When someone goes all in on a project car, it’s hard not to have some respect for the effort, even if the car in question is not your cup of tea. Now, in the case of a 1973 BMW Bavaria, this vehicle is in wheelhouse of a motor I wouldn’t be ashamed to own, but I’m afraid the seller has made it too nice for my budgetary limits. This Bavaria has been transformed into a car you could likely use every day, but those of us in the snow and salt belts wouldn’t want to subject that clean body to four-season use. The updated drivetrain and suspension, however, means you very well could use it every day if you chose. Find the updated Bavaria here on eBay for $31,500 or best offer.
This gives you an idea of just how seriously the seller took his build! Now, the challenge here is the asking price – which I’m sure only represents a morsel of what he has into this car from a time and money perspective – is going to be hard to achieve in the Bavaria market. It’s a very cool car and one of BMW’s more successful attempts into weaving its sports sedan DNA into a vehicle segment not often associated with it, but it’s rare to see the top-shelf sedan sell for that kind of money. But heck, he did this work in his garage to get the underside cleaned up and properly sealed with undercoating so perhaps you could drive it in all-weather conditions. It’s hard not to respect that level of effort.
Inside, the cabin was trimmed in fresh blue vinyl upholstery while Recaro seats were installed up front. The color works well, and since the seller acknowledges transforming it from tan to blue, I applaud the transformation. The Recaros show you that this project really hit a point of no return somewhere along the way, which also includes a sharp set of BBS wheels, lowering springs, upgraded dampers, and a complete engine swap with a beefy inline-six from a low-mileage E34 5-Series sedan. I don’t know if this is where the seller intended to end up, but it certainly represents a soup-to-nuts transformation.
Not only that, the engine – which had around 52,000 miles on it when removed, which is nothing on an M30 – got a full head rebuilt and reseal before it was dropped in, along with a conversion to electric-choke Weber downdraft carburetors. The speedometer and tachometer were even swapped out to work with this engine setup. If you wanted to buy a car that’s had everything done the right way, you’d buy this one, but what if you don’t fancy a Bavaria? Well, you’d have to wait until the next best thing came along, whatever that was. The seller’s BMW is certainly done to a high standard, but it may take a while for the right buyer to come along.
This is perfect, the high quality work, the end result, even the ad with all the information and did I read 294 photos? It makes me confident to buy this, a fuzzy and warm inside too.
Hmmmmm. This car sold for $19K US on BAT in August 2024. The ebay ad uses all the same photos (taken in Edmonton, Alberta) from BAT. When sold, it was in Alberta, Canada which explains the Canadian Tire store “Motomaster” battery and other CT stuff in photos. Cars in Canada do not have titles, and it was sold with an Alberta permit.
That is a far more reasonable price.
Very, very, nice and good. The interior detailing is superb. From the side though, the car looks like a Volvo. It’s got the performance creds and luxury interior but it doesn’t move me style wise.
Beautiful car. I used to know someone who owned a BMW(V) Bavaria. I haven’t seen or talked to him in ages. But I’ve always thought it was BMW’s best looking car.
A Bavaria?! The least desirable model in the lineup back then.
Really? What makes it “un”desirable?
Lineup had a ‘2500’, a ‘2800’ and the bargain-basement stripper ‘Bavaria’. This surely has no meaning in the context of this beautifully restored and upgraded (can I say it?) resto-mod.
Incorrect. The Bavaria was a “hot rod special” devised by importer Max Hoffman to appeal to American buyers, for ’71 upgrading the base-spec 2500 with the larger engine of the high-spec 2800, then for ’72-74 upgrading the new base-spec 2800 with the larger engine of the new high-spec 3.0S, thus placing the Bavaria in between the base- and high-spec variants.
High-spec wasn’t really all that much fancier, adding leather upholstery along with power windows and sunroof. Most of which is irrelevant to this particular example anyway, with its newer powertrain transplant and reupholstered leather interior.
Perhaps I’m mistaken, but my recollection from back in the day is that the Bavaria was an econo model “stripper”, as someone else said.
I’ll have to do a little research now…
Apparently from ’72-74 Hoffman dropped importing the new base-spec 2800 to the American market, so in that sense the Bavaria might be considered a “stripper” relative to the high-spec 3.0S, as those were the only two variants available here.
From ’75-76 he also dropped the Bavaria and only imported the newly fuel-injected high-spec 3.0Si variant (along with the smaller 2002 of course).
One of my favorite cars,but would look so much nicer
in a darker color.
After all that work, and there is a dent in the passenger door? Or was that a dent from the BaT photos? Why use those BaT pictures in the ebay listing? It’s curious.
@ Peter Havriluk That may be, but that doesn’t make it a bad car. I would’ve bought one if I knew where I could find one in nice condition.
Indeed so! Agreed! I coveted them from their earliest appearance. By no means did I intend to get sniffy. I’d own one today if I could afford it.
I can’t remember whether my friend’s car was a Bavaria, or a 3.0S or a 3.0 Si. But I remember it looked like this car.
Ex-father-in-law had one of these and a 2002. Ex-wife and I were caravaning with the family while I was driving my Scirocco. Up in Wisconsin on a country 2 lane. We FINALLY were able to pass a,very slow car. And kept our foot in it. I was close enough to the rear bumper of the Bavaria that wind resistance was not an issue. (Yes, close enough to where I was probably getting sucked along.) Brother-in-law in back seat was signaling the speed as the Scirocco’s speedometer was way past buried and the tach was closing in also.) The BMW “towed” us up to 130 mph. Later that day I kept getting .moisture on my windshield. And when closer to home I could smell coolant. Yep, you guessed it, the dreaded BMW head gasket issue had come to call. He loved that car. RIP J. P. S.
Ah yes, the BMW head gasket issue. I bought one of the first 2500’s to land on our shores (s/n 212xxx) in 1969. The head gasket made it’s presence known within the 1st 5,000 miles. The dealer replaced it under warranty and it was good for another 120K+ miles. An early 1970’s Road & Track Owner’s Survey listed my ’69 2500 as then highest milage at 72K miles. Put it in storage in the mid 1980’s and sold it to a collector in the early 2000’s. Great car with a surprising low per mile operating cost. At 100K miles, I tallied all costs, price, insurance, gas, oil, service and repairs (did not include annual State vehicle registration). The seller’s car is a gem, I wish the winning bidder many miles of enjoyable driving!
I have to say I don’t like cars that don’t have the original engine. In my country (Germany) you would not get a classic tag. I also would prefer an original interior.