I'm tempted to use that last photo as my wallpaper; the three cars together are gorgeous. Today's is in great shape by New Hampshire standards, and I'd love to own one if I wouldn't feel bad taking it out on the road for half the year.
Murilee, this guy is becoming the cat lady of BMWs. He only told you horror stories so he could have more of them for himself. Why, the poor 3.0 CS has a serious injury on the right flank that is going untreated.
Get a court order and seize them all for their own protection. We'll help you hide them.
Want, badly. But it just wouldn't do to move that thing to the midwest, with no garage space... So I'll be content with Murilee's photos, and cry just a little inside.
That is a gorgeously-proportioned automobile. The E9, the E28, and the E24 have got to be three of the classiest looking machines ever. Why is it so hard for modern automakers to pull that off?
@Mark Arnold: And when you do, you'll have my utmost respect and wholehearted admiration. If you're going to have a yard full of old, beat-up cars, you could do a lot worse than old, beat-up E9s, E23s and E24s.
I don't know nearly as much about BMW's as some of the commenters here, so maybe this is heresy to say, but...I like the black one in the driveway better
Sweet car. I've ached for one of these since I first saw one. Looks like it's crying out for a little more love than it's gotten recently. Those rusty bits really hurt. Come here, little one, let me soothe you now...
@boosted-lego-wagon: Yeah, the BMW ownership curve is an interesting beast. It starts with mostly 3-year lessee douches, then moves to CPO up-and-coming middle managers, then to used-car image-conscious college kids, then often to fourth-owner image-conscious wanna-be pimps, but if it skips the pimp step, it often ends up as a classic.
Skipping the pimp (and preferably the college kids) is the key to BMW longevity.
@boosted-lego-wagon: When building our LeMons BMW, we found a BMW cassette tape in the trunk welcoming the new owner of the car to BMW ownership. It was pretentious and hoity-toity sounding for sure. Since our car is a 325e and not a 325i, I'm sure someone bought the car for the BMW image and not the performance.
We got quite a kick out of listening to the tape while ripping the interior apart with a Sawzall and painting the car with a roller. I really wish we could find the original owner and show him what we've done, heh.
NIce cars, but it looks like the rust monkey has shown this one a little too much love. And whoever thought painting the stainless steel swage trim black needs to explain himself. That really stands out in odd contrast to the chrome "rust-caps" on the wheel opening lips. Speaking of chrome lips, I once knew this girl . . . oh wait, I can't tell that one.
@graverobber: Fine Corinthian Pleather: to me it seems that the once chrome strip you speak of was not painted black, but after many years the chrome deserted the car based on the front chrome strip.
@Mazdaspeed666, now with 80% more unemployment!: However, that's not chrome, but stainless steel. If you take a gander at the trunk badge picture - the one with the syphilis scars - you can see that it has been painted black.
@syrax: It's funny, since nearly all of the 107 cars I see have sealed beam headlights and big bumpers, when I see one with the Euro lights and bumpers it looks kinda weird.
@Raddy21: That was the 3.0CSL, basically the M version or race version of this car back in the day. It had a huge rear wing and some funny aero stuff on the fender peaks.
I used to work with a guy that drove a 3.0CS on a fairly regualr basis in the late 1990s. The one thing I remember about it, besides the gorgeous looks, was that on really hot days the hazard lights would come on. It had something to do with a switch that would get hot and expand. Apparently the Germans didn't design for Georgia in July back then.
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Get a court order and seize them all for their own protection. We'll help you hide them.
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That is a gorgeously-proportioned automobile. The E9, the E28, and the E24 have got to be three of the classiest looking machines ever. Why is it so hard for modern automakers to pull that off?
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/ducks tomatoes
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How are old BMWs like old porcupines? They lose their pricks.
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Skipping the pimp (and preferably the college kids) is the key to BMW longevity.
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We got quite a kick out of listening to the tape while ripping the interior apart with a Sawzall and painting the car with a roller. I really wish we could find the original owner and show him what we've done, heh.
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It's a '74 so there might be a lot more than 170hp under the hood now.
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Wasn't one of the nicknames for these the Batmobile?
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I used to work with a guy that drove a 3.0CS on a fairly regualr basis in the late 1990s. The one thing I remember about it, besides the gorgeous looks, was that on really hot days the hazard lights would come on. It had something to do with a switch that would get hot and expand. Apparently the Germans didn't design for Georgia in July back then.
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I need a moment.
That car is not on the ground...:)
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Chris Bangle:- A weiner specializing in eating too much cheese before he goes to bed and designing with crayons and a blindfold.
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