Smokey's 15 Minutes of Fame!

Back at the end of last year, I was contacted by Marsen Karlsson from BMW Headquarters in Munich. He indicated that he works with the BMW Magazine magazine, and that they were interested in including my Baur in the new IPad version of the magazine. He asked me to take some pictures, which my son Harry Jr. did, send them a brief story of the car, and, in addition, Marsen interviewed me via Skype.

Well, a few months have passed, and I did not remember about this until my son asked me last night about it. I don't have an IPad, but he does, so I asked him to check. Sure enough, there it was!!

It is on the 1/12 edition of BMW Magazine, and you can download it for free to your Ipad. My son took a few screen shots of part of the article, and here they are:







Needless to say, I am stoked!!!

New Heart for the Baur

As I have mentioned before, the Baur's engine is tired, and smokes quite a bit, although it doesn't miss a beat. Well, I acquired a few weeks ago a used engine, which was previously on a friend's E30. He installed a newer M52 in his car and offered me the M20 at a good price.

The engine is essentially a 1988 2.7 Super ETA with 325i fuel injection and computer. I have done some research and apparently all I need is a cam with longer duration to make it a strong, torquey engine. Hopefully I will be able to have significantly higher power and torque than my car's current M20B20, at a reasonable cost. Plans are to install it some time during the Summer months, so I'll post here any progress.

The Arrival of Bronzit II

On 10/14/11, I purchased a 1987 325e to be used by my wife as a daily driver. This is the second Bronzit E30 we have owned, the first one being an '87 also, hence the post title.

The car is an automatic 4 door, and, although it needs some work, the price was good ($1300). The idea is to fix it up so it can be used on a regular basis by the missus.

Here are a few pics taken at the seller's home with my phone:

Moving the Atlanta Bimmers

As I mentioned on my last post, I had to move the two cars I had in Atlanta.

On Wednesday 8/25/10, I flew to Atlanta and spent the next day moving the touring to a Public Storage facility (a grueling process that took me all day, with about six trips in the Baur filled to the brim with parts). Here is how it sits now until further notice:

The next day, Friday, I hopped into the Baur and made the 8 hour, almost 500 mile drive from Atlanta to Deltona, FL. The trip went smoothly, and the Baur never missed a beat. I arrived at my friend Ricky's house at around 7:00 PM. I will keep the car at his house until I can ship it to Puerto Rico.

On Saturday, Ricky and I drove around in the Baur and went to the Cars and Cafe meet, which is celebrated the last Saturday of the month in Sanford, FL. Lots of high-priced metal there, including an ugly chrome Bugatti cabrio allegedly worth $1.9 million (!!!) :

The 1976 2002

As promised on the first post, I will be posting some details on each of my cars as time permits.

The one I've owned the longest is the '76 2002. Bought it back in 1991 for $1500, needing bodywork. The original color was Mintgrun, but in 1992 I went forward with a color change to Schwarz black and a total restoration.

After that restoration in '92 I have constantly made changes to it. The car is by no means stock, and, at this moment has the following:

• Eibach springs and Bilstein Sport shocks
• 14" BBS wheels from an E30 325is and Yokohama tires
• Weber 38/38 carb
• tii exhaust manifold
• tii brake booster and master cylinder
• Delco 100 amp alternator
  
• Five speed tranny conversion from a 320i
• Recaro seats from a 320is (upholstered in '92 and again in 2008)
• Custom-made carpet set
• Reupholstered door panels with 2002 Luxus door pockets
• BMW E24 steering wheel
• Front Kamei and rear Zender spoilers
• Rear bumper from '68-'70 2002 (no front bumper)
• Italian-market amber/clear front turn signals
• Hella 1000 driving lights
• Hella H4 headlights

Here are a few pics (the Hella 1000's had not been installed when they were taken):

Here goes nothing!

Welcome to my blog!

I will try to keep a record here of my adventures as an owner of several older BMW's. I bought my first one, a 1970 1600-2, back in 1978, and have always owned at least one since then. I currently live in Puerto Rico, but travel frequently to the US mainland, so my hobby has taken roots there also.

Our stable currently includes:

• 1976 2002 - Bought this one in sad condition back in 1991 and did a complete restoration back in '92. Still looks decent, and I continually am doing mods to it. Hope to be able to repaint it again soon. This one is in Puerto Rico.
  
• 1972 2000tii touring - I just got this one (January 2009) and it needs a total restoration. If it were a regular 2002 it might be better as a parts car, but being that it's a touring AND a tii, I will try to bring it back to life. It might be years before this happens, though. The car is currently in Arkansas.
  
• 1981 Baur 320/6 - This one lives at my daughter's in Atlanta. Bought it in June 2008 and is in decent, but not concours condition. Currently getting all the mechanical work taken care of at Carma Motorsports in Atlanta (brakes, timing belt, tune up). This is a fun car to use on my frequent trips to the ATL.
• 1982 320i - This car has been in the family for four years. Needs paint, but the mechanicals are in great condition. Used by my son as a daily driver here in Puerto Rico.
• 1986 325 - Previously used by my daughter for college here in Puerto Rico, we sold it when she moved to Atlanta, but bought it back in 2008. It is automatic and is also a daily driver.
• 1993 325i - This one is also automatic and is my daughter's daily driver.

I will provide info on each of the above rides as I go along on this blog. In the meantime, thanks for checking it out!