Nice 1974 Coupe in Maryland

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George301

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Hello. I have decided to sell my wonderful coupe. I now have another car as a fun driver (a Jensen Interceptor) and need to make room for a new project . Thought I would offer it here first and see if there’s any interest. The car is located in Maryland and I would not hesitate to drive it anywhere. Let me know if you have any questions or want to come by and take a look.

1974 BMW 3.0 CS - Solid car, runs great and is very fast.

3.5 liter engine from a 1985 535i (balanced & blueprinted)
Triple Webers (45 DCOEs)
New head in 2004
Five Speed Getrag Transmission
(some whine, but shifts great)
Limited Slip Differential and Upgraded Suspension
Recaro seats, new carpet, sunroof, everything works, including the a/c. Nice CD player with amp.

Minimal rust, worst on the trunk lid and bubbling behind one door Please take a look at the photobucket pictures.

$22,500 nego. Serious inquires only, Thanks !



Many Pictures on Photobucket

http://s252.photobucket.com/user/George301/library/BMW%2030CS
 

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Folks,

I spoke with George today and I want to move ahead with an inspection of the car. Is there anyone nearby (Maryland 703 area code) that can help? If so please drop me a line by email reefpix aaatt geemaill..com

Cheers
James
 
Nice talking with you James. 703 is a Virginia area code (my cell phone), the car and I are in Boyds MD, north of Potomac, near Poolesville, MD.

Cheers
g
 
Ppi

James,
I also spoke with George. He seems like a great guy and it sounds like a great car. I recommend Rick Kiceniuk in Annandale, NJ. Yes, that's a good 3 hours away, but Rick has restored E9's before and did very good body work back in the day (IMHO). He is also a top flight engine builder who's motors powered BMW's to many SCCA championships and lap records. I would trust his assessment of body and mechanical condition without reservation. Also, he may know of reputable shops closer to George.




Kiceniuk Automotive
16 Kiceniuk Rd
Annandale, NJ 08801
(908) 782-4335
 
Triples....very nice.

That's a 74? The trunk looks different than mine. I thought all 74s had a different rear wheel well, with large reinforcements.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. I spoke with Rick - however the one person/shop down near George has closed :-(

I'm still looking for someone to help with the inspection so please shoot me a line if you know of anyone that can help.

Cheers
James
 
James,

if i was looking for a BMW in NJ, i would seek out Don Fields at MrMcar. [email protected]

Don is truly a BMW master mechanic ... truly a specialist with ///M cars, but he knows BMW. please give him a shout, he knows what he is doing

scott
 
Inspection Report 1974 Coupe in MD

George was gracious enough to show me his coupe a few weeks ago.
It was unexpected to I didn't have my usual equipment to do the PPI.
All body checks were done with a little magnetic pickup tool I got at Advance Auto Parts. It's an ND magnet, so a bit too strong to detect anything but pretty thick body filler.

(Now on eBay for $22500)

BODY:
RUST: trunk rear seam is pretty bad, needs new skin across that edge
hood is rusty on the underside rear corners. Should be fixable,
but it's rust because water is getting between the skin and
understructure. Ideally, this root cause should be addressed.
Front fenders: passenger fender has a blob of bondo coming loose
at the rear vertical edge. As this is adjacent to the A-pillar, I'd say
pulling the fender to repair and rust proof is the right way to go.
Damping pad on the driver side shock tower area is bumpy. Don't
know if this is just the pad coming up or if there are issues below.
Underside of both fenders looked clean with the following caveats.
The front fenders have been restored in the past and measures
were taking to prevent/stop more rust. The metal along the bottom
of the notorious mud-pockets was removed (open like a 2002).
Good for keeping that area clean, but it does remove some of the
structural metal from the inner-rear of the front fenders. There was
a small patch in the bulkhead above the glove box indicating a
good amount of rust in the past. Also, the "hidden" channel where
the outer fender overlaps was filled in with some sort of black
substance. Maybe it's body caulk. If it's kept water out, then it
should be rust free. Otherwise, it's just hiding rust. Don't know
for sure. The upper/outer fenders were otherwise without rust
and magnet said clean metal throughout.

Doors looked fine.
Rear quarter rusty at the bottom corner of the wheel well. The
bottom of the inner wheel well seemed a bit soft as well. This is
likely the start of classic rocker rot, but I'll bet it just needs a
relatively small patch on the outer rocker, inner wheel well and
just maybe the 2nd rocker skin. No more than that.

Trunk floor looked fine. Surface rust had been present but now
POR 15'd. Cosmetically, it should be blasted and then filled
and painted for better appearance.

Top: there was some loss of magnet stick, bubbling and an odd
curvature to the metal just behind the sunroof opening. Plus, the
sunroof exterior was getting scratched when it was opened. I think
there is a patch panel over that area that was done rather than
cuttingout the roof and butt welding a new piece in. This
should be addressed properly to put an end to the problems.

Floor pan plug areas were slightly rusty in the past. Rears were
welded up with flush patches and fronts were cleaned up POR15'd
and the plugs put back.

The front frame rail (D side) is sort of bent up (just the bottom part)
from improper jacking. Not structural, but not pretty. Front valance is
dented but rust free. Wheel well lips have been rolled but don't show
signs of rust or having been repaired in the past. A and C Pillars were
really nice. No obvious signs of undercarriage rust other than what
was mentioned previously.

