How to source an E9 from Africa / South Africa

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E9Aus

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Hi all, still on the hunt for a 3.0 CSi to bring in to Australia but have widened my search to include South Africa amongst other regions, mainly due to their warm dry climate that keeps cars pretty rust free (a little like buying a California car I guess) as well as the fact that they are mostly RHD as we are also RHD in Australia - you can drive classic LHD cars here but I prefer RHD if I can find the right one.

So my question - does anyone have any tips on where to source older BM's from in South Africa (or even Africa in general). Once again I have trawled the net and rifled through Google listings but besides the mainstream used car sites in SA I am yet to find anyone who specialises in these models or is listing an E9 for sale. Given BMW's strong history in South Africa I figure there must still be a few survivors over there worth looking at.

As per above, I am specifically looking for an E9 3.0 CSi in RHD in good driveable shape at a reasonable price.

Any tips on dealers in the South African / African region or websites would be greatly appreciated.

I'm also searching the UK, New Zealand and of course Australia right now.

Thanks in advance to all!
 
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I spent two years in SA and had a blast there. You are right, there is a strong BMW presence in SA and they even had a few unique BMW models (333i and 745i w/euro S38 engine come to mind). In my time there, I only saw one e9 on the street and only one for sale listed in an "Autotrader" type publication (sorry, for the life of me I can't think of the exact name). I also seem to recall a e9 club that was online, but I don't know if they are still around. Caution, though much of SA has California type weather, along the coast is very rainy, so you can easily find cars with rust there.

good luck,

Walt
 
WALTER said:
I spent two years in SA and had a blast there. You are right, there is a strong BMW presence in SA and they even had a few unique BMW models (333i and 745i w/euro S38 engine come to mind). In my time there, I only saw one e9 on the street and only one for sale listed in an "Autotrader" type publication (sorry, for the life of me I can't think of the exact name). I also seem to recall a e9 club that was online, but I don't know if they are still around. Caution, though much of SA has California type weather, along the coast is very rainy, so you can easily find cars with rust there.

good luck,

Walt
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Thanks Walter, great advice, especially on the rust. I'll try and track them down through an SA E9 car club. Cheers!
 
RHD Conversion

Why not buy a LHD and convert to RHD? All the necessary parts including suspension, steering box, subframe, pedals, remote brake boosters are available from E3 saloons and are the same E9 part numbers so they are completely compatible. I hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong but I believe the only body shop work would be to the firewall where the pedal box goes through. However you would still need to find a RHD dash for the interior or have the LHD one rebuilt to fit as the E3 interior is quite different.
 
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Theres a guy called Frank who deals in them in Johannesburg, and Colin van Son who took over running the SA E9 club info side from me would also know.
if you have any hassles pm me and I'll put you in touch.
 
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