I’m thinking about buying an old BMW and restoring it (if my wife gives the green light ). Specifically, I’ve got my eye on a 1973 BMW 2800 CS Bavaria.
Does anyone have an idea of what a restoration project like this might cost? Is it better to tackle the restoration myself (well, with pros) or just go for an already restored one?
If anyone here has experience with restoring a car like this or knows how to estimate the costs, I’d really appreciate the advice!
I’ll admit I have no idea what it cost to restore a 1973 BMW. Having said that… I suspect it will be a lot. Probably more than you can even plan for. There have been more than a few stories posted on this discussion board of restorations doubling the initial estimate. Being a 50+ year old European car is only the rancid icing on the cake.
If your wife is expressing some reluctance about such a “project”…you need to listen to her.
“If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” And if you think that getting an already restored one is an alternative, just look at the cost of that and figure out how much it would take to get your hulk to that restored condition.
Go to the page linked below… It includes the car you posted with an asking price of $7950
Notice the price trend. The cars are worth $30K. That beater you are asking about will take at least $20K in body and paint work alone.
It is always better to buy one someone else’s lovingly restored car that his widow sells for 1/4 the restoration cost at auction… see Mecum, Barrett-Jackson, Goodings, ect.
Although counter-intuitive, my experience has been that buying an “already restored” vehicle is generally significantly cheaper than the total cost of restoration.
Unless you have the necessary specialized skills, knowledge and equipment, the cost of labor will make a restoration expensive. And unless you’re restoring an “investment grade collector’s car”, the restoration costs will generally exceed the market value of the completed car.
Regarding the specific car you’re considering (listed on Hemmings for $8,000), Hagerty’s “Good” valuation is about $20,000, leaving you $12,000 to bring it up to a “Good” condition.
While $12,000 may seem to be a generous amount, the bodywork, paint and interior work alone
could easily exceed that. And then there’s the cost and availability of parts for a low production 50 year old car.
When pricing a restoration job include the cost of your time for the job. Since you aren’t an expert you might use $50/hour thinking it might take you 2 to 4 times as long as a pro to get the work done.
I’m also in the buy a restored car camp. IMO the best reason to restore one yourself is if you enjoy the job enough to ignore the additional cost.
Or you will be divorced long before the restoration is complete…
What level of restoration are you planning?? A total every nut, bolt and screw removed and replaced type one, or just get it running and driving, but still have old worn parts being used… Many different levels of restoring a vehicle…
Buy a complete or nearly complete car and be done with it… Heck you would be cheaper to just keep your newer BMW than to restore a classic aged BMW…
I would RUN AWAY from that Bavaria. The body has multiple rust holes, and that’s just what you can see in the pictures. Likely many more. The windshield is missing, meaning that water likely collected in the interior when it was outside, a sure disaster. Many trim parts are missing and will be very hard (read $$$$) to find. You could easily spend another $50,000 on this vehicle, to end up with a $25,000 (MAX) car. Bavarias are neat, some folks like them, but they don’t sell for big $$. As everyone has said, if you just have to have one, buy one in good shape. The one here would better be used for parts.
If I wanted an old BMW sedan, I’d get a 1978 or newer 528i (or 533i, or 535i), the first 5 series with fuel injection and a catalytic converter. I looked at a couple, but they were in bad shape. Don’t get the older 530i, it had a thermal reactor that caused problems.
Go to ebay and search for Bavarias, you’ll find a few, some in MUCH better condition for less money, like this one: 1973 BMW Bavaria with Moon Roof | eBay
One final note - the car you listed is a “Bavaria”, no 2800, no CS. The seller added those to the listing to get more lookers. The CS was the much more desirable coupe version, the 2800 was the fancier version from prior years.
The show ‘Wheeler Dealers’ backs that up. They often just break even, ignoring the labor costs, and dealing with cars that they get at a low price and typically need little in the way of parts.
The museum I volunteer for bought a 1934 Tatra T77 that was billed as the Million Dollar Tatra on the website chronicling its restoration. The owner died before its completion His widow finished the car and promptly put it up for Auction at Amelia Island in 2023. It sold for $390,000.
And it is a 25 foot car…any closer and you can see where the work wasn’t really up to par. I don’t think the museum has decided what to do about that as yet.
That’s a damn shame, because this car–like most of Ledwinka’s creations–was truly revolutionary.
Not the least of its accomplishments, these Tatras were said to have killed more high-ranking Nazi officers than bullets did. The handling of these rear engine cars was so… unorthodox… that quite a few of them skidded out of control on curves, killing the Nazis who appropriated the cars for their own use.
Very much so. It is said Dr. Porsche looked over Ledwika’s shoulders as much as Ledwinka did Porsche. Both grew up not so far apart in Austria-Hungary. Porsche’s birthplace is part of the Czech Republic today and Tatra is a Czech company.
The engineering similarities between the VW Beetle and the Tatra T77 are striking. Air-cooled rear mounted engines. A flat 4 for VW and a V8 for Tatra. The Tatra being much larger, more powerful and more luxurious. That extra power and weight made it oversteer… a LOT!
The car looked pretty stunning when we saw it on the auction floor before sale. The closer you look, though, the more imperfections you see. Not sure how many of those would have been built INTO the car when new! Hand-built usually means less quality, not more. But is is a significant addition to the collection. I wish we had room to display it.
Some people have managed to make restoration profitable. My daughter spent some time working at a place out in CA called Classic Car Showcase They buy, restore, and sell. Or will do restorations. And they sell on consignment…and other stuff. So they have a diverse revenue stream, and I’m sure have a lot of the stuff down to a science. Their specialty is also rare Jags, and very high ticket at auction. They basically seem to know what they’re doing.
Certainly, however, in the case of a hobbyist doing a one-off, especially on lower-ticket stuff there’s no way to even come close to breaking even.
You have to have something for granny to drive to get groceries. For me that applies to any four door sedan except a Series 75 Caddy and/or Lincoln & Imperial equivalents.
). Specifically, I’ve got my eye on a 1973 BMW 2800 CS Bavaria.
