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1972 BMW Bavaria: Cheap E3

bmwbavaria

Here’s a car that deserves to return to the road. The BMW E9 coupe is considered by many to be among the most beautiful (and highly collectible) BMWs of the era. However, there is an affordable alternative with some of the same underpinnings of the coupe at the sacrifice of some style. This 1972 BMW Bavaria sedan here on eBay appears worse than it really is, merely missing a fender, bumper surrounds and the headlights and grill (other cosmetic needs notwithstanding, of course). All of those are fairly easy and affordable parts to find on the forums, and the interior looks decent for a junkyard car. The automatic is a shame, but with the 3.0 carb’d motor, this should still make for a nice driver once restored. Upgrading to dual Webers is a must!

Comments

  1. Avatar Rick

    Appears the photo is dated early 2007, may look a bit the worse for wear some 8+ years later

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  2. Avatar SoCal Car Guy

    If it’s a ’72 why is it wearing the big and ugly Federal “safety” bumpers, which weren’t required on any car until 1973 model year?

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    • Avatar Horse Radish

      actually not ’til 9/73 manufacture date , effectively ’74 model year and after

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  3. Avatar redwagon

    Photos say 01/01/2007. Starting g at the first day of the year is often a case of dead batteries and camera needs to be reset for day/date.

    Still if interested it wouldn’t hurt to ask about current condition.

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  4. Avatar Tom

    I hade a couple back in the day. One with triple webers.
    To be worth even 350 bucks it would have to be the right guy for parts only.

    Oh and these didn’t get the fat ugly bumpers until 74.

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  5. Avatar MikeG

    Looks like some jackass broke the back window, so that’ll need to be replaced.

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  6. Avatar Another Bob

    I think this was originally a fuel injected car. (3.0S on trunk not Bavaria). From what I have read on forums, the stock Zenith carbs when set up properly are better than twin downdraft Webers. Hate the bumpers and automatic. Restoring the junk yard interior is too costly. Just go to California and buy a nice Bavaria for a few thousand more. It will be cheaper in the long run, have a manual and no diving board bumpers. These are great cars that drive well by today’s standards and still very affordable. The cheapest one to own will be the best original one you can find and I think they will appreciate one day.

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  7. Avatar Jason

    No such thing as a cheap Bavaria!

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  8. Avatar John

    This one is sad. Once a beautiful car. I wish it could be again. But it needs several thousand dollars worth of body work and parts. And you have yet to even consider the mother and (gasp) an early 70s BMW automatic transmission. I would guess that fro about 30 grand you could have a very nice $5000 car.

    Truly sad.

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  9. Avatar Thorsten Krüger

    The Coupé of an E9 (4-door sedan) is an E3….!!!

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Thomas

    Can i have detail Photos of the front and backseats?

    Like 0

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