What to do with my Baur?

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:30 am

Thanks for the offer Arshad , I appreciate it.

cobbler2u · Post by **cobbler2u** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:49 am

I've got brand new rear 1/4 window rubbers for sale if any good to you

loentje · Post by **loentje** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:28 pm

Great job, beautifull baur!!

greetings loentje

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Fri May 15, 2015 3:55 pm

As the weather improved we were looking forward to getting the car out and enjoying it. Unfortunately it wouldn't run for more than a few seconds and it turns out the Solex was knackered.

In the end I spoke to Rich at Fritz's Bits and we decided to dump the m10 1.6L and replace it with a 2002 tii 2.0L with twin 40 Webers.

He found me an engine with less than 40k on it and rung me today to say it's in and running and just needs the carbs tweaking a bit.

He's fitted a new diff to cope with the extra power, but we haven't been able to find a 5 speed box for sensible money so that'll have to wait for now.

He's done a front brake/disc upgrade, just waiting for the calipers to arrive early next week.

It's had a full stainless exhaust fitted, and once the cars been on the dyno and set up properly he's going to see how the suspension copes and whether we need to upgrade it or not.

Rich did ring me last week to tell me they'd removed the old engine and opened it up. When they drained it they removed 9 litres of fluid, it seems the car was over fuelling A LOT!
Apparently the bores were quite badly worn and also the (I forget which and I'm not engine minded so can't be sure) cam / crank shaft had more than half an inch of play in it, so it sounds to me like that old engine was pretty shafted... I'm glad we didn't bother just trying to get hold of a new weber and do anything with it.

Anyhow, Rich is hoping to finish the car by next weekend which hopefully means I can pick it up when I go down to Bath for my brothers wedding on Saturday. Fingers crossed.

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » Fri May 15, 2015 8:41 pm

Wow, and ready on time to enjoy summer to the max, sounds good!!!!

uwbuurman · Post by **uwbuurman** » Fri May 15, 2015 9:09 pm

Nice development! Always good to get a good engine, it'll put a smile on your face when driving it!

325ixbaur · Post by **325ixbaur** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 3:04 pm

Hi Alan,

Just found out the Baur-number of your car: A70954-11. And it was indeed converted. Because it was sold in Germany, by BMW-dealer Fledderlung in Flensburg. That´s just underneath Denmark

Gr Jeroen

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:58 am

Ah thanks for that. I did try to track down the original owner, I've got all the original paperwork, and his address etc. but a lot can happen in 38 years... I'd love to see some pictures of it as it was.

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Tue Jun 24, 2025 10:24 pm

So it's been 8 years, doesn't time fly when 'life' happens.

We enjoyed driving the Baur over the summer in 2017. The car was much more fun with the 2.0 and extra power. But then I started to get an intermittent clutch problem. Eventually the master cylinder failed and we had an 'eventful' drive home.
As I've said before I'm no longer capable of doing a lot of the work myself, so had to rely on a mechanic friend.
He came, diagnosed the problem and said to replace the master and slave cylinders. So I ordered new from W&N.
Unfortunately my friend is an excellent mechanic who finds it hard to say no when people ask for him to help, so he seemed to be constantly busy with work, and helping people so it was hard to pin him down.
It ended up being the following summer before he came back and by then there were more issues, the brake distribution block was leaking along with a few other things.
Then it was one thing after another. He took in a terminal family member, Covid, I took up Wheelchair rugby and was away most weekends, then I broke 4 ribs playing rugby and was out of action for ages, then broke my hand when I started playing again... you couldn't make it up...