MECH: engine runs pretty well. No sign of ring or valve wear. Plenty of power (well above stock). Webers need a good tuning (stumbles on tip-in). Transmission layshaft bearings worn out. Should be fixed before it ruins the layshaft ends (which would lump the gear set). Brakes/rear end fine. Suspension setup for autocrossing (nice). PS steering assist is faulty. Needs a pump rebuild, but the box seemed ok.

INTERIOR: carpets good, front seats good, rear seats need a reupholster. Dash good, center console sides are slightly hacked up. Wood on doors starting to peel at the ends, but the dash is good. Headliner slightly dirty but can be cleaned up.

TRIM: chrome bumpers seem fine (as does the rest of the brightwork).

Depending on what a buyer wants, this car could be turned into something like Stan's white car for $35k in restoration costs. If you want something as good as HBChris's body/paint add another $10k. Personally, I think this puts the buyer value on this one at between $15k and $20k which puts the all-done costs around $50k.

PM me if you have specific/detailed questions.
 
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Thanks for the write up, John, or for the executive summary -

3.5 liter engine from a 1985 535i (balanced & blueprinted)
Triple Webers (45 DCOEs)
New head in 2004
Five Speed Getrag Transmission
(some whine, but shifts great)
Limited Slip Differential and Upgraded Suspension
Recaro seats, new carpet, sunroof, everything works, including the a/c. Nice CD player with amp.
Minimal rust, worst on the trunk lid and bubbling behind one door Please take a look at the photobucket pictures.

People are welcome to use John's write up as a guide, but I think he is coming at this with talk of spending $20,000 on a paint job. Which is fine, if you want to end up with a coupe worth $60,000+ (and who doesn't!), but if that's not in your budget, maybe this car, a solid, great driving car, would be a good choice. John's "buyer value" of $15-$20,000, must, of course, be considered with what might be fair "seller value" of $22,500, but the price is negotiable!

As I discussed with John when he stopped by, I disagree on the quality of the shock towers, they are excellent, happy to send pictures (not sure where the blob of bondo is) and anyone interested is welcome to come by and have a look. As John mentioned to me when he was here, the car is better in person than it looks in the pictures (this is probably because I tried to take pictures of all the problems, so people would know what they would be buying). And it drives great!


You can pm John with any questions or, even, me . . .:p

Thanks!
george
 
George's car

If you just want to drive it around as is and not use the SR, you could use this car for a decade without investing a penny.

It's a great great car ... as a starting point.
George is exactly correct that my expectations are different from his and likely unique to me. I'm shooting for something as nice as Stan's coupe and maybe approaching HBCHris's car.

A full on paint job at Mario's is $12k because EVERYTHING comes off the car and he always finds a raft of little stuff that needs to be dealt with. And, I added remediation for the few issues I found:
(1) 1 front fender (filler coming loose, what's underneath it?).
(2) bumps under one shock tower damping pad (maybe it's nothing)
(3) the area behind the sunroof is problematic. Stan's needed new metal welded it and I think this car needs the same. It's not trivial on this car because of the thinness and how little clearance there is. That's easily a grand when all's said and done.
(4) the single spot of rocker rust with unknown condition of the inner rockers.
(5) The trunk lip is a biggy. Labor to pull off the skin, weld in a patch, hammer to contour so you don't need loads of filler, and to patch the edge of the underpanel as well ... Might as well buy a new lid at $1500 and have it fitted.

So, I think $20k is being realistic if one has it done at Mario's shop (where no short cuts are tolerated). In the end, you'd end up with a really really nice restored body/paint that would rival Stan and Chris's cars.

Then add in the interior leather repair, trans rebuild (and you'll likely do the clutch at the same time), the PS system ... this stuff adds up fast. Anyone who has gone through and fully sorted out a coupe knows what I'm talking about.

I will correct myself about the drivetrain. With some carb tuning, this thing runs and handles great. I would budget 1/2 day on the dyno to dial in the carbs and call it done for even the most aggressive street use.
 
Re 72 coupe

George; A very nice coupe Brother. Reminds me, when I bought my
73 Chamonix the same original steering wheel. Anyway GLWS.

Gary

73 Chamonix Reluctently Sold

86 M535I :-D
 
My new (old) project car has arrived (a Jensen Healey), and I am looking to move this car, so thought I'd give it a bump up the forum. I was negotiable on the price before and even more so now. It will also be in the next Hemmings (still at $22,500), but you all in the know can get it cheaper (!)

thanks everybody
 
seat question

hi george, nice car, hope you get your price.

im interested in your seats, in case you kept the orig i will buy the recaros. what seats are these? did you install them yourself? how match to the existing rails?

thnks,
alanmcg
 
Good morning. I didn't put the seats in, but they are from a later model BMW 3 series. They are installed with adapter plates from aardvark, who have a set of adapters currently on Ebay. They are nice seats. Sorry, but the car didn't come with the original seats.

cheers
george
 
George's seats

I think the seats help make the car, in this case. The car handles really well and stock E9 seats would be inadequate and spoil the experience. This car was my second choice before I bought Paul Brigg's coupe. The engine and suspension nearly made up for investment I think it needs to address issues with the body. But in the end I went with conventional wisdom and picked a near perfect chassis over a great drivetrain (excepting the layshaft bearing in the 5spd, PS pump and weber tuning). I don't think it will cost me a penny less to finish Paul's car.

George, this really is a great car for the right person. I just think your pricing is a bit strong for the market. If it had been a bit less I'd likely have bought it over Paul's car.

John
 
Just moving this posting to the top. The car's still available. The price is very negotiable! Someone is going to get an excellent deal on a great driver. Make an offer.

(sorry for any confusion, the car is not currently on EBay)
thanks!
george
 
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