New member intro - 1972 E9 CSA Riviera

[Zibsnis]

E9 Riviera

Hello!

Finally I've also got my BMW E9 (1972 3.0 CSA, 036 Riviera blue, 2230141) and may say that some part of my dream has come true as I still have full restoration ahead of me

As this is my first classic car and my first restoration, that, of course, creates a lot of challenges for me.

If I am more or less already convinced that I do full restoration starting as of bare metal then color of the body and interior is an issue I am really struggling on. From one side, Riviera is quite rare color, interior could be saved original one and the car seems quite nice already, but I also really like Polaris, Black or Fjordblue colors that somehow better underline the body shapes and lines, and would change interior leather and vinyl ceiling to new ones just for more comfort and freshness.

So, this is my first advice I would like to ask you for - what would you do in my case as more expertised owners of E9's?

 

[Stevehose]

Beautiful color, congrats!

 

[HB Chris]

Is that the original color? It looks nice, if I were to change it I would consider Baikal, another great color.

 

[rsporsche]

i love riviera. what a wonderful color on a coupe.

 

[MyFemurHurts]

i love riviera. what a wonderful color on a coupe.

Agreed. I really like it.

Welcome, and good luck with the restoration!

 

[Stevehose]

Baikal and Riviera are my favorite colors on coupes.

Agreed. I really like it.

Welcome, and good luck with the restoration!

 

[rsporsche]

if i ever repaint my coupe, (paint is in very good shape) ... i will return it to its original baikal. of the blues, i like rivera, baikal + atlantik.

for all other colors, i like inka, taiga, verona, colorado + polaris

 

[Arde]

I like that color. I assume it is a repaint but do not know if it is the original color.

Things I would do in your place:

- 5 speed conversion
- sell the wood knob auto transmission selector for big bucks to fund the entire project
- fix the clock, when it is at precisely the hour it is probably broken but the owner is like Stan and must put it at the exact hour.
- Light interior looks great, wood can be custom made by Bella I recall also in Eastern Europe I think
- Bare metal restoration with no compromises sounds great
- trunk seals were available, there is a thread on headliner material available that is 99% accurate
- On the mechanicals as I said a Getrag 5 speed OD, maybe Bilstein shocks, maybe sway bars from the US, reinforce shock towers before they break
- Interior I love the manual windows for the front, put a period correct radio, delete the equalizer and the modern speakers

 

[CSteve]

Lovely. I am partial to valour, yours looks like it is in pretty good shape. Valour seems to be getting rare, so saving it is more of an incentive.

What color over the valour? I have no ideal about factory matches, but Polaris, a most common color and mine, shows off the classic lines and swoops of our coupes. A period radio?

Steve

 

[Sportster]

Hi Uldis,

Welcome to the forum. Your'e at the right place for anything E9.

First thing I would do is to look at some of the restorations that have been undertaken and shown in this forum to get an idea of what your'e letting yourself in for.

From looking at the photos the paint seems too clean and shiny to be original so I suspect that there are hidden horrors underneath.

The left hand shock tower looks to have had a plate welded at the forward part of it which will need further investigation.

These are very complicated cars to restore and not something to be undertaken without the necessary skills and very very deep pockets.

A year will pass very quickly, and unless being done by a professional garage, and it has the rust issues that most un-restored E9s have, you will find that it will turn to 3-5 years or more doing it part time.

If the car is roadworthy, I would drive and enjoy it for a couple of years before shaking a spanner at it.

As I mentioned, look through the restoration section to see what you could be letting yourself in for.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Peter.

 

[Stan]

+1 keep it Atlantik
Beautiful car

 

[Zibsnis]

Hi guys!

Thanks a lot for your support and advices provided. To be honest, that just made my life more difficult as now I really do not know what to do with restoration:confused:

I guess having original color and everything else brings more value to the car, still there are occasions when color change lead to the same effect but probably Riviera is not that case.

Yes, the car has been definitely repainted but keeping the same color code that was original. I've lso got some quotes now for full restoration that might easily lead to 15K EUR investments without cost for new spare parts to be changed so it seems that I will check some most obvious rust places here and there, paint single parts, make it roadworth for this season and prepare myself for full restoration after this season while considering things I could do by myself stealing some time from the family but keeping the costs down as much as possible

Ok, I promise to take a lot of photos when restotation is done so will give some input for others as well who are going to jump in the restoration process. Cheers!