Todsimpson wrote:

Looking for a Bavaria...manual transmission and mild mods preferred. Minimal rust and willing to pay for how rare that is! todd.simpson (at) comcast.net

Rare????

You can buy them in the PNW all day long for $2500 or under, sometimes even get one for $500 that runs/drives and no rust.

I've given 2 away in the past 5 years and even then it took me 2 months each to find someone who wanted them!

WH

Quote:

I've given 2 away in the past 5 years and even then it took me 2 months each to find someone who wanted them!

Why is that? I've only driven one but I like the look and it seems like a fun around town car. Also a little more room for family than my 2002.

An E9 would be nice but I'd rather have a clean Bav for the same money as a ratty coupe.

They are somewhat rare on the east coast. The CT car has a cool attitude but is a little rougher than what I'd like.

tod wrote:

Quote: I've given 2 away in the past 5 years and even then it took me 2 months each to find someone who wanted them! Why is that? I've only driven one but I like the look and it seems like a fun around town car. Also a little more room for family than my 2002. An E9 would be nice but I'd rather have a clean Bav for the same money as a ratty coupe. They are somewhat rare on the east coast. The CT car has a cool attitude but is a little rougher than what I'd like.

For a big car they are fun to drive and for those of us on a budget they do indeed make a lot more sense than an e9. If I already didn't have too many cars and gas and airfare were not too expensive, that CT Bavaria would be too much for me to resist ...
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91 BMW 318is
90 Mazda Miata

tod wrote:

Quote: I've given 2 away in the past 5 years and even then it took me 2 months each to find someone who wanted them! Why is that? I've only driven one but I like the look and it seems like a fun around town car. Also a little more room for family than my 2002. An E9 would be nice but I'd rather have a clean Bav for the same money as a ratty coupe. They are somewhat rare on the east coast. The CT car has a cool attitude but is a little rougher than what I'd like.

No offense to those Bav owners out there, but I've driven Bav on and off over the years, Yeh they're kind of cool in a funky way, but this old BMW doesn't do anything super well. It's a pretty big car and won't handle well unless you upgrade springs/shocks with good performance units. The engine with the twin solex's runs well, but get one with twin webbers and you'll be much happier, or better yet, go for the ultimate induction, 3 sidedrafts!

Locally you can find many old 4 door BMW's for not much $. They just aren't wanted and people don't have interest in them, what with the newer BMW models becoming very cheap (read decent E24,E28,E30,E34 etc for under $2500). Bav's are normally at or near the bottom of the list in value even below E21 320i's! To be honest, the slightly later 3.0 sedan is a better car or even the slightly earlier 2800, take your pick. If you really want a much better older 4 door BMW, get a E12 sedan. A nice 1981 528i with 5 speed, or better yet, a nice 1981 euro E12 with a 5 speed.

You could make a Bav almost as nice as the E12 to drive, but you'll spend more money doing it upgrading the 4 speed tranny to a 5 etc and ultimately you'll still have a car worth less than the E12 will be. E12's seem to be gaining in value lately, why I'm not so sure. One guy I know sold his super nice, low mileage, clean E12 for $23,000 about a month ago. A V8 powered on was on ebay recently for $22K (not sold as of yet). Real E12 M535i's are approaching $16K or more (I've been offered that for mine), even nice rust free, clean stock E12's seem to be trading hands for $3000-$6000 lately. Find one cheap now, a couple years ago they were $900 cars.
WH

Here you go!

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/car/772541513.html
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73' 2002