New E9 owner and new member

Lenoxx said:
With respect to the paint color, my VIN is 2240166 and the coupe with the sequential VIN 2240167 is in the e9 registry. It's Polaris silver. I think even back in 72 car manufacturers painted cars in batches, which is another factor leading me to think it's been repainted post manufacture.
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Karmann did not build sequential VINs, these two coupes could be up to three weeks apart. What does the Karmann metal plate in driver’s door jamb say? Does it have a Golf paint sticker by the VIN plate on passenger fender. The Archive has been known to make mistakes, and please post your build date.

Chris

2240157 3/14/72
2240162 3/24/72
2240167 3/17/72
2240171 3/16/72
2240175 3/23/72
 
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Hi @Lenoxx,

I recommend that you pull the rear seat. Simply lift straight up and it will come out. You will likely find quite a bit of Polaris. If the car is yellow, snap a
pic of the felt pads on the sheetmetal where the seat back rubs. The fact that your interior is blue is a good indicator that your car left the factory in Polaris.
 
Lenoxx said:
If it was a special order and repainted in 72 by the dealership then I'll keep it yellow, otherwise I think it should go back to Polaris. But I don't know how common that was for a dealership to repaint a new car back then.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but can't imaging a dealer doing a color change in order to sell a new car. Why would they? If a buyer wanted Golf and they just had Polaris on the lot, it would be a LOT cheaper/easier/faster to just order a Golf coupe from BMW, or get one from another dealer. Doing a thorough color change is a lot of work - a dealer would lose money if they had to spend the time and money necessary to properly repaint a car in order to sell it.
 
jmackro said:
I'm no expert, but can't imaging a dealer doing a color change in order to sell a new car. Why would they? If a buyer wanted Golf and they just had Polaris on the lot, it would be a LOT cheaper/easier/faster to just order a Golf coupe from BMW, or get one from another dealer. Doing a thorough color change is a lot of work - a dealer would lose money if they had to spend the time and money necessary to properly repaint a car in order to sell it.
Click to expand...
The buyer would pay for any customization. And unless I'm mistaken, Golf wasn't an option in 72 for USA models. The importer/dealer ordered all the color combos and they ordered a lot of Polaris/marine-blue cars because they sold faster than yellow/orange/green. But some buyers want and can afford what isn't available to others. I'm not one of those buyers, but I hear they do exist. Anyway, I always research my cars. My 69 Cougar XR-7 conv. ended up being from a James Bond movie. In which case I painstakenly restored the paint and the rest of the car to original. Otherwise I might have just redone the interior in vinyl rather than leather and left the aftermarket kragar wheels on it, which I thought looked pretty cool.
 
Nice to see another Necchi & BMW owner. I have three now (two SuperNova and a Mira) and my engineer friend in Seattle who has two non-E9 BWMs has four Necchi.

One vote to keep your car it's yellow color is the fact that it's been that color most of it's life. It probably wasn't custom ordered Polaris, that was simply what it was on the lot. The yellow color meant enough for a previous owner to go to a lot of expense to get it repainted a new color. You can honor that choice and history or you can make it yet another silver car like so many others. But it's your car, you get to decide what color you want.

You might have a ZF transmission, or less likely, a Getrag 4 speed. The ZF has a solid body back to the shifter which gives it very nice shifts. The Getrag has a steel metal arrangement for the shifter bolted onto the back of the transmission. You can see this from below if you lift the car. Be careful and don't lift by the rockers! They must be tested to see if they are able to support the car. Most E9 at this age can not.

The 5 speed Getrag 265/6 has an overdrive 5th gear and is highly sought after as it was used in a number of cars including the MB Pagoda 280SL as well as several later BMWs. It is the most reliable and strongest transmission used in BMWs. Rebuild parts are scarce, some NLA though some private hoards exist. Metric Mechanic has made new parts they say are more robust than stock and so they can do rebuilds. But they are quite expensive since that's a lot of custom work. I've seen used 'known good' 265/6 go for $1200 with a fair number of miles on them.

I was lucky and found my rebuilt one on ebay because I had a search running and it was posted with a great 'buy it now" price so I bought it less than an hour after it was posted. They guy had bought it years ago for a project but didn't use it and I'm sure didn't realize that prices had gone up so much in the meantime.

There is a lot of information on the forum about the 5 speed conversion as well as adding AC. The search tool is your friend. Welcome.
 
Wow I looked for that very car back in the 80's how did you find it? Do tell!

Lenoxx said:
My 69 Cougar XR-7 conv. ended up being from a James Bond movie. In which case I painstakenly restored the paint and the rest of the car to original.
Click to expand...
 
HB Chris said:
A few more

43102194/29/74Amazongrun
43102204/16/74Amazongrun
43102214/5/74Siennabraun
43102225/14/74Siennabraun
Click to expand...

Chris, I can confirm that 4310232 was built on 4/29/74, and was Amazongrun, as it is my car! Definitely not sequential builds...
 
