Get the motor running and drive it as-is! Whatever you do, don’t have a shop do the bodywork. No point in sinking tens of thousands for even the most shadetree shop when the VIN is bad.
New member with "strange" CA VIN#
- Thread starter rastablood
- Start date
As you unveil this car, interesting to see if you can identify any reason it would or would not have had a salvaged title.
Shame we have no database of stolen E9's. I know of one person so we have a start....
Shame we have no database of stolen E9's. I know of one person so we have a start....
I still think the engine number, if still original could reveal the correct VIN to this e9. Worth a shot to clean the area and read the number.
Mark--I found the E3 German website to have lots of info on the 4-door cars. I tried the site with E9 in place of E3 and there is no related site. Do you have a website for the E9 cars? thanks, DrewHi Adam,
IMO it ultimately doesn’t really matter what is going on with the VIN. You have the car. It is registered as a CS. It isn’t restored, it’s rusty. Nobody is trying to trick anyone, unless you paid a small fortune for
the car. Just be careful investing a ton of money into it, because you can’t escape your VIN conundrum.
The VIN is tied to a sedan, and this information is an obtainable fact (see below!
All e9 vins are documented and they started with a 2 or a 4. Likewise, a huge chunk of e3 ‘s started with a 3
e3 VIN list:
BMW E3 Limousinen Club e.V. - BMW E3 - Technik - Fahrgestellnummern
BMW E3. Diese offizielle Internetseite des BMW E3 Club e.V. informiert über die Aktivitäten des Vereins, die Geschichte des Fahrzeugs, aktuelle Termine, Kaufberatung und Technik des Limousinenklassikers.web.archive.org
Here is 3105537:
1973 BMW Bavaria 3.0 S
View the 1973 BMW Bavaria 3.0 S at Gooding & Company's Amelia Island 2019. Contact us for more information.www.goodingco.com
I would take a closer look at your VIN plate. It should be clean metal. The area doesn’t rust out. There shouldn’t be filler, weld spatter, or cooled weld puddles. You may see paint drips, or a visible rectangle around the digits.
When I look at this VIN, obviously biased by the info above.. I wonder if that is weld pooling above the 3 and spatter below the 3 and less so across most of the digits (see the base of the 0 and 5). I also see an artifact between the + and the 3 that may have seen an angle grinder.
Like I said I’m biased, because the VIN range doesn’t match the chassis.
View attachment 151971
Email your VIN to:
[email protected]
Inform them that you own this “car”, and would like the build info.
Also, move forward on locating the block VIN. Send that to BMW as well. It very well could be tied to the actual chassis. If you post real pictures of the exterior and interior, we can probably date the car.
Snap a pic of the Karmann plate in the driver’s door jamb.
Helpful vehicle dating:
Nose vents
Washer nozzles
speedometer
seatbelt config
door panels
seats
front bumper
Thank you so much for your kind words about our club's page <https://bmw-e3-club.de>.
The German E9 club site is <https://www.bmw-coupeclub.de/>.
Reason is the club for the E3 is the "BMW E3 Club" whereas the club for the E9 is the "BMW Coupé-Club". To name them all, the third is the "BMW CSL Owners Club", very few members, vast knowledge, no page. There may be other clubs, these three are BMW approved. Anyway, you'll find competent people organised somewhere else or not at all.
Always stamped. Some pictures create the illusion of raised numbers which is hard to fight. To me, the small piece with the seven figures looks cut out and welded back in. The two crosses might be original.
That's a 3.0 S Bavaria 4-speed Series 2 built in 1973, most likely February. Not quite the car in the picture.
That was our old page. We've revised it about two years ago and thrown out most of the inaccuracies.
New page: <https://bmw-e3-club.de/fahrgestellnummern/>.
To go further, all E9 start with either 22 or 43. More than half of all E3 start with 20, 21, 23 or 24. The rest start with 30, 31, 32, 349 or 50 except for the E3 assembled in South Africa.
Thank you. Some surely would if it was a LHD CSL or at least CSi. If done properly, the cost of a restoration will by far exceed the value of a finished 3.0 CS. For an E3, the ratio would be even more hopeless. A rebuild like it is outlined here would be out of question in most European countries anyway. When trying to re-register such a thing the authorities would most likely confiscate the car and send you home walking.
The car's state is a pity. From the pictures it might have been Tundra Metallic with an English Saddle leather interior when new. That was amongst the most refined combinations available then. Not many chose it.
Yes, I can see that. They may also confiscate your dog and put you in jail
.Using the word "authorities" implies the power or right to give orders, and enforce obedience.
Something like the California DMV provides a license to operate a vehicle, but I would never think of the DMV as an authority. Other than emissions they have no say on whether you should be able to register it based on condition.
Anyway, I agree with the colors you found. The repaint would have been done when the car was very valuable (before rust) but possibly after total loss or theft. The rims, the new wood, etc. indicate it was well taken care of. Based on the Santa Rosa dealer plate seems like it was a NorCal car, with registration sticker up until 2017. I bet the VIN change was done by the body shop that did the repaint when the car was still very valuable. So a long time ago.
From the trunk pic I think it was Agave.