So last summer we finally had time to get it done.
Replaced the master, slave, brake distribution, radiator, along with a whole load of other bits.
The car was on the road again for most of summer.
However, it still needed work. The gearbox was making a horrible grinding noise until the clutch was pressed. It was still on its original suspension which wallowed terribly, the brakes still felt spongy despite being off a 323, and it was still a bit of a pain to start.
My wife was also pretty much unable to drive it - she has MS and found the clutch too stiff for her to operate.
So I had a word with my friends son who works in a garage that specialises in classic cars and racing.
They took it in in late summer with a view to
- fitting new BC Coilovers
- complete classic polybush kit
- overhaul the brakes
- sort the starting issues and try to make it accessible for my wife to drive
- fit a 5 speed box

The work is about done now, it's been held up by the 5 speed gearbox as they just can't find service parts for it.
They've done a lot of work to a very high standard and the underside is now cleaner than the bodywork!
We've decided that they'll pop the 4 speed back in for summer and then take the car back when the weather turns, as they're hoping the 5 speed will be done by then.
If anyone is able to offer any help with the 5 speed I'd be very grateful.

Not sure how to add pictures on here anymore. Ive got a fair few if anyone is interested.

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 8:03 am

Speaking of eventful!

never a dull moment there I reckon

So yes, back to the 4 speed for now, and enjoy the Baur again all summer long! We got a good Getrag gearbox specialist here in the Netherlands but there must be options closer to home I guess, fingers crossed.

For pictures (many pictures please haha) see https://www.bmwe21.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15956

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 8:44 pm

So back to 2016. The car was now a 2.0. We enjoyed it for the summer, and I was proud that my son asked me to take him to his prom in it.

Screenshot_20200420-131649_Photos by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20220831_221513 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20160707_185832 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20160707_185928 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20160707_185937 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

The car still needed a lot of work. Lots of electrical gremlins and I really wanted to add things that were optional extras - Driving Lamps, Fog lamps, Bonnet and Boot courtesy lights etc.
I had some assistance...

20150909_123206 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20160331_115120 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20160403_113707 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

I also fitted a Retrosound Radio - which doesn't look too modern but will play via USB and Bluetooth

Screenshot_20200420-205214_Photos by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

I managed to source a really good dashboard that was crack free. At least until the delivery drive made a mess of it and just dumped it on the drive and cleared off. Bit of damage to the corners, but fixable.

20161007_230028 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20161007_230054 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

2 fog lamps because I always hated the asymmetry of one...

20160606_225359 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » Mon Jun 30, 2025 10:38 pm

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:01 am

Not sure if these pics are of interest.
Although I don't think it was present on the early cars, I really like the Baur badge on the B-Pillar.
I managed to get hold of a couple from ebay, but didn't want to drill holes in my trim to fit them.

20201216_155612 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20201216_155551 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

I had a go at sand-casting some but wasn't really happy with how they came out.

20201228_002308 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20201228_002239 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

So then I thought I'd have a go with my Shaper Origin. It's a handheld CNC machine. I used the 2 pictures from the start of this thread and drew up an image in Adobe Illustrator. Then Cut out the base in 3mm Aluminium, and the individual letters in 1mm.

20220320_151814 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20220315_225547 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20220315_225609 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20220321_230543 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

When the new dashboard came it was missing the centre piece of trim above the glove box. So I 3d printed a panel to fit. IT was clear it wasn't the original one, so I used the Shaper to make a (temporary) plaque to cover it.

20220728_225528 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

Bigmeat · Post by **Bigmeat** » Tue Jul 01, 2025 2:11 am

As I've said earlier, the car was off the road for a long time - close to 8 years following the initial restoration and engine swap.
I still kept busy faffing with it, doing the things that I could still physically manage.

One of those was to remove the bumpers and get them re-chromed.

20200717_172933 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20200717_172943 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

We went into lockdown just after I dropped them off to be sorted out, so I had a decent wait to collect them.

20200916_153222 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20200916_153147 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20200916_153204 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20201021_224905 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20201015_151732 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

In 2020 it finally qualified for HIstoric status in the UK. Something I'd been really looking forward to as I could finally (legally) fit black and silver number plates.

Screenshot_20200819-013705_Gallery by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20230731_174430 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20201025_220945 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20201026_230714 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20230731_174339 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20230731_174419 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr

20230731_174520 by Alan Sheriff, on Flickr