New Member S. California

TedS

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Hi everyone,
What a great resource this is! I've been reading and searching for the past couple of weeks and have found a lot of helpful information.
I just bought my first Bavaria and it's not the nicest. It's funny, I've been looking off and on for the past 4-5 years and I can't believe the deals I've passed up. This one's a '73 with A/C (not working), 4 speed, and Webers. It's had at least two repaints from the original Turkis.
The good:
Runs and drives (technically)
New tires
New seat covers
The bad:
Rust/corrosion
Missing trunk/hood torsion spring assemblies (probably never reinstalled from last paint)
Non functioning brake booster
Everything needs attention.

It's a non-CA car and is not registered. Furthermore, the Federal compliance stickers have been mostly scratched off.

What's the general consensus? Part out? I'm not equipped to do metalwork so that's out of the question.
If it was rust free I would've gone ahead refurbishing it but I'm sort of in over my head at this point.
It's currently on C/L in the parts section but I won't attach a link as I don't think this is the right forum for that.

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zinz

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Wow! A Turkis e3 !!! That is awesome!

Consensus??? Looks like a winner so far. Gotta lose those bottlecap wheels and white sidewalls :)

Can you get some pics of the engine bay and the rusty bits?

The brake booster can easily be rebuilt. Get in touch with these guys http://www.pwrbrake.com/

Very cool :)

Ed Z

edit.. just realized you don't own the car yet. I looked at the advert. $4K may be a little steep if you can't register it in CA.
 

TedS

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No, I own it. Sorry for not being clear. I put it on C/L. The current color is not Turkis but maybe that's where they were going? Previous to that was blue of some sort.
 
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zinz

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ohhhh... gotcha.

Looks like a pretty darned good car. Interior is very nice.

How bad are the floors?
 

Eric V

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Hi TedS, very cool car! “Everything needs attention” is the fun part, enjoy that. Structural rust that makes the car unsafe is a deal breaker, but some rust is to be expected and may not keep you from enjoying the car. I hope you keep it. Where in So Cal?
 

Mark Jarman

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TedS -

I concur with Eric V's comment. A little surface rust is easily remedied with elbow grease and a rust converter solution, but if the structural components are rotting it's a whole other gig.

From my prospective it all boils down to how much you love the car and how you want to spend your time and money. If you love it, enjoy buffing it out. Otherwise dress up the pony and find someone who will love it. It's tough to tell from your picture, but it sure doesn't look like a parts car - it looks like it could be nicely buffed out.
 

duct-tape

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this is absolutely the right place to put an ad. share!

I wouldnt call it a part-out. its better than mine right now. if you were closer, i'd be ON it.
 

jmackro

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$4K may be a little steep if you can't register it in CA.

I wouldn't conclude that it can't be registered. It is pre-smog, so the issues are reduced. As long has it has a valid title issued by another US state, I'm not sure the DMV or a smog test center would need to look at those Federal compliance stickers.

Agree that it's too nice to part out. That's what un-restored Bavarias look like. They didn't get babied the way that coupes did.
 

TedS

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There's rust on the rockers and wheel wells along with the right rear quarter. Floors seem to be okay except for the trunk under the spare- there might've been a patch. I'm not experienced enough to spot these kinds of things right off the bat.
Thanks for the replies. It'll stay intact while it's with me.
 

dang

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I wouldn't conclude that it can't be registered. It is pre-smog, so the issues are reduced. As long has it has a valid title issued by another US state, I'm not sure the DMV or a smog test center would need to look at those Federal compliance stickers.
All I had for my '69 2800 was an invoice and CA Bill of Sale. The car wasn't on the system anymore so they took my money and said have a nice day. They didn't even want to verify the VIN, which was good because I would've had to trailer it to them.
 

zinz

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There's rust on the rockers and wheel wells along with the right rear quarter.

Snap some good pictures of the rusty bits and we can maybe better assess your situation. I'd bet you could get by with doing nothing and simply enjoy what you have!

Ed
 

TedS

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In pictures it doesn't seem to look so bad.
The last one is actually a hole in the driver's side floor.
There's more but you get the gist.

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HB Chris

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I wouldn't conclude that it can't be registered. It is pre-smog, so the issues are reduced. As long has it has a valid title issued by another US state, I'm not sure the DMV or a smog test center would need to look at those Federal compliance stickers.

Agree that it's too nice to part out. That's what un-restored Bavarias look like. They didn't get babied the way that coupes did.
CA DMV now requires CHP VIN verification and they want to see the FMVSS sticker and DOT/EPA sticker for any car 1968 and newer from out of state or country, it’s not just a smog thing anymore. If you have the title from another state you might be OK. Looks like the side trim is gone and replaced by stick on trim.
 

dang

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My take.... if you want to just get it roadworthy and drive it for a while and have some fun, looks fairly easy if you can stay on the "just for fun" path. If you need a nice restored car this one is also a candidate but the cost might not make sense in the end. What paperwork do you have on the car?
 

duct-tape

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its better than most bavs I've seen. the worst part being the hole in the drivers floor is not a big deal at all. I suspect your windshield seal leaked for a long time and caused that.
I'd pay 3k for it if it were on the east coast. in a heartbeat.

and I'm a cheap ass.
 

Dick Steinkamp

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I wished I lived near you. It would be fun to see if we could get this car running and driving and make it look as presentable as possible as the first steps. The next step would be to determine what to do with it. There are two good possibilities.

One is to sell it at that point. The car will not bring $4k (IMHO) if it is not running and driving and made more presentable, but probably would if it was.

Two is to continue to play with it with the mindset that you don't want to get too far "underwater" with the car. They are beautiful, milestone cars for BMW, but they are not appreciated as much as they should be (in North America). Unless you can do everything yourself (mechanical, rust repair, body work, paint, etc), the money will go way to quickly. If you are a fair mechanic, like to tinker, and have some "play" money, it would be a fun car to make safe, continue to improve the cosmetics, and have some fun with.

If you want to end up with a nice, restored car, this is the wrong one to start with (if the money part is an issue). Find a rust free example (they are out there) and a relatively low mileage original if possible, OR one that someone has already sunk a lot of money into and is now trying to cut their losses.

This forum has been tons of help to me with my Bavaria project. I hope you stick around.
 

jmackro

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CA DMV now requires CHP VIN verification and they want to see the FMVSS sticker and DOT/EPA sticker for any car 1968 and newer from out of state or country, it’s not just a smog thing anymore. If you have the title from another state you might be OK.

OK, I haven't registered an older car since that went into effect. Might this be a situation where one of those independent title/registration consulting companies would earn their fee?
 
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