BobG
Member
No affiliation: http://www.ebay.com/itm/162699300616
No Reserve '73 CSi on eBay
- Thread starter BobG
- Start date
What have you guys found to be the reason for the black engine bays? That always scares me like a crazy clown Halloween costume. I see the easy rust cover up answer, but this car doesn't seem to fit that bill, although I'm sure there is more than meets the eye, but not enough to spray entire bay down. Hide wreck damage?.....I see this a lot on the coupes, not so much the E3's, which again would suggest rust cover up. But that area isn't where it is typically most prone is it? Just curious what some of you have encountered after speaking to previous owners who have done this after finding out the truth. Because....boy does that look like cr@p!. Almost like there was a fire in there.
Listed at $22,900 on California Classix website which actually seems reasonable for a running coupe and would be a relative bargain if indeed it is rustfree. But I agree, the black spray engine bay is very concerning. No reason to spray unless you want to hide something IMHO.
jefftepper
Well-Known Member
Other than the engine compartment paint, the tail light area, and a few missing bits, it looks to be in reasonable condition and sounds good in the video. The "original California plates" displayed on the car were likely issued around 1982. If these are the first set of California plates, that car was about 9 years old when it was first registered here.
Also, does anyone know if that engine was California smog compliant in 1973? If not, the CARB would have inspected it and placed a CARB sticker in the door jamb the first time it was run through the smog inspection/certification system. . I do not see one.
Also, does anyone know if that engine was California smog compliant in 1973? If not, the CARB would have inspected it and placed a CARB sticker in the door jamb the first time it was run through the smog inspection/certification system. . I do not see one.
i agree that typically the black paint is to hide something + as we are always suspicious of, dare i say it ... yes i must, 'rust' on our coupes ... its a natural assumption. it most often appears as it came from a rattlecan, so i assume that they are trying to cover up the cracked paint on the insulation, to cover up surface rust on the inner fenders ... but could also be to cover up an engine bay that wasn't painted when a color change was done ... to cover up beige, brown or some other color that the owner (or PO) didn't like.
My E9 has had the engine compartment rattle canned. Reason was the paint color change (from Atlantik to Fjordblau) and was too cheap to do the engine compartment. No rust though.
The car has had some welding done in the driver's foot well. My guess is some years ago some dumpster had the benefit of some worn blue velour seats but the sport steering wheel should still be there. Reasonable retail price so what the heck?
Could be a reasonable car, but VINs on CSi's start with 226, so while the engine looks to be K-Jet CSi the car is not. A sunroof CSi is rare enough but one with original leather and 4 power windows would be a unicorn in my book. Since it's a sunroof car the real truth comes when the fenders come off and the area beneath the A pillar, firewall and the area behind the front wheel wells where seemingly a thousand pieces of metal join together in a symphony of oxidation are examined. Likely no one, including the sellers, has looked....buyer can do the same but bottom of the car suggests evil lurks in these places....still we've seen much worse lately for around 20K. Definitely worth a roll of the dice, but likely $20-30K more to make this car really right, IMHO
The ad says 2254349, but the VIN tag says 2264349, so I think this one is a real CSI.
That makes a lot of sense, however this car looks to be original Fjord. You can see the Fjord blue underneath the terrible rattle can paint. The trunk all looks Fjord. It almost looks like that black paint you spray on a bed liner. Definitely needs an in person inspection to see what is going on.
I never know what goes through peoples heads sometimes. I was talking to one owner who did this because he thought it looked cool in some muscle cars (black engine bay). So he rattle can sprayed the bay. Go figure. Sometimes you just have to walk away shaking your head. That wooden steering wheel although nice but needing a refinish, is not standard on a 73 is it? Or is that a CSI thing? I thought that was earlier 2800 cars.
Rear fog lamp???
If it was an Italian delivery car it would not have a rear fog lamp. German delivery cars do have the rear lamp.
Yes it's a stock steering wheel in need of refinishing.
My 74 CS, delivered to Pavia has the rear fog lamp. That's where BMW said it was delivered from the factory. Lived in Italy all its life until it came here.
Interesting, mine was delivered to Italy though the BMW Archive does not list a city. The tail section has not been cut for the rear fog light.
Bwana
Well-Known Member
Is that an old boat anchor York A/C compressor lurking underneath? And it matches up with what appears to be an A/C plate area in the dash? I didn't think any CSi's were air conditioned? So we have an apparent CSi with sunroof and A/C??? And that does appear to be a stock D-Jet system.
Cool! A rare bird IMO!
My parts car has a sunroof AC. There were no
signs that the AC wasn’t factory and the sunroof is definitely factory. It was a german delivery car and has the rear fog also. Mine also has original leather seats but I can’t confirm that they are original to the car. The color matches though.
So with a little navigation you can get to the dealer site where the car is listed for 22k. Who is bidding up to 26k when they may as well have gone straight to the dealer on day 1 and cut a deal lol
This is why BAT is helpful for buyers. I think we all wish we could screw “noooooo” at the occasional ebay auction.
Auction seems to have ended. Last time I looked it was $29K, I think.
Correct the bid was close to 30k but the action was ended prematurely and shows as "This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available."
Maybe the dealer accepted an offer closer to the original 22k they were asking hahaha
Maybe the dealer accepted an offer closer to the original 22k they were asking hahaha