1977 BMW 320i - The Rising Phoenix

A short picture story about a unique little Phoenix Orange BMW 320i, and it's journey back to the road.

As we found it, the 1977 Phoenix 320i. After a causal search for something interesting in the Denver classifieds, we came across this little E21. Stated to be a low mileage example in a unique color. At first glance it just looked like any other old BMW 3 series, but after short walk around visual inspection we started falling for this unique little car. The seller was firm on the price, but the car was so interesting and in surprising great condition. So after spent some more time checking it out even more, we started really liking the car, and once we took a look inside the trunk the decision was made. Buy it, this could be fun to clean up and get back on the road.

Originally we assumed the car was BMW's Inka Orange, but it was a little different. It was a unique and not common Phoenix Orange. This was basically the first year for the 3-series in the US market, so we thought Phoenix Orange could be one of the oddball intro promotional colors. This was also the time when BMW Racing was sponsored by Jägermeister, and they were painted in a similar orange color. Anyway, the car was too cool to drive away.

After purchasing the car, it took a few weeks to receive it, but we were still very happy and ready to have some fun with the Phoenix. Below are some random photos showing the car throughout the process of bringing it back to the road and some much needed care. A lot of love and attention has gone into this fun little car.

Before we started the cleaning process. Still showing Colorado dirt.

Dry but a little dirty.

Rear wheel well. Dirty and not too impressive.

Rear wheel well. WOW! A simple wash and the it looked new. Very well preserved.

Pulled the seat to do some cleaning. BMW like of the German automakers, used a seat padding that what made from horse hair, coconut hair, glue and who know what else. Over time the padding breaks down and starts to crumble. The seat in this car looked great with no real wear, but the padding was starting to fall apart. We replaced all of the seat padding.

Carpet was a little dusty, but was in very good condition.

From this photo one can see the effects of the seat padding breaking down.

The original seat manufacturer label.

Installed new seat pads.

The new BMW seat pad

After first wash.

after first wash

During first wash

Messy job cleaning parts by hand.

After cleaning.

After cleaning. Used an all purpose degreaser/soap, a small hand brush (paint brush) and some water to rinse.

While cleaning we uncovered several places where the factory marked checked items.

Restoring the paint. The original paint was in good condition, but was is in need of a polish. One can see the left side is the paint before polishing and the right was after it's first polish.

Paint after overall paint polish. The paper post tabs are areas that needed more attention.

After final paint detailing. The original paint looks very good, but under close inspections one will find some light scratches and paint nicks/scratches. For it's age, the paint on this 320i is excellent (plus).

One of the fun things about this car was washing it. It was so preserved under the dust and road grime. The car has some light character scratches and marks, but that just makes it authentic.

Diving into a emission problem. Do to the fact the car sat for many years, the fuel system needed to be gone through and the emission system needed to be checked out.

Instead of going through the fuel distributor we purchase a Bosch replacement unit.

This emission filter had a leak at the exhaust connection. We took it off, because we wanted to clean everything and replace intake gasket, clean/text fuel injectors and inspect everything.

Replaced all coolant hoses and had radiator cleaned and tested.

SortMike ButlerAugust 13, 2015ZedComment