice! I'm just starting down the e3 road recently. I take it the Bavaria is the "less optioned, lower cost" model and the 2800CS was the high end with the leather and electric windows? If so, the Bav can be converted to the high spec options, correct?
Click to expand...

If memory serves me, the original E3 line consisted of the 2500 and the 2800 sedans with the 2800 having the slightly larger engine with more base equipment and deluxe trim. The Bavaria came along in 1971 for the US market with the base trim, the 2800 engine, and a lower price to entice US buyers to consider a BMW when shopping for other premium sports sedan brands. Eventually by the mid 1970's the 3.0S came along as the top-of-the line fully equipped sedan model. I suppose one could retrofit the optional/deluxe parts to a base model.

My memory is largely based upon my then father-in-law having a '69 2500 and my Mom having a '71 Bavaria during the mid '70's.
 
jefftepper said:
If memory serves me, the original E3 line consisted of the 2500 and the 2800 sedans with the 2800 having the slightly larger engine with more base equipment and deluxe trim. The Bavaria came along in 1971 for the US market with the base trim, the 2800 engine, and a lower price to entice US buyers to consider a BMW when shopping for other premium sports sedan brands. Eventually by the mid 1970's the 3.0S came along as the top-of-the line fully equipped sedan model. I suppose one could retrofit the optional/deluxe parts to a base model.

My memory is largely based upon my then father-in-law having a '69 2500 and my Mom having a '71 Bavaria during the mid '70's.
Click to expand...

The statements here regarding the 2500-2800 & Bavaria are pretty accurate. 41 years ago we purchased our first Bavaria which was a '72 4 speed in Agava. It was a wonderful driving car and to this day I'm still kicking myself for letting it go.

We waited some 39 years for the next Bavaria which is also a '72 and has been converted from an auto to a 5 speed and at this writing is getting a transplant of a 3.5 injected engine. This car is also a joy to drive, so light and nimble with unlimited visibility.

I know this is mostly an E9 site but for those of you who haven't experienced driving an E3 you owe it to yourself. Most coupe drivers will agree that in stock form the E3 is a better driving vehicle.

It seems that now these cars are starting to be discovered and I look forward to seeing many more of them showing up at events. Congrats to Mike and Chris for the find and for bringing this one back to life.
 
jefftepper said:
If memory serves me, the original E3 line consisted of the 2500 and the 2800 sedans with the 2800 having the slightly larger engine with more base equipment and deluxe trim. The Bavaria came along in 1971 for the US market with the base trim, the 2800 engine, and a lower price to entice US buyers to consider a BMW when shopping for other premium sports sedan brands. Eventually by the mid 1970's the 3.0S came along as the top-of-the line fully equipped sedan model. I suppose one could retrofit the optional/deluxe parts to a base model.

My memory is largely based upon my then father-in-law having a '69 2500 and my Mom having a '71 Bavaria during the mid '70's.
Click to expand...

Absolutely right. U.S. importer Max Hoffman, an incredibly shrewd marketer--also largely responsible for the creation of the 2002--very prominently advertised the Bavaria's starting price of under $5,000 when it was introduced in '71 (compared to $6,500-7,000 for the 2500 and 2800), but what the ads didn't mention were the "mandatory options" that nearly every Bavaria came with. So, things like a radio and vinyl upholstery added to that bottom line and truthfully a Bavaria was almost always a $6,000+ car. '70s inflation being what it was, my moderately optioned '73 was about $9,000 new.

Most of the luxury features of the earlier 2800, save for the fancy load-leveling suspension, were optional on the Bavaria, so it is possible (though rare) to find a Bav with leather, power windows, power sunroof, etc. In fact, to bring it full circle, the Bavaria on eBay that started this thread is pretty unusual in that it does have power windows.

So jealous of the 2800 find!
 
corvair kid said:
Absolutely right. U.S. importer Max Hoffman, an incredibly shrewd marketer--also largely responsible for the creation of the 2002--very prominently advertised the Bavaria's starting price of under $5,000 when it was introduced in '71 (compared to $6,500-7,000 for the 2500 and 2800), but what the ads didn't mention were the "mandatory options" that nearly every Bavaria came with. So, things like a radio and vinyl upholstery added to that bottom line and truthfully a Bavaria was almost always a $6,000+ car. '70s inflation being what it was, my moderately optioned '73 was about $9,000 new.

Most of the luxury features of the earlier 2800, save for the fancy load-leveling suspension, were optional on the Bavaria, so it is possible (though rare) to find a Bav with leather, power windows, power sunroof, etc. In fact, to bring it full circle, the Bavaria on eBay that started this thread is pretty unusual in that it does have power windows.

So jealous of the 2800 find!
Click to expand...
the later '74+ 3.0s sold in the states did have leather and electric windows / sunroof.
 
rsporsche said:
the later '74+ 3.0s sold in the states did have leather and electric windows / sunroof.
Click to expand...

True. The '73-74 3.0S and '75-76 3.0Si were full-on luxobarges, more comprehensively equipped than even the original 2800. Pretty much the only options were LSD, auto trans, and sunroof - everything else was standard. They're also much scarcer than Bavarias, though, since they were considerably more expensive and by '75 the 530i was available with the same engine and similar interior dimensions in a smaller, less expensive, and more modern package.
 
Feb 26, 1973 prices
 

Attachments

  • 1973 BMW Options with Prices r1.jpg
    1973 BMW Options with Prices r1.jpg
    96.6 KB · Views: 134
1970 Prices and Options

Our 2800 has all options less manual sunroof
 

Attachments

  • 4-70 Dealer Prices.jpg
    4-70 Dealer Prices.jpg
    58.7 KB · Views: 111
  • 4-70 Dealer Options.jpg
    4-70 Dealer Options.jpg
    74.1 KB · Views: 108
These price lists are an awesome resource!

Fun game for anybody with a '70 or '73 - how much did your car cost new! Looks like your 2800 was $8,155 new; my '73 Bavaria would have been $9,588.
 
Chris,

Great find and buy!

My first BMW was a 2800, back in 1971. The Bavaria hit the dealerships in late summer, and my local dealer (a Hungarian refugee who could only afford ONE car on the showroom floor at a time) had a Malaga with tan vinyl interior, and the salesman (owners son-in-law to be, also a Hungarian refugee) and I had reached an agreement on price that was a healthy discount vs MSRP. Two hours after I returned home, I got a call from the salesman, and he said the owner wouldn't allow him to sell the car for that price, so he had to void our agreement.

Since that price had been at the top of my budget, I did some telephoning to other dealers in the mid-Atlantic area. Dealer in Norfolk VA had a 'left over' '70 2800 sedan in beige (don't remember the name) with tan leather interior and fully optioned. The quoted 'best price' was a few hundred less than the Bavaria figure I'd agreed on. THUS, that 2800 was our family car from '71 through '77, when we bought a fjord blue/tan leather 3.0 Si that had been driven about 3K miles by a dealer's wife in N. Carolina. Had that until the early '80's, when we transitioned to a Mercedes 300 diesel (oil embargo era).

The E3's were indeed great cars, and the 2800 might actually have been better in some ways than the 3.0 Si.

You 'done good' - enjoy.

By the way, the 'Hugarian refugee' who opened that BMW dealership near Philadelphia in about 1969 died a few years ago. By that time, they had a very large, luxurious dealership near West Chester PA, and always had 100 or more new cars on the large showroom floor and surrounding lots. He 'done REAL good', and I was very happy for him and his family. I had kept in touch with them through those years when I was driving the E9 and E3 for parts and service.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top