This 1970 BMW 2800CS gives me hope. Yes, hope because it shows a car can still be desirable even if it hasn’t been completely restored. I’ll get into why this is personal in a moment, but for now, this desirable E9 coupe is every bit a driver, but one that is so honestly presented, I think I like it better than one that’s been restored. It has clearly been improved for the purpose of being put on the road and used every day, and for that reason alone, it’s worth a look. You’ll find it here on eBay where it’s listed for $26,500 or best offer, which is a very fair price for an E9 with a stick.
Now, a couple points: the reason it’s priced so aggressively is because it does have a few rust concerns. The seller is likely as surprised as we are, given this is supposedly a lifelong California car. However, these are notoriously sensitive machines, and the seller notes that the location of the rust may suggest the nose was parked outside with the rest of the body covered by a carport. He found rust in the engine bay near the base seams of the front shock towers. He further notes the rust was completely hidden by the “factory butyl” and he chased it down when assessing a creaking noise from the front end. There are some other isolated bubble spots as well.
This is truly a bummer, as the rest of the car appears to be in excellent shape. The seller notes that it’s an excellent candidate for a full restoration, with a transmission swap to a later model 5-speed. However, I would argue that the world has enough completely restored E9s, and it needs more drivers. I’ve been looking at a car in my garage – a 1990 Porsche 911 C4 – that very obviously got a partial respray at some time, with the fenders, doors, and rear quarters a different shade of blue than the front trunk and engine lid. It bothers me, but only if see it in the bright sunlight – the rest of the time, I don’t even notice. Given how handsome the E9 still is, including this excellent interior, I’d be content to fix the shock tower rust and drive it.
That’s how I am with my 911. It’s a ton of fun to drive and I’ll take it practically anywhere. I don’t know that I’d say the same about the same car with a fresh paint job. The E9 with its still-powerful inline-six is desirable not only because it’s a beautiful car but because it is enormously practical, as far as classics go. With the air conditioning operational, it’s still a great car to rack up the miles in. While the shock tower rust should be repaired, I would simply focus on that and then driving it at-will until those disclosed rust bubbles get a bit more worrisome. Would you drive it or restore it back to brand new?
Looks like a decent driver except I’d be concerned that one good speed bump would stress that front shock tower to the breaking point. So not really a good driver after all. I don’t have the money to buy this at $26.5 and then get the rust sorted out so I guess I’ll pass.
E9 owners joke that to avoid rust that they won’t ever even wash their cars….well maybe its not a joke.
Not a joke.
In July of 1969, I bought one of the earliest BMW 2500 sedans (Max Hoffman was the importer then). When Road & Track published the results of their BMW 2500 Owners’ Survey. I had accumulated the highest mileage (72K) at the time. Unfortunately, a lot of those miles were on salted North East highways. In an era before reinforced plastic fender well liners, the front fenders were shot peened by rock salt each winter. A couple of years and some 50K miles later, the tin worm made its appearance. New front fenders were treated with a fiberglass lining and fitted to the car. Luckly, the strut towers were OK. After six years of service, the car was put in storage where it slept until sold to a collector in 2001.
I have always thought those were great looking cars. I only saw them occasionally in Atlanta, ga. when I lived there but always tried to get a good look when I did see one. The subject car looks very nice until you see the serious rust problem under the hood. That is going to be expensive to repair properly but it needs to be done ASAP. If it were to become mine I’d have the rust repaired and leave the outside appearance like it is, and enjoy driving it. It is nice enough to drive and enjoy without worrying about getting a scratch or getting it dirty. Good luck to buyer and seller.
I had a ‘72 with rust in the same exact place. Discovered it when I ran over a storm drain that had partially lost its grate due to heavy rains. When I next popped the hood, there it was, an 8-inch long rust colored gap along that seam. At least that side was covered by insurance!
This one is going to have to come all the way down to bare metal to make it right and you can get a lot nicer cars for a lot less if you bother to look around. If the struts are this bad on top, the firewall is likely gone behind the glove box and behind the fuse door on the drivers side. I’m surprised that the floors look as good as they do, but the rocker panels can also be eaten up on the inside. It’s going to cost a pretty penny to redo that rust at the top of the struts, the front fenders are welded on and they have to come off and it needs to be dipped and taken back to zero to even be able o see how bad it is. I’m doubting that he’s going to get any takers at this point. The market for E9 coupes is soft right now. and it’s not going up. It may have bottomed out, but that’s only for nice cars with no rust issues. This is a difficult and long term project and with this much work you’re not going to be above water in it for a very loooong time.