When two silver BMW coupes—one a 2000 CS and the other a 3.0 CS—show up on almost the same day at the Cohort, it’s another variation of the CC Effect® that must be heeded. So here they are, the 2000 CS—shot by Benóit—at the top, and the 3.0 CS (E9)—shot by JC—below.
Their bodies from the cowl back are essentially the same, but the three inch longer wheelbase in the front end and the new front end styling, along with a few other details make them pretty easy to tell apart, especially when looking at them from the front.
Let’s start with the original, whose front end styling is controversial. It was the work of BMW in-house design chief Wilhelm Hofmeister, but not one of his finer creations. It has a major overbite, and the Corvair’s influence on all of the “New Class” cars most obvious in this front end, especially since it had only the kidneys for its grille, unlike the sedans.
It suggested a rear engine car as a result, and made the coupe feel overly delicate, feminine and a bit light weight.
The 2000 C/CS arrived in the summer of 1965 with the latest 2.0 L version of the BMW four; the C had 100 hp, and the CS had 120 hp. Given their high price tags, that made their performance rather modest in relative and absolute terms, as the Karmann-built coupe weighed more than the sedans.
The US version, with its mandatory sealed beam headlights, looked even more Corvair-like in the front. A total of 13,691 C/CS coupes were sold.
In 1969 the 2800 CS arrived, with its longer front end that reflected the front end styling of the new six-cylinder E3 sedans (2500/2800/ 3.0, Bavaria, etc.). And of course that longer front end was necessary to fit the superb new six cylinder engines. The 2800 CS already had 168 hp, and that was just the starting point.
The 3.0 CS/CSi upped that, to 180 and 200 hp respectively. The 3.0 Coupe became an instant classic, and over 30, 000 were sold during its reign at the top of the BMW pecking order.
We have two full CCs on the E9 coupes, by Eric703 and T87, so I won’t go into greater detail here:
Curbside Classic: 1974 BMW 3.0 CS – The Ultimate Driving Legacy
Curbside Classic: 1974 BMW 3.0 CSi Automatic – Sixties Beauty Turns Into Seventies Beast
Anyone recall the 3.0CS featured in the tv show “Moonlighting”?
Several times there was close up scenes of the car flying over deserted highways. The audio of the lovely BMW six cylinder engine taching up as the car whoooooshed past the camera was music to my ears.
I remember the BMW 635CSi that was the one car Maddie retained from her collection when her financial situation changed, but I don’t recall a 3.0CS.
You may be correct. Same basic body, engine, suspension and transmission on both cars, #IIRC?
No – similar visually but an all new platform
Ohhhhh….OK. My mistake.
I shudda done some internet research first.
I bow to your superior BMW knowledge.
Nope, I was never a fan of Moonlighting.
But I do remember the one that Susan Dey drove as Grace Van Owen on L.A. Law!
IIRC, it was painted Topaz Brown, a color that BMW’s didn’t come in until later in the 70’s.
I never was a fan of the tacked-on-kidney era of BMW grilles. As long as they weren’t averse to looking at GM designs, the Neue Klasse should’ve had a Pontiac-style grille set with each half forming a horizontal “kidney” incorporating the headlights.
One advantage of the annual-model-change regime is that it imposed a certain discipline on design and marketing so that no styling cue could become too precious a part of “brand identity”. Everything, easy and cheap to change grille elements especially, was subject to being swept away for newness’ sake.
I can’t recall having seen the front of the original 2000CS. The 3.0 CS looks immeasurably better. I’ve previously stated my opinions about cosmetic surgery in an essay from almost exactly a year ago, but in this case, I’ve got nothing bad to say about the result.
My Dad’s foreign car mechanic purchased a wrecked 2000CS that his wife fell in love with. He repaired it and repainted it a Ford creamy, pastel off-white color called “Wimbledon White”. It looked awesome with the coupe’s blue leather interior.
Odd automatic transmission shifter, had the park position all the way at the bottom.
#IMO the front grille/headlight area was not a thing of extreme beauty; but the rest of the car was gorgeous (for that time period).
I remember “Wimbeldon White” as being one of the available colors for the first Ford Mustangs. It had just enough vanilla-like warmth to it to keep it from looking too appliance-like.
Coincidentally, I just remembered my first 3.0 CS reference – a TV movie reshaping of “The Promise” film from 1979, where the car gets thrashed within the first segment of the movie. I had tried to dmfind out what that car was for a few years before an automotive encyclopedia gave me the answer.
Yes! Wimbledon White was more pleasing-to-the-eyes than the stove/refrigerator “Kevelnater White” GM and Mopar used.
The facelifted cars look glorious! What a difference from the earlier 2000 CS!
One of the best facelifts ever….
A rare example of a mid cycle face lift that is significantly better looking than the original design. Most others seem to be change for changes sake.
We have a 2000CS parked curbside in our neighborhood, which moves around a bit, though I’ve never seen it in motion. It’s quite modest and covers up its comely C pillar as well as its less comely kidneys. Photo taken this Spring; I was thinking of using it for a CC Clue but I’ll just post it today for a CS triple-play.
In the late 70s a friend’s mother-in-law drove one of these. He occasionally used it so I got to see it but never had a ride. What struck me as odd from the first time I saw it was that the chrome trim following the belt line around the hood and down the sides did not continue across the trunk. It looked as if the trim piece was missing. On my 2002 it did completely circle the car. You will have to check one of the linked articles to see a rear view with the “missing” trim on the trunk.
Perfectly ugly cars it took a little longer for BMW to produce something that looked good.
I can never get over the awful way that the pillarless design relies on the door glass overlapping the side rear glass. Not nearly as neat as seemingly everyone else making their pillarless design join a flush one with the two pieces of glass in the same plane with a butt join.
E9 non flush overlap
The full width grille on the later E9 may be more conventional that th eoriginal “just the kidney’s” 2000CS but it’s also more attractive and balanced. Lots of painted metal at the front looks odd to me like a Tesla Model 3 with no grille at all or just the 2017 Mazda CX-5 versus the 2016 where the painted metal below the headlights makes the 2017 look blank faced.
In a sort of CC effect I saw a 1/43 diecast 3.0CSL in an antique store yesterday. I never knew anyone had made that model.