UPDATES:The old CSL is home...

[tferrer]

Well after much searching (both soul and internet) for my old CSL I found a 2006 forum post from the buyer of the car back in 1993. I didn't hold much hope that a 14-year-old forum post mentioning #2275177 was going to be much help but it was all I had to go by. Off went a few (many) messages to old profiles on several forums and to my amazement, I received a call back from Russ late last year, the 1993 buyer of my car. Even more astounding was he still owned the car! (and 11 others). So after lots of car talk, a lot of back and forth, and 27 years of ownership, he agreed to sell the car back to me. JOY! I'm super excited and really looking forward to getting my old car here to CA and out on the road and reliving some memories. The car will at some stage be restored to its former glory (Fjord Blue) but for now, I'm just looking forward to getting it here and behind the wheel (a 380mm Momo Alpina (maybe), nonetheless!). Thanks to all those I've talked with and have put up with my push to get back into the E9 world. Updates and more pics to come!

 

[HB Chris]

That’s awesome news! Share many more pics when it returns. Did you keep any old registrations? It will help getting it registered. If you need or want blue plates I can help, wink wink.

 

[tferrer]

Thanks, Chris - I may take you up on that help . I owned this car in FL from the late 80s until I sold it in 93, so no old CA registrations unfortunately.

I'll be sure to take more pics when she gets here. Here are a few of the lift shots. There are some areas that need attention and the car has a roll bar in it, so definitely things to address down the road but right now I'm just going to enjoy the reunion!

That’s awesome news! Share many more pics when it returns. Did you keep any old registrations? It will help getting it registered. If you need or want blue plates I can help, wink wink.

 

[m5bb]

Amazing story Tyson.
You should write a book. They might make a movie.
Great news.
Tell us more?
Gary

 

[Stevehose]

Awesome, congrats! I wonder what happened to my first coupe from 1985, 2240521, I traced it to being last owned by a Texas sculpter, then the trail went dead.

 

[craterface]

Great! Where is she in Florida? Where did you live at that time when you sold? She still looks pretty solid.

 

[tferrer]

Thanks. She's near Stuart and yes, I'm originally from Florida and had her there from the late 80s until I sold her in 93. I had a CSi at the same time. Hard to believe now, but she wasn't easy to sell. I think I'd put an ad in the register. A BMW /Porsche enthusiast knew a guy down the road from my dad (he had cars as well and was taking up space in his big garage! ) and connected me with the eventual buyer. The buyer raced vintage 911s and wanted to see how the car would perform on track (no racing just general de stuff) hence the rollbar. He told me he had it on track at a BMW event with a 2004 CSL (m3) and the m3 could not get away from him! His comments are the car is very neutral at the limit and quite easy to pedal for a GT car.

Interesting enough the car has the 3.2L from #2275447! So a BAT motor. In all my searching, I've located the original block (way before I found the car) and trying to get that nailed down as we speak. I don't know how that BAT motor ended up in the car. The car was from a bmw specialist in Salt Lake City and according to my brother who went and looked the car over at that time, there was a couple CSLs there. Perhaps they wrecked the 447 car and blew up 177 so made a swap? Who knows. More investigation still to be done. I do know that that 447 motor has been in the car since I owned it so for over 30 years. The cars weren't valuable back then. I'd like to find the owner to 447 and see if he'd like the motor back. It's a BAT so quite valuable. If I can get my original block back, that would be an all around good story!

Great! Where is she in Florida? Where did you live at that time when you sold? She still looks pretty solid.

 

[adawil2002]

Great story, love this sort of thing. Definitely get rid of the roll bar, aside from that, I'd enjoy the car for a few years & wouldn't bother with a Fjord repaint.

 

[JFENG]

This deserves to be a story in the Roundel.

 

[adawil2002]

This deserves to be a story in the Roundel.

