Meet Heidi (My New to You '72)

[Bwana]

A little back story. I've been looking for another ride besides my 2000 Tacoma. Getting tired of getting beaten to death on the freeway. I had planned for a couple of years now to put a late model Jaguar V-8 into a 1967 1/2 E-Type but, as we all know that would entail a LOT of time and money. Then, when we were in the Bay area to visit family, we saw a CSi pass us on the road. Thought, "way cool, wonder what that is?" Checked out the prices and discovered, much to my suprise, they are actually affordable! Not like similar cars of that era (Jag, Aston Martin, etc...) So I went on the hunt for one in fair condition at a fair price. (Wifey has a 2001 540i with the M suspension)

Picked this girl up for about $14,500 from Evolution Motors in Seattle. Matt, the proprietor, has a full disclosure policy which is very good. Car arrived basicly the same as it was protrayed. Matt is a good guy to work with, I'm real happy with the entire transaction. I'm planning using it more as a daily driver than a trailer queen

She arrives! (That's the truck driver, not me).

It is a '72 CSi that apparently was originally delivered in Italy but exported to Seattle from Holland sometime in the mid Nineties. I'll register it on the Registry soon. Need to e-mail the guy that knows about original stuff back at BMW first. About 64,000 kM. It almost seems as if it has spent a lot it's life parked in the garage.

The brakes were in bad shape, front right totally locked up (brake thread elsewhere). It did start and run well after installing a new battery.

So for some detailed pictures

Inside the front left wheel well

Looks OK but on closer inspection it does have some rust on the fender

How long, given the obvious variable condidtions of where I park it, how I drive it, etc, etc, can you leave a car to rust before it becomes a problem? I mean, the car seems to be solid with some rust, should I spend the $$$ and take care of it now or wait until it gets a little worse and take tare of it all at once? I saw somebody mention that you had to have rocks in your head to take apart a reasonably good car.

Torn strut boot. Is this a concern?

I'll probably replace all the struts/shocks anyway. These could easily be OEM equipment. I'm looking for a nice ride, I'm tired of the "drug around in a box" ride of my Tacoma. KYB or Bilstein? ANy other suggestions?

Dirt under the car. I was so arrogant as to say in some other threat there was no rust until someone suggested I reach up into the inner fender well! No magnetic bits, just a lot of dirt :-D

And just what the heck is this!!!!! Is this the only ground cable to the engine/chassis? Jeeze, there must be an upgrade to this

Brake job done

In the driveway. Not quite Jabberjaw's car but at least a place to start

Obligatory interior shot

Engine compartment. Older but not beat or full of holes. I've already changed to the "bolt up" oil filter from an E12, much better. Thanks Mesa!

Can someone give me the dimension of the A/C panel and the radio panels? A picture like this but with the Photoshop dimensions pencled in. I'm planning to install an A/C system and a new radio/CD player but will probably make a custon panel for the controls, but I need the panel dimensions. Something like the dimensions of these pictures.

I've also had some conversations with People Who Know About These Things and installing an A/c into a D-Jet system could be a "challenge". On of the issues is that there is no mechinism to increase the idle speed of the engine when the A/C compressor engages so it usually stalls out. I remember working on an engine that had a solenoid that bumped up the idle when the A/C compresssor engaged. The solenoid pin was adjustable. Does anyone remember this and what car was it?

Where were the speakers of the optional Becker sound system located? I currently have two speakers mounted in the passenger footwells. Probably a little muted. Were there speakers in the doors and/or rear parcel shelf?

I've had a number of BMW's but I'm a total n00b with e9's so please bear with me if I ask simple questions from time to time.

So, good fun to be had soon. I'm still sorting thru some electrical gremlins but should have them fixed soon (wipers work with the steering stalk but not with the knob on the center consol. What a racket with the wiper motor! Dome light out. Fixed multiple grounding problems. Thanks ACE hardware!)

Thanks for all the help from this forum so far. I broke down and bought the "Blue Books" FSM so I should be armed to do some serious work.

I also plan to do some of the "tech" articles, with a bunch of pictures, that dang mentioned.

 

[TodB]

fender rust

This is a perfect example of how these coupes can look terrific on the outside but be a potential nightmare underneath. I am curious to know how the seller, under his full disclosure policy, described the rust. This does not appear to be the grind it off/treat it/paint it variety.

Based upon the one fender pic, I think you're at a decision point. I would not invest anymore in this car until you decide what to do as the fender rust appears to be coming from the inside/underneath which is never a good thing. You need to decide if you are going to a) "fix" it, b) fix it correctly, or c) leave it alone and just drive the car. All three are viable options but with different price tags.

