Picked up a 77 630csi e24, very early car? has Karmann Tag, need help with VIN

[anovaso]

So I scored a 1977 U.S. First year 630csi a few months back!
Car is rough but all there, 4 speed car. Never wrecked, original everything. Its a beauty in my eyes but a diamond in the rough for sure. Never thought I would find a first year car ever and since I have a last year e24 car, my 89 635csi, I could not pass this car up.
Engine status, not running, previous owner Disassembled /cooling fan, fan clutch etc. and radiator removed. Fuel pump not present in tank so I need to get one, thus I will be going through all the engine/cooling,fuel/ systems soon to try to get it started, running and driving.

But my main question is how do I decipher the vin as it seems to be only 7 numbers on these early cars. None of the online vin decoders will read this vin, well not the ones I have tried at least.

All my internet research says this is a really early U.S. car because it has the Karmann body tag.

Stamped on the body itself under engine bay is 5500189
and the Karmann tag reads Karosserie 5 907 plus paint code KUNSTHARZLACK 0 13. Does that mean they used tough as nails German LACQUER finishes ( LACK)on these early cars?
Pics attached of Karmann Tag.


Mainly trying to find out what the vin can tell me ( what is 550?... Is 0189 the 189th car built? etc... and any other interesting info besides what I find generally online about these early Karmann bodied cars. I'm in love with it all ready and just want to know more about this amazing early e24. How would I find out if possible how this car ended up here in the desert of El Paso Texas.

There is currently a beautiful low mileage and original example available online on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/192764104529
That car shows the typical silver and later black base color Manufactured date and VIN decal with the dot matrix style build month and year of 06/77 and a vin of 5505443. My car only has the Karmann Tag and Stamp in the body, plus the typical Black decals with white text near the shock towers saying it is a U.S. 1977 630csi.
I love the idea that the same place that assembled the bodies of my 1970 Porsche 914 and my 1957 Karmann Ghia Lowlight also put this cars body together!

Any and all information on this gem to be would be most appreciated.
With thanks
Tony in the Desert Southwest
.77_630csi_karmann.jpg77_630csi_body.jpg

[TJC1]

For the early cars contact:
info.grouparchiv@bmwgroup.com with your VIN and politely make your request for information. They will be able to provide you with options, paint code and the original dealer or destination the vehicle was shipped to. At least that was the case a few years ago when I asked about my '80 Euro 635.
You may also check for a build tad behind the rear seats. Mine was on the right side.
And yes, the early cars were built by Karmann and are therefore subject to various hidden rust, hee, hee!

[anovaso]

Tom!
Thanks so much. Exactly what I was looking for. Yes will ask these guys politely. Will check on back of seats. Now when you mean "back" of seats you mean inside the rear seat panel/cover that you can remove to expose inner part of back of seat where the springs and horsehair padding will be visible ect? Correct? Hmm....Hidden rust ha lol I all ready see non hidden rust! Hee hee! Car is actually a little bit rusty on the front fenders, some of the seams, nose area, Etc. Nothing serious, mostly bubbly rust on seams and paint, no major rust holes anywhere on fenders. But once I get the car running and driving which I'm dying too, have never driven a manual trans e24 in my life, then I'll start addressing the rust, maybe I will apply rusts converter now to what is visible and reachable. Once running I will decide if its worth it to do a full resto and take everything off too fix any and all rust. Floors are good, trunk is good, will have to really inspect it through out though. I'm guessing the car may have come into the states East coast and maybe been there a while before it made its way to the desert southwest thus the bit of rust from the salty winter roads? What's cool is that years ago I ran into an e24 at a local junkyard and they would not sell me the whole car. So I took off most of the front end parts, grille, lights, nose and fortunately both front fenders. I think it was an 80 (maybe an 82 I cant remember) as well so hopefully those front fenders will fit this 77 without much fuss.
Thank you once again!
Tony

[TJC1]

When you remove the seats from the car the build tag will be glued to the backside of the seat, not under the upholstery.

[TowJamma]

Not to hijack, but how does one go about deciphering the build tag once we find it? My e23 one is not exactly user friendly.

[TJC1]

Search "Option Codes".

[DesktopDave]

Nice ride! I've never seen a really early car in the flesh. I love the Karmann VIN plate. You will have a very thick coat of lacquer, it's great paint. I can still buff mine out to a shine, decades later. Code 013 is Topaz Brown, a very pretty color IMHO. There a great Russian E24 site with paint chips & interior color charts here. Excellent place to do some research especially on the early cars. Data on them is pretty scarce. You've come to the right place though, lots of great members & resources here.

Rust will be a problem if it's spent any time up north at all. The rust converters aren't a magic solution but can work well on surface rust in combination with rotary wire brushes & flap disks. A favorite of mine is the Permatex phosphic spray. RustBullet and POR15 have formidable reputations as well. POR15 has a huge line-up of products, 'metal prep' is their rust converter. I'm not that fond of their primer, but it is a durable product. This might sound slightly unbelievable to anyone living in dry climes, but it's an recommended annual ritual to get our cars sprayed with various temporary sealants & other products to slow down rusting. Fluid Film is the current favorite, but Waxoyl is an oldie and a goodie.

My '81 had a good bit of trouble in the rear bodywork, just in front of the rear wheel. The rear wheel lips are doubled-up panels that tend to trap water. The rear sunroof drains are problematic. The front 'trumpets' on the inner wings are also troublesome, but I'm not sure the Karrmann models have those.

Not to hijack, but how does one go about deciphering the build tag once we find it? My e23 one is not exactly user friendly.