Better yet the BMW Classic CCA magazine The Ultimate Classic.
Please join us. All vintage, all the time, http://www.bmwccca.com/join-us.html

 

[JFENG]

Andrew, yet another club membership?
Ok, ok ... I’ll do it Oct 1st, so I can get the full 2021 membership and officially be a classic car snob on FB.

 

[Markos]

Wow despite your restoration comment, it looks amazing! Personally, If you are driving it around I see no reason to remove the rollbar, as long as your in-helmeted head can’t make contact.

I’ll be honest, I figured you were just another BaT commenter with a pretend CSL from the 80’s 90’s. Seems like every commenter had one in their past life!

Haha my sentiment about BaT is true but I didn’t doubt you for a moment. Your stable speaks for itself.

FYI - That Alpina wheel is pretty rare if it is a 380mm. Most weren’t that large AND had a traditional straight spoke. The CSL alpina with the droopy hub was a 380. My guess is yours is a 370. They generally run about 5mm smaller than the stated size also. Alpina also had a run of wheels where the logo was painted on. Yours looks like that but a closeup could help. Also, the horn button looks Petri so if you decide to go that route it would look appropriate. If you want a momo button, they are anywhere from $100 to $200. Don’t spend more than that.

 

[tferrer]

Thanks! Yes, it was a long time coming and took a lot of searching and post connection discussions. The car was in an air conditioned environment for the last 27 years so that's a key reason it doesn't *appear* to have any major corrosion issues. I'm going to keep the rollbar. It does stiffen the rear of the car a bit and it's got to come out anyway (down the road) so no reason to pull it out until necessary. Personally, I don't mind it and it does play into the BMW motorsport narrative a wee bit. Not to mention the safety aspect, as I like to backroad drive my cars and push them. There is a vintage track day at Sears Point with a bunch of friends w early 911s in late Oct, so it would be fun to get it out and run with its natural, air-cooled adversaries. That's a very big if. It will get checked out before I do anything rash.

The car is coming with the Momo Alpina wheel and 2 Petri (38 and 40) and both need complete restoration so I may be reaching out to those wheel meisters for help in determining what I'm capable of doing and what should be handled by professionals. Thanks for all the positive comments and support. It's a great group of people so I'm glad I've finally got this completed.

@Markos - You really thought I was bullshitting?! I only bs about the fish I've caught and women I've dated!

Tyson

Great story, love this sort of thing. Definitely get rid of the roll bar, aside from that, I'd enjoy the car for a few years & wouldn't bother with a Fjord repaint.

 

[Sooner]

Congrats Tyson, glad you got her back!

 

[kwyjibo]

Congratulations!
I'm pretty sure that I know the car from conversations with the previous owner. Hmmm, maybe I should see if he'll sell some of the others....

 

[tferrer]

Lol. He doesn't have 11 coupes. Just cars in his collection.

What he DOES have for sale are 2 BMW 700s. A cab and a rally and lots of spares. If anyone is into those, DM me.

Congratulations!
I'm pretty sure that I know the car from conversations with the previous owner. Hmmm, maybe I should see if he'll sell some of the others....

 

[kwyjibo]

I didn't know he was selling the 700s. The last time I talked to him it was still an in-progress situation (admittedly, that was a while back)
Congrats again. I'm looking forward to your updates

 

[Markos]

@Markos - You really thought I was bullshitting?! I only bs about the fish I've caught and women I've dated!

Tyson

Not at all @tferrer! Just ribbing you and providing social commentary on the BaT CSL comments. ~1,000 CSL’s manufactured and everyone seemed to own one “back in the day”. I hope you know that I had zero doubt.

I also have zero doubt that you will make it amazing. When you get the wheels, post the 38. We can tell you if it is a CSL wheel. Lots of options for restoring. The Petri stitch isn’t as uncommon or difficult as the momo stitch so you can reproduce the CSL leather fairly easily (if you pay attention to the details).

 

[tferrer]

Thanks, Richard! Great chatting with you about your car. Best of luck with it!

Congrats Tyson, glad you got her back!

 

[posix]

Congrats on the buy! Such a good story!