This 1968 BMW 2000CS appeared on craigslist a few days ago, and then quickly disappeared. Assuming it had been sold, we deleted the post, but then here it appears on eBay. This “New Class” coupe isn’t perfect and had some rust issues, but the completeness of the car and its rarity make it worthy of restoration. The angular lines of the nose don’t appeal to some BMW collectors, but the scarcity of project-grade examples ensures this one will find a new home at the end of the auction. It is equipped with the preferred manual gearbox and does run and drive. Find it here on eBay with bids to $7,100 and no reserve.
-The 2000CS isn’t nearly as desirable as the later 2800CS, with its much-improved looks and robust inline-six powerplant. The 2000CS, however, did open the door for a high-end BMW coupe to even exist, and despite this, its values have remained fairly stagnant. Restored examples do fetch a fair price, but it’s a thin line between spending too much and ending up with a car that has a limited following and a narrow shot at recouping the cost to refurbish. This 2000CS looks decent from most angles, but you can tell it’s missing trim here and there and does have rust hiding in the rockers.
The other obstacle to bringing one of these vintage coupes back to life is parts supply. There simply aren’t many 2000CSs on the road, and therefore, parts supply isn’t great. You’d likely have more luck restoring a later car because of the fact the 2800 and 3.0CS are so popular among enthusiasts. If nothing else, parts specialists and restoration shops are keeping as many spares as possible in the rafters, and parting out any car that is deemed too rusty to repair. It will be much harder to find replacement wood paneling for the dash of this 2000CS, so be prepared to have new trim custom fabricated. The dash pad appears to have perished, and the original radio is long gone.
Here’s a shot of the rust concerns on this 2000CS. Is it enough to run away? Well, as my body man has told me numerous times, it’s not the rust you can see that’s the problem – it’s the rust you can’t see from the outside. The good news is the seller doesn’t show any other major rust spots, as the underside looks fairly solid and the rear lower quarters appear sound as well. The rear chrome bumper has started to lose some of its luster and the exposed surfaces have begun to rust; that’s nothing a decent chrome shop can’t fix. Overall, we’ve seen these in far worse condition, so if you’re looking for a project-grade 2000CS, it could be worth a look.
Had I not had a good friend that bought a 2002, ( trading up from a Vega GT) I never would have known what great cars BMW’s are. Like the evolution of all cars, it’s hard to believe they started like this. My daughter has a newer BMW, with period correct doo-dads and gee-gaws, I doubt I could even get it started. I think she’s heard her share of “porcupine” jokes too. In the midwest, the 1600/2002 was really the 1st BMW’s we saw, rarely, if ever, these. I have no facts, but I think BMW’s have weak piston rings, or something. My friends 2002Tii, was great new, but soon began burning oil, and a lot of oil, and he sold it. I think this is a good find, I can’t help but think BMW parts, especially vintage ones, even though I hear German cars have the best NOS availability, will zap the healthiest bank accounts.
The spot that looks so terrible looks like previous body damage, with cracked bondo. Wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of the body was OK.
the covers over the rockers are not correct, makes you wonder what is under there.
Imported a couple of these coupes. One was a 2000CA (automatic) that was serial number 15…..wouldn’t have bothered with the automatic, single barrel engine otherwise. Sold it in California. The other was a 2000CS, the best one ever seen, everyone who saw it said. Sold it in Texas in 1976 or so. Ran a couple of these in Germany. The 2002 was a much better all around car. These were great for high speed cruising on the Autobahn, but not as nimble as the 2002. Still have some CS carbs ad instruments laying around somewhere. Gosh has it been that long?
I had a 68 BMW 1600 that I tweaked above and beyond the normal practice. It had gas charged Bilstiens, strut tower braces, negative camber plates and fully adjustable Sway bars. The engine was .30 over with Mt. Everest camshaft. Fully ported and polished ports that were flow bench tested and cc’d combustion chambers. Dual side draft DCOE Webers. I ran 205/60-VR13 Goodyear Eagles after the obligatory P7’s. I owned every curvy road for a 100 miles. 911’s, Vettes and under 1000cc motorcycles made up most of its diet. I miss that car.
Cleanest BMW design since recent baboon butt grille look.
The Kharman built BMW coupés are notorious for rot. This is one of the oldest you can buy. Lovely cars, but what you can see is the tip of a costly iceberg.
I saw it disappear from Craigslist too. Now sold for $ 7,600. I really like the design of these and saw them in Germany in ’68 during my service there. One of my SGTs had a 1500 & I don’t believe those ever made it here. Swell handling little coupe. I almost bought a ’74 2002 Tii, but the dealer apparently only was alotted one, it was maroon (not a favorite color) and he had every possible option on that car, turning it from a fairly respectable coupe into more of a cruiser. AND demanded over list. I’m quite happy with my 328is 5 speed.