Red 73 3.0 CS on BaT

tferrer

tferrer

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Just came up. No affiliation with the seller..

Engine compartment will hold this one back..

bringatrailer.com

1973 BMW 3.0CS 5-Speed

Bid for the chance to own a 1973 BMW 3.0CS 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #24,806.
bringatrailer.com bringatrailer.com
 
Lots of filler. It looks old and "stable" though. The seller needs more pics that aren't so "framed"... The exposure makes my eyes bleed :D
 
Markos comments are spot-on as usual and made me realize my irrational bias against this car arose from PO re-painting it from Nachtblau. The comments show the car was daily-driven and service records exist going back to 1987 & engine had 70k miles on it at some point, making the reference to the 31K odometer, even w the TMU disclaimer, a little questionable w/o more up-front discussion in the description.

Oh, and the driver door looks torqued.
 
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HB Chris said:
If only BaT commenters who have no intention of bidding would stop telling the sellers what to do with their coupes! More videos, remove rocker covers, etc.
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Guilty of recommending floor pics - which he added. I think it is unreasonable to ask a seller to remove the rocker covers. If you want them removed, go remove them. It's the seller's choice if they want to provide these things. Smart sellers do it up front or deliberately avoid them. It's the sellers in between that are losing out.
 
Seems very fair. Who knows what motor is in it but of someone went to the trouble of putting in a 5-spd and headers...
 
tferrer said:
Seems very fair. Who knows what motor is in it but of someone went to the trouble of putting in a 5-spd and headers...
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Agree. I think the upside on this one might be better than most of the $30k-range recent cars, if you can catch a break on the body.

Markos said:
Went to CoupeGuy...
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Well, he’ll know what he’s got quicker than I would, if he doesn’t already.

I also saw the PO of the awesome red coupe Sven restored bidding. I was going to ask if he had seller’s remorse, but that seemed mean.
 
i remember seeing that coupeguy was going after the white '74 coupe ... guess they couldn't come to an agreement on price. will see if this is one to sell or one that he drives. i guess that will greatly depend on what the condition really is. the black inner fender tops scares the crap out of me.
 
Car was not indicated as a project car, thus it was not fully described to BaT and auction should be nullified. Many cars are presented as project cars, this one should have been as well which would have eliminated me as a bidder. I would have gladly done the jack test for someone else on a car I was selling and expected other people with the least iota of integrity to do the same. And of course I would have represented it as a project, which my rustbucket from Jerry Brown was and I presented it as such, it was in the east coast and had zero rockers, the buyer knew that from the first moment it was on BaT.
 
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coupeguy said:
No, Coupeguy did not buy the car, seller would not provide critical info on the rockers. His refusal to do so in my mind put this in the project car category which is not what I bid on. There is a much simpler way to prove the rockers than removal of the covers (a test the seller refused to do), that is to jack the car up on the four jacking points with the factory jack putting full weight on that point, any cracking, creaking or even fall thru puts a car in the major repair category, something I did not want. Might take 15-20 minutes to do. Anyone considering this car would do well to have it inspected fully, if not by yourself then someone you trust in the area. Otherwise dont touch this potential bombshell, it could cost a great deal to repair.
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Hmm...so you bid on the car and won but you refused payment and delivery based on his refusal to jack the car up and/or you getting it inspected beforehand???

Shouldn't you have had it inspected before you bid on it?
 
Agree -

If you buy the car without a PPI I would not expect the seller to have to do anything. You bought the car... It's on you now. If you want to insure the chassis is solid, have it looked at before you bid.... When did this stop being the case?
 
tferrer said:
Agree -

If you buy the car without a PPI I would not expect the seller to have to do anything. You bought the car... It's on you now. If you want to insure the chassis is solid, have it looked at before you bid.... When did this stop being the case?
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Wrong. Car was not sold as a project car, thus it was misrepresented and auction should be nullified. Many cars on BaT are presented as project cars, this one should have been as well which would have eliminated me as a bidder. I would have gladly done the jack test for someone else on a car I was selling and expected other people with the least iota of integrity to do the same. And of course I would have represented it as a project, which my rustbucket from Jerry Brown was and I presented it as such. It was driven in the east coast and had zero rockers left, the buyer knew that from the first moment it was on BaT and had no complaints when the car became his.
 
coupeguy said:
Wrong. Car was not sold as a project car, thus it was misrepresented and auction should be nullified. Many cars on BaT are presented as project cars, this one should have been as well which would have eliminated me as a bidder. I would have gladly done the jack test for someone else on a car I was selling and expected other people with the least iota of integrity to do the same. And of course I would have represented it as a project, which my rustbucket from Jerry Brown was and I presented it as such. It was driven in the east coast and had zero rockers left, the buyer knew that from the first moment it was on BaT and had no complaints when the car became his.
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Sorry, your wrong. Just because the seller doesn't jump through your hoops POST an auction sale doesn't automatically make it what you call a project car. It's ALWAYS assumed the car will be presented in the best light by the seller. It's up to the buyer to determine if that description is accurate or not. Don't be silly.

And obviously BaT thinks the same as you will likely be banned from participating in BaT auctions going forward and you lost the 5% buyers fee.. At least that used to be the policy.
 
tferrer said:
Sorry, your wrong. Just because the seller doesn't jump through your hoops POST an auction sale doesn't automatically make it what you call a project car. It's ALWAYS assumed the car will be presented in the best light by the seller. It's up to the buyer to determine if that description is accurate or not. Don't be silly.

And obviously BaT thinks the same as you will likely be banned from participating in BaT auctions going forward and you lost the 5% buyers fee.. At least that used to be the policy.
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Good lord, try reading it again, no hoops here, just the HONESTY FROM THE SELLER TO BAT which would have made them place this car in the project category. SIMPLE!! Have you ever heard the words honesty and integrity; well I have, go read my auction, https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-bmw-3-0cs-6/ ,it clearly said PROJECT, and that's why my buyer was satisfied, he had full disclosure from me thru BaT, including the lack of rocker panels left on my car! Just as this car's auction should have!

I posted about this red car to warn others off of it, not to solicit opinions on how to buy at auction. I wont bother sharing info on another E9 on this forum again, I know how to buy a car long distance. Everyone go ahead, post away, slam away, I wont see them. If I cannot use bat again it's no big deal, lots of other outlets out there. Lost my butt on the last car I sold on bat anyway, a Ford powered Healey. I've had better luck on eBay.
 
I would really like to know if anyone who regularly watches e9 listings thought this was anything but a project car. I try to be respectful in my BaT postings but three comments in I labeled it “Pandora’s Box”. This fact seems so overtly obvious that I find it difficult to empathize with professional who can’t pick up on the signs. I feel bad for the uninformed enthusiast who doesn't understand the caveats of these vehicles, not someone who according to BaT (and I fully believe) “has owned over 50 coupes”.

The fact is: Unless you get the jump on a private or desperate seller, any car sold between the year 2018 and 2020 that goes for less than $35K is a “project car”.

I won’t get into the cost of one’s time, which for most folks is either flexible or recoverable. With that said, one can spend $600 on a last minute round-trip ticket from Anywhere, 48 USA to Anywhere, 48 USA. That is 2% of a $30K purchase price and a fraction of the all-in investment. If you can’t trust the seller, just go see it for yourself! Yes you don’t know what the car will go for in an auction, but again It was quite evident that this car would go from $28K to $35K. @teahead said the market would peak at $28K RNM. Pretty accurate (as usual) for an another amateur that watches the market.

In my opinion, the only victim here is the seller, and the guy who capped at $750 below hammer.
 
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