Description
Here we have an early E12 bmw, the car was imported from Portugal in 2023 having been enthusiast owned and maintained until old age crept up and the owners family convinced him to part with it for a smaller every day car.
Being a Portuguese import it's a CKD car, built in part in Germany and then final assembly undertaken in Portugal to swerve the import costs of complete vehicles. As a result the car is as you would expect of a German built car with all of the dash switches etc being written in German.
Coming from such a dry climate the car remains as far as I can see free of any welding, I've had it in the air and it's in fantastic condition underneath, structurally it's hard to believe it's as old as it is! It has however been repainted from its factory silver to the dark blue it wears now, being totally honest it isn't the best paint job, it has blemishes and imperfections all over but on the whole it's a VERY solid and perfectly presentable and useable classic BMW. The only bubble that I can see is at the top of the passenger door where I assume it's maybe had a mirror at some point.
When it arrived it had an LPG kit fitted, I have removed this and the only remnants are the filler cap which is hiding at the bottom of the NSR 1/ 4 panel and the bar In the boot they the tank was mounted on (although this could easily be removed).
Part of the LPG swap necessitated swapping it to a single progressive Weber carb, i assume because a single inlet was required, this is still fitted and I have tweaked it to run nicely. The car will also come with it's original twin Stromberg carbs which appear to be in good condition should the new owner wish to refit them, I've also recently fitted an electronic ignition, new coil and fresh plugs, leads etc and will give it a fresh oil and filter change ready for the new owner.
The headlights are genuine Hella NOS french spec lights, imported fr France, not aftermarket rubbish but the original clear ones will also come with the car should they not be to your tastes.
As with all cars of this age there are a few areas which would benefit from attention, the tyres although all matching and bear new tread have suffered from time in the sun and are a little perished, I've been using it all summer with no issues but it's worthy of mention, the exhaust seems to have a slight blow, likely from a joint, if I get time I will investigate this further and see if I can sort it and finally I noticed there is a very slight weep from the radiator today where it looks like something has caught it, it's tiny and some epoxy may sort it but again its worth mentioning.
I won't ramble too much, I'll let the pictures tell the story and am happy to answer any questions if I'm able though I don't know any more details on its life before it reached the UK.
It's a pleasure to drive and turns heads wherever you go!These early e12's are great cars, they have a host of little differences to the later ones and really are a very practical classic car, loads of room inside for passengers and a cavernous boot.
You can tell that this has always been a cherished car, whilst the paint itself isn't the best, it really doesn't detract from the fact it's a fantastic car, it's a testament to the man who spent many happy years with it before it made it's way to the UK to start the next chapter of its life.