BMW typically stuffs that tag under the left side of the rear squib or wraps it around the bottom spring support. Sometimes it's even in the front seam! I usually have to google what option the codes correspond to. Keep in mind that BMW does re-use those codes, so sources like E38 & E46 forums will be misleading. Here's a good example of common E23 codes from that '85 735i I parted out:

S209 Differential lock 25%

S290 Low profile tires on forged BMW alloy wheels TRX 220/55 VR 390 with centercap

S458 Electr. front seat adjustment

S551 On-board computer II with remote control

The early cars are not good with info, anything after maybe '83 should be available in the BMW VIN databases. I like this one currently: https://www.mdecoder.com/

[anovaso]

Thanks DESKTOPDAVE! Wow great info as well. Yeah will have to look for that build tag. Good info on the rust details. Yeah I have to go over the car soon. POR15 sounds good too, have always used their combo for re-sealing fuel tanks, always good results. Yeah rear wheel lips have some rust but again, thanks for tip on that doubling up on the steel there... on the surface nothing rotting through.. I know that doesnt mean that their aren't some surprises underneath for sure! Yeah once I get into into my shop I am going to start with the engine, now all this info and support from all of you really makes me want to just start taking it all apart and just start restoring it now but man do I want to drive it first! I've never driven a manual trans e24 so I just really want to do that first. Yeah I hear you on codes on these early cars will try that link though. Will get pics of the whole car once I get it in my shop soon..

Thank you all!

[anovaso]

DESKTOP DAN...Forgot to respond to your comment about never having seen an early car in person before, yeah me either.... you should have seen how fast I called when the craigslist ad came up! I could not believe my eyes and it said ...project not running, standar trans.. good engine... here in El Paso Texas!!!??? How did that car even get here I asked myself?.... ugh... I literally stopped everything I was doing! They were asking $600 but when I saw and realized they just wanted it gone I pointed out everything wrong with it.. including 3 flat tires that I knew were not gonna hold air ever. Ended up at $500.00!!Came back next day with my trailer and ready for the battle of removing all but one of the vintage and period correct gold Enkei mesh wheels that i realized right away were seized on the hub! Took me close to 2 hours to remove 3 wheels carefully! Used up 3 cans wd-40 and a rubber mallet I had to go buy at a close by Auto Zone once I realized wheels were seized on there! They should have knocked off another $100 bucks for all the sweat and soreness my arms would feel a few days later. But in the end I got it!

[Nullified]

Next time inflate the tyres, and just unbolt the wheels whilst keeping the lugs in, roll the car and brake hard. That should work to separate the wheel and contact area of the disc brake

[anovaso]

as i mentioned 3 of tires TYRES were ripped up and would not hold air.

[Nullified]

O, ripped... that doesn't help getting the car to a rolling condition. I thought they were just deflated.

[anovaso]

Yes, no problem Nullified , yes I only wrote tires would not hold air... my bad for not saying they were shredded/ripped. Wow you have a 82 628csi.. read some of you post, total resto plus newer mechanicals/ engine update... awesome.!!.. I tried to find some pictures you may have posted and I clicked on a link in one of your post but couldnt get it to load, maybe because im at work currently and maybe its the firewall that doesnt let me see them. Especially interested in rust repair and i have not done much myself but am going to learn on my car. Have been following this "Bloke" George on SOUP CLASSIC MOTORING on youtube,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFoAETEb0QI
this guy along with everyone on this forum is really inspiring me to do my best on this e24. Thank you all!

[Nullified]

I post a lot of pictures and not so much text so maybe the firewall is blocking the pics- which are hosted on Photobucket. I have a paid account there so they should show just fine.

You have an interesting collection of cars I must say, do you have space at home to store these or do you have them in a garage elsewhere? I'd love to have several cars but I lack the space; I have a garage for one car and I can fit one on the driveway, thats it.

[anovaso]

Sorry for it being a few months late in repsonse Nullified.
Yes well here in the desert southwest we have lots of space! ha lol! I do have fenced in lot out on the far east side of out town here. I share it with a buddy who has cars too. I do have 3 properties where i have cars as well. Thanks to my later father we had car "stash" houses set up back in the day. So now I have rental property with a good size lot and enclosed
garage and then have my dads old shop which is one of those 21ft x something metal buildings in my moms backyard and then my own backyard and street parking next to my house.
Yes I have a very patient & understanding wife. She likes cars, she's just always asking me why I have to have so many! Ha lol! Cool thing about the southwest is that as long as a car sits with the windows rolled up they will survive many years. Yes the summers are brutal to interiors but there is never any rust issues with cars from here since they rarely used road salts for winter ( if you can call it that).Rainfall is very low as well. I also have to admit my 64 buick riviera, which resides at my in laws house has taken amlost permanent residence there. I feel bad and need to get it
out of there soon, eventhough my father in law secretly wants it to stay because it blocks his not so friendly sister in laws( who is mooching in his late mother in laws quaters) parking spot! I also cover most of the project cars with poor paint with recycled billboard heavy vinyl. It last way longer than traditional car covers.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, forgot to say I was finally able to see your 628 pics. Wow a beauty for sure but my hats off to you for taking on such a thorough restoration.
How is is coming along there days? When I get to mine like I said I just want to see if I can get if running first, . I really want to drive a standard e24, never have.
Then I will decide what do do from there.

[Bert Poliakoff]

Just looking at your original post. I have an '81 that was very original when I started restoration of it. No need to worry about an in tank pump as the early cars didn't have them. Just the one under the car. So cross that off your list.