$1500 1974 BMW Bavaria: Nice Price

"TotallyThatStupid" (jbbush) 10/01/2014 at 11:28 • Filed to: NPOCP, Nice Price Or Crack Pipe, 1974 BMW Bavaria, Car Buying, Blog

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As they say: You can never spend too much, you can only buy too early.

Five years ago I would have said CP. Now... E3 prices are on the rise. Not dramatically, and not anywhere near E9 coupe levels. But they are on the way up. A lot of what's wrong with this car - assuming its not dissolving - isn't hard to fix.

Engine:
The early cylinder heads cracked if the engine overheated, which happened a lot, especially on AC cars. Check the date stamp on the drivers side; 1974 = bad… 1980 = okay… 1981+ = more better. If it was "just parked" in 1989, it could be the engine cooked.

The cooling system looks stock - 5-blade fan, radiator (may have be re-cored to a 3-row, but doubtful). At some point the motor mounts were weak, allowing the fan to make nice with the radiator.

The car appears to wear its original smog parts, so it probably also wears its original Zenith carbs as well. A Weber upgrade would be in order if you like carbs; otherwise, 1979-81 E12 5 series L-Jetronic is a bolt-in. As is any other BMW M30-based motor, up to and including an S38 (ancillaries are harder with this one).

Transmission:
A 4- or 5-speed swap is very easy on this cars. Indeed, I'm in the middle of an E12 5 Series swap right now (~4 more hours of work), and its completion delay is a function of available time rather than difficulty. Anyway, it's all a bolt-in affair. You'll need an early Getrag with the hookup for the speedometer cable.

All that said, one of the most civilized E3s I've ever driven was a perfectly preserved 1974 Bavaria automatic. It was so smooth, and so quiet… whatever. Just swap in a manual.

Interior:
Finding an uncracked dashboard is hard, but not impossible. I wouldn't even bother. My old 1972 Bavaria had a cracked dashboard for the first 13 years I owned it. After a while you don't even notice.

The tan vinyl from 1974 on discolors over time, so it may require more than a deep cleaning. Still, if it's intact, you can dye it. Being a Bavaria, you only have wood strips on the dashboard, which are very easy to find. Looks like it has an aftermarket but period-correct stereo installed.

Suspension:
Check and see what needs to be replaced, which is probably a lot of it through time if not mileage. Not hard, either, but time consuming. Car sits level, though, so that's good. It even wears its original front suspension spacers. Go figure.

Check the rear center differential mount, which tends to crack the body shell where it mounts on cars that have been beaten (unlikely on this car, but worth a check).

Body:
Malaga is a stunning color, and this one seems to have cleaned up okay. It's fragile, though, so be careful with it and hand-wax it within an inch of its life. For rust… check absolutely everywhere. Literally.

The bumpers are huge; to replace the rear with an early chrome piece is a bolt on affair. The front? Not so much, as the panels and mounts are completely different. This car wears early silver grilles, so check for other bodywork issues/repairs.

I'm standing by my vote for Nice Price. Indeed, having owned several (many?) an E3, the pull is strong for me. Must be for other people, too, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Totally That Stupid is a blog run by two lifelong car geeks. More at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . You can also !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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Leon711 > TotallyThatStupid 10/01/2014 at 11:31

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is this post not just this.

http://jalopnik.com/could-you-find…

TotallyThatStupid > Leon711 10/01/2014 at 11:36

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I'd like to think it's a bit more, coming from a guy who has owned a bunch of E3s. A little perspective, if you will, on the nuts and bolts of what it would take to make this a reasonable car for an enthusiast.