It also depends upon if you decide to fix it, are going to do the work yourself or source it. If the latter, you'll need to have this work done by someone who has done it before and who is familiar with how to fix what looms underneath those fenders which you will not know until you peel them off. Regardless, to fix them (I assume the other side is similar) correctly will not be inexpensive.

There are a couple of very intrepid lads on this board who can chime in here and even provide pictures of similar work that they have done to their coupes in similar situations.

I hope that the picture is not representative of what is really underneath but having been in a similar situation with mine, I'm pretty confident that its not going to be pretty. Not trying to be alarmist or rain on the excitement of your new purchase, but you need to know about and decide what to do with the rust (if anything) before you invest anymore anywhere else.

 

[abe3.0CSi]

If you are going to keep the car for a long time...do the right thing and get it restored to your liking. Keep in mind these cars and rust is like Forrest Gump said about a box of candy.."you never know what your going to get on the inside".
abe

 

[acat2002]

tipping point

First, congratulations! nice choice in vintage motoring!

I agree with TodB in that you have to make a call how extensive of a restoration (if any) you're planning before sinking ANY money into this.

I also agree that the condition is very typical unrestored cars in terms of rust along the fender seams. It looks like one of the POs elected to "encapsulate" the rust rather than erradicate it based on the undercoating shown in the wheel wells. You can only hope that the level of rust was minimal prior to coating and that the car saw minimal Washington state weather. There is really no quick way of determining how extensive the rust is without taking off interior panels or (as Chicane mentioned) a boroscope. You'll have to ferret around in the suspect areas in order to gather a compete picture of how solid she is. You could get lucky and the rust is "as seen" along the fender seams, but I'm guessing that you'll probably find more than you initially anticipated if you start digging. However, a good starting point for you may be the 'ole jack test:

Jack test (as shared w/me by another board member) - Roll the windows down and jack the car up on one corner (in a proper jacking point) and open and close the driver and passenger doors gently to see if the alignment changed significantly. Anything more than moderate binding and resistance could denote some structural issues that would need real immediate attention. Assuming she passes this basic test, drive her and enjoy her, evaluating the weak points along the way. After you log enough seat time, you'll have a real good idea what to do (at least that's what I did).

I don't know what your budget is, but based on what we've seen so far, and assuming she's structurally sound enough and roadworthy, drive the wheels off her for the next few years and formulate a long term plan along the way. Keep asking experienced coupe owners and restorers their opinions along the way as well. No immediate decisions necessary, just don't throw good money out for bad by patching and hiding - it's a waste of time and $$$.

All that said, the car looks wonderful and hope you thoroughly enjoy coupe ownership.

 

[hdavis]

I've also had some conversations with People Who Know About These Things and installing an A/c into a D-Jet system could be a "challenge". On of the issues is that there is no mechinism to increase the idle speed of the engine when the A/C compressor engages so it usually stalls out. I remember working on an engine that had a solenoid that bumped up the idle when the A/C compresssor engaged. The solenoid pin was adjustable. Does anyone remember this and what car was it?

[.

My car has this setup, and it does pose some of the problems you describe. The easy fix is to have the car idling at a higher rpm level to start with, and then when the compressor kicks in, it goes down to the normal level.....but it's not ideal or comfortable when the AC is off.

I will be trying to fix it in some other way, but as of now I have no clear leads.

 

[atan888]

Heidi looks pretty. You did good of choosing an E9. Congrats and enjoy it in good health.

 

[Sven]

Re: AC idle adjustment.

Henry & Bwana,

I solved this problem by adding solenoid air valve (Bosch 0.280.142.150) that is triggered by a relay that closes when the AC kicks on. I ran a vacuum hose from one of the extra ports on the TB to the manifold. I am using the programmable MegaSquirt system, which will add more fuel to match the additional air allowed into the manifold via the AC valve. Does the D-Jet automatically compensate for additional air? Like when running cold - ie, fool it into thinking that it is running cold? The wiring is in the lower left of the diagram.

 

[bill]

I should have copyrighted the name "Heidi," my name for my '74......

 

[hplug]

fun

Great looking E9. I love to see new lovers of these cars and you got a good one. The rust does seem to be an issue but the people on this forum are great and really helpfull much more so than other forums. Look through your body with a fine toothed comb as the rust in these beautiful cars likes to hide in spots most other cars never have issues. Best of luck we are all here to help.

 

[66toaster]

Heidi

Back in October I posed the question to the forum as to why this car had remained unsold for over a year, even with subsequent price drops. (If you put "Seattle" in the search tab, three members responded.) During that span of time I had been looking around to buy an e9. This Seattle car really looked nice. But, just had a nagging feeling that something was amiss.