Model code: 3431
Exterior color (paint code):
- Polaris metallic (060)
- Original: Inka (022)
Comment: long term restoration (especially front structure total body, interior, many parts replaced) bumpers, weber down drafts, five speed od, sway bars/strut brace. See details in the second section of below narrative.
Attended Summer concourse, Monterey 2009.
TRAVELING LIGHT IN THE FAST LANE MY ADVENTURES WITH A BMW 3.0 CSL John Buenz
It must have happened some thirty years ago during a walk with my wife near my home in Cupertino, California. While I had owned the original 1968 2002 in the Santa Clara Valley and was currently driving a 1981 320is, I had never seen or heard of the e9 coupe. And there was a magenta copy in a neighbor’s driveway, likely the property of a visitor. The image is still in my mind, and right there I begin to harbor the idea of owning the most beautiful car I had seen to date. After several abortive attempts to locate and purchase what I learned was a 3.0 CS, I moved to Spokane, Washington. In 1989 my subscription to Auto Week contained an advertisement for a 1972 3.0 CSL located in Northern California. Then and there, I researched what the CSL version of the CS might be.
My car, VIN 2212186, is a early carbureted CSL and manufactured in late 1971 as a “homologation special” however not in “batmobile” form. It was registered January 1972 in Verona, Italy and sold through the Treviso dealer, Zannero .I have no record of Italian ownership. Upon my purchase, Zannero emblems were located on the front fenders but removed in restoration due to discoloration. It was imported from Italy through San Francisco by dentist, Dr. Roland G. Holt, on August 20, 1982. It remained largely stored in his small collection at Magalia, California just north of San Francisco. It was purchased as the result of the Auto Week advertisement by its present owners, John and Marilyn Buenz, then of Spokane, Washington. The purchase date was May 9, 1989.
Prior to my 1989 purchase, previous Italian owners had repainted the original inka (orange) with polaris (silver). The California owner had mistakenly replaced a badly damaged roof with a sunroof and rust was beginning its familiar work on some body parts. Since the 1989 purchase, current owners have undertaken a long program of gradual refirburishment and replacement of many parts. Coupe ownership requires entry into another world of people and knowledge.
Initial and superficial rust repair, including replacement of inner rocker panels and installation of standard bumpers (the car came as a true lightweight) without a front bumper and a black fiberglass rear bumper), was by Auto Restoration in Post Falls, Idaho (a branch of Hill and Vaughn of Pasadena, California). Master Mechanics of Spokane installed a new LSD (3.45 in place of 3.25), a five speed OD transmission, replaced the Zeniths with Weber 32/36 DGAV carburetors, 28mm front and 22mm rear sway bars, 20% stiffer springs and Bilstein HD shocks. The interior was refirburished by rust proofing the floor pan and OEM re-upholstering for the Sheel seats. Many of these modifications are customary for coupe owners. To that point, most parts and advice were supplied by coupe legendary, Carl Nelson of La Jolla Independent.
Body refirburishment was continued following a 1996 return to Cupertino, California. Conversation at car show with a 2800 CS owner directed me to Boyd Fechner, a one man coupe specialist operating out of his “shade tree” home garage in the east foothills of San Jose. From 2006 to 2008, Fechner reconditioned the spare tire well, replaced the gas tank while removing surface rust and re- rust proofing the underside of the pan from rear valence to the firewall. Both front fenders and the front clip were removed with surface rust removed and many NLA structural parts replaced, and the front clip was realigned. In 2010, the offending sunroof was removed and replaced, and the car taken largely to bare metal and repainted with what I would call “sky polaris”. During that period, Fechner restored the dashboard including wood veneer for the dash, door and quarter panel trim pieces. A front strut brace was installed.
Readers can see that bringing 2212186 back to mechanical, structural and cosmetic life can be a saga. Without the financial ability and available craftsmen to do it all at once, this has been a “as funds and people become available” project. The key player has been Boyd Fechner who I would call an “old world craftsman” who has brought many coups back to life, health and original beauty. He turned out to be a trusted and patient perfectionist with his own vast store of NLA mechanical and body parts and access to the underworld of coupe people. I never saw a problem that he could not nor would not figure out. And coupes have many of those. Boyd died in early October 2014, after end of life struggles to finish minor paint work. This was completed by Auto Works of Sunnyvale, California, but I will miss my over the years contact with Boyd.
This lightweight is moderately driven in dry weather and has been exhibited in a variety of Northern California car shows. Unassisted steering and a taunt ride at low speeds quickly smooth out at higher speeds. Steering, handling and breaking are extraordinary for a 1972 car, all with comfort, reliability and class. It’s a rare and remarkable car that still turns heads, receives countless thumbs up and starts many a conversation. While identifying this car as a BMW, most people don’t know just what model it is, but they like it, whatever. The feature article in the February 2011 edition of the Classic and Sports Car magazine terms the CSL to be “BMW’s dream machine...a racer for the road…a homologation special that sent BMW’s performance message around the world…that magical mixture of feminine elegance and masculine presence that characterizes all great cars”. For me, it’s been a very good trip as this CSL has lived up to its legend.
Owner:
- 2018: Dirk de Groen, Coral Gables, Florida
- May 9, 1989: John Buenz, at the time in Spokane, Washington. 1996 and onwards: Cupertino, CA
- August 20, 1982: Imported in San Francisco, USA by dentist, Dr. Roland G. Holt. Car remained stored in his collection
- 1972: registration in Verona
- Delivery: Treviso dealer, Zannero, Verona, Italy
- Late 1971: Production