Should I resist the urge to buy this?

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dmac635

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I ran across a '71 2800cs that I'm considering (sunroof, 4-speed, stock). The car is fully functional and very mechanically sound. However there is interior work (wood and leather) and there is rust in the spare tire area and at the bottom of the front quarter panels (close to where the door and quarter panel meet at the bottom part of the panel). The shock towers and surrounding areas look good front and back, frame structure is solid, but the rear quarter panel also has some rust in a similar location to the front (behind the rear wheel, at the bottom of the panel). I expect that were I see rust there is also rust I cannot see.

If I purchased it I would be buying it to drive around for a while then restore. Does the rust and interior work needed make it where the economics don't work (I'd have to pay for the bodywork, I don't do that myself)? It looks like you can get a non rusted driver for $10-15K, and something really nice for around $25K+ (does that sound about right?). What would be a reasonable amount to budget for rust repair, and what is a non-rusted body worth?

I'd welcome any input or advice.
 
Pics at least for a reasonable validation. Visible rust in some areas on a E9 are definitely low odds that invisible areas are Ok.
 
stevehose said:
have any pics to assess the rust issues? Resistance is futile!
Click to expand...

LF fender.jpg

RF fender.jpg

LR fender.jpg
 
IMHO there's a real good chance it's totally rusted under the rocker panel covers and to do it right with sheet metal replacemant panels and door skins you will blow past $10k in a heartbeat
 
A white standard shift sunroof car for 4K --- I’d buy it in a heart beat :-D if it’s not too rotted but I’m a body man with 39 years experience so I know pretty much what I’m looking at. Unfortunately doing a good / correct job repairing rust is very time consuming which = very expensive. What you’re seeing there is very likely just the tip of the iceberg :cry:, proceed with much inspection & caution. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
I agree with what others have written. $4k for a running, complete e9 isn't bad. But, if you want to transform it into a restored e9, plan on spending another $15 - $25K.

If you can live with it as is, great. If you lust for a restored coupe, you will save money by buying a better car. I liked Setfan's comment - a coupe with visible rust almost certainly has additional rust in areas that should be fixed: floorpans, spring towers, etc.
 
You probably shouldn’t listen to me. I just like white cars because I think they look elegant and I can touch them up with a brush, metallic paints have to be blended in and I haven’t done any spraying in over 20 years ---- metal work & welding is my thing. Why don’t you post some photos of the strut towers and upper fender edges for a more accurate feedback on the car. ~ John Buchtenkirch
A res#6.jpg
 
Thanks for all the good input. I went out last night and took a good look at the car. The more I looked the more issues I found. The strut towers are fine front and back and so are the unibody frame sections but the trunk was way worse than I thought. The lip around the trunk seal was gone in most places, and water had leaked into the trunk and not only was the spare tire area rusted the left hand side of the trunk was rusted and so were portions of the rear panel. The rocker panels appear to have rust and I bet they would both have to be replaced. Add to it the fact that the interior was pretty trashed, the trunk lid was off a 3.0 and didn't fit right, doors didn't fit right, etc. Mechanically the car was okay. My assessment is that a person could buy it, and it would be safe to drive it as is, but I don't think it's a restorable car as long as there are relatively rust free cars available.

I'm not expecting a $15K car for $4K, and I'm not saying this car couldn't work for someone else, but I'm going to have to walk away from this one. One of these days I'll own an E9.

Thanks again for all the comments.
 
After looking at some more pictures out here on the forum, and looking at pictures of some other rusted cars, maybe this one is not horrible. I don't think the rust is anywhere near this extent on this car: http://www.larsenarchitect.com/BMW/Restoration.html (fantastic restoration job by the way!). The trunk looks like the one in that link, but I looked inside and outside the strut towers, and where the fenders meet the engine bay and I could see no evidence of rust there. So maybe it is restorable, but It's still not a project that I want to take on (unless someone wants to fund it, then I'd love to take it on :-D).

Here is the link to the car I looked at if anyone else is interested http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/1825525103.html
 
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