Stevehose said:
Wow I looked for that very car back in the 80's how did you find it? Do tell!
Click to expand...
It was one of my favorites. I bought it in the early-mid 90's from a colleague of my dad. But I had to sell my truck and my 66 Mustang in order to raise the money. I might have also used a bit of my student loan to pay for it, a bad choice but no regrets. I had recently restored my mustang so it was difficult for me to part with it. I drove my Cougar everywhere, raced everybody and worked on it every weekend. My girlfriend (now wife) got lots of looks when she drove it. She was reluctant to drive it at first, but I reassured her not to worry, and told her that I can fix it if she breaks it... she never broke it. I eventually sold it just before my first son was born because I wanted to make sure I had money on hand, just in case.
I've chased that car ever since. It last sold for more than I can ever afford. Sad, but ok by me, because I have a long list of cars that I still want to own.
I can now cross the E9 off my list. But I will eventually sell the E9 to fund the next car. And if my son gets his way, it will be a Dukes of Hazzard Charger. :cool:
 
mulberryworks said:
Nice to see another Necchi & BMW owner. I have three now (two SuperNova and a Mira) and my engineer friend in Seattle who has two non-E9 BWMs has four Necchi.

One vote to keep your car it's yellow color is the fact that it's been that color most of it's life. It probably wasn't custom ordered Polaris, that was simply what it was on the lot. The yellow color meant enough for a previous owner to go to a lot of expense to get it repainted a new color. You can honor that choice and history or you can make it yet another silver car like so many others. But it's your car, you get to decide what color you want.

You might have a ZF transmission, or less likely, a Getrag 4 speed. The ZF has a solid body back to the shifter which gives it very nice shifts. The Getrag has a steel metal arrangement for the shifter bolted onto the back of the transmission. You can see this from below if you lift the car. Be careful and don't lift by the rockers! They must be tested to see if they are able to support the car. Most E9 at this age can not.

The 5 speed Getrag 265/6 has an overdrive 5th gear and is highly sought after as it was used in a number of cars including the MB Pagoda 280SL as well as several later BMWs. It is the most reliable and strongest transmission used in BMWs. Rebuild parts are scarce, some NLA though some private hoards exist. Metric Mechanic has made new parts they say are more robust than stock and so they can do rebuilds. But they are quite expensive since that's a lot of custom work. I've seen used 'known good' 265/6 go for $1200 with a fair number of miles on them.

I was lucky and found my rebuilt one on ebay because I had a search running and it was posted with a great 'buy it now" price so I bought it less than an hour after it was posted. They guy had bought it years ago for a project but didn't use it and I'm sure didn't realize that prices had gone up so much in the meantime.

There is a lot of information on the forum about the 5 speed conversion as well as adding AC. The search tool is your friend. Welcome.
Click to expand...
Cool, I guess the Necchi was a good pick. I bought 2, one model BU for parts and a second model BU Nova to do the sewing.
I've had both ZF and Getrag in the past, and I learned that Getrag is the transmission of choice. But I'm still learning what is best for the E9. So, your advise is gold. I'm glad that I joined this forum, I've always read forums but never joined.
And fortunately my E9 already has ice cold AC. :)
 
HB Chris said:
Karmann did not build sequential VINs, these two coupes could be up to three weeks apart. What does the Karmann metal plate in driver’s door jamb say? Does it have a Golf paint sticker by the VIN plate on passenger fender. The Archive has been known to make mistakes, and please post your build date.

Chris

2240157 3/14/72
2240162 3/24/72
2240167 3/17/72
2240171 3/16/72
2240175 3/23/72
Click to expand...
Thanks. Here is the response from BMW about my E9 including the color and build date:
"The BMW 3.0 CS US VIN 2240166 was manufactured on March 14th, 1972 and delivered on March 24th, 1972 to the BMW importer Hoffman Motors Corp. in New York City. The original colour was Polaris metallc, paint code 060."
 
HB Chris said:
Karmann did not build sequential VINs, these two coupes could be up to three weeks apart. What does the Karmann metal plate in driver’s door jamb say? Does it have a Golf paint sticker by the VIN plate on passenger fender. The Archive has been known to make mistakes, and please post your build date.

Chris

2240157 3/14/72
2240162 3/24/72
2240167 3/17/72
2240171 3/16/72
2240175 3/23/72
Click to expand...

"What does the Karmann metal plate in driver’s door jamb say? "
>It shows 060

"Does it have a Golf paint sticker by the VIN plate on passenger fender."
>This car does not have a VIN plate on the fender. The only VIN # I could find is on the firewall and steering column. I stripped the paint on both inner fenders and firewall area looking for rust and traces of the VIN plate, I found neither rust nor the VIN plate (except for the VIN stamped on the firewall)
 
Lenoxx said:
"What does the Karmann metal plate in driver’s door jamb say? "
>It shows 060

"Does it have a Golf paint sticker by the VIN plate on passenger fender."
>This car does not have a VIN plate on the fender. The only VIN # I could find is on the firewall and steering column. I stripped the paint on both inner fenders and firewall area looking for rust and traces of the VIN plate, I found neither rust nor the VIN plate (except for the VIN stamped on the firewall)
Click to expand...

060 is Polaris.
 
Welcome, Lenoxx. I'm an E9 owner in north Scottsdale. Where're you?
Congrats on the new purchase.
 
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