Worked on my 1971 Bavaria this past weekend

[chope97]

I have a 71 Bavaria 3.3 5 speed I had it for 12 years and still trying to get it back up to speed. This past weekend a friend came over who was a BMW tech and used to work on these cars. We changed the thermostat and had to do a lot of bleeding to get all the air out. We finally had to jack the car up in the front and let it run for a while and leaving the bleed screw open. At first the bottom hose was cold but after a couple of tries it heated up. He also checked my battery cables. The negative cable was old so I replaced it with a new braided cable. He took a knife and scraped the surface before he attached it to cable connection point. He also redid the positive cable which joins 5 wires into the one connection. He separated all the connections with new ends that he soldered to each wire. He removed the bolt on the positive cable which has the hole for the other wires and put in a new more conventional battery bolt because the original bolt was starting to crack in the middle from age. After all this now my car starts right up on the first turn and idles pretty well. Next is tackling the brakes of a car that has been sitting for 12 years. That was the last time the fluid was changed. After that the drive around the block, hopefully in September !!!

 

[HB Chris]

Drill a small hole in thermostat and you shouldn't have that issue.

 

[chope97]

Drill a small hole in thermostat and you shouldn't have that issue.

Thanks we actually talked about doing that but we got it to work .
+

 

[chope97]

More work this past weekend my friend worked on the driver side rear door as it was stopping the front door from opening. He adjusted the hinges while he was in thee he lubricated all moving parts. After that we took the front door panel off and adjusted the front door hinges. While in the door we noticed that the window regulator was not in the best of shape but still worked. Now I can open the front door without having to open the back door first. While in the rear door we found a for sale sign listing the car at $10,000. It stated the car had been repainted and included 7 tires and rim. At that time the car was an automatic with a 2.8 m30, now it has a 5 speed and a 3.3 m30. The area code on the sign was 508 Mass. It is a 1971 Bavaria Malaga

 

[ahab]

I hope you're compensating your friend appropriately, sounds like he's crucial to the resurrection. The sign is a hoot. When the hell was an E3 worth $10K? Make sure you put your car on the registry too. http://www.bmwe3registry.com/reg/list/1

 

[chope97]

My car has a Mass. inspection sticker on the windshield from 1999 So in 1999 maybe it was selling for 10k?


My car is registered, It is the only E3 in Maryland

 

[Bwana]

Pictures?

 

[bavbob]

Clarence, you found my car! Been missing since 1999. Hope you have Title Insurance to cover my claim.
Seriously, about time you began work on this, thought perhaps you had caught the Burt P syndrome. The race is on, your Bavaria vs his M635. Who will be done first.

 

[chope97]

Here I am at the gas station, this is the first time I have driven the car in 12 tears

 

[Mike Goble]

Nice to see the rubber meet the road...

 

[bavbob]

Clarence congrads....

 

[jefftepper]

Nice car. Reminds me of my folks' Malaga '71 Bavaria from the mid 1970's which brings me to my question. Are you sure your car isn't a '72? Looking at the taillights and the "C" pillar vents leads me to think it is newer than my folks '71

 

[chope97]

I checked the door plate all I could see is the year 71. my VIN is 2160596
The plate under the hood says BMW 2800
http://www.bmw-e3-club.de/e3bmw/fahrgestellnummer.html
from the E3 VIN chart
2800 bavaria automatic (it is now a 5 speed)
12 / 1969 - 4 / 1971 2 160 001 - 2 160 654