Forgotten Classic: BMW CS----Rise and Fall of an Accidental Star

Things were looking up for BMW by the summer of 1965.  The Neue Klasse of sedans introduced with overhead cam inline fours and body designs by Wilhelm Hofmeister were selling well.  But some, including US distributor Max Hoffman, had already predicted the need for a new model to replace the expensive, V8-powered, Bertone-bodied 3200 CS coupe that would end production in September of that year.  Before that happened, BMW introduced this 2000 CS  coupe...

Comparing the Neue Klasse CS above with Giugiaro's design for the Bertone-bodied 3200CS below, you can see the same kink behind the rear side windows that was credited to Hofmeister. As both the Neue Klasse 1500 sedan and the rebodied "old class" V8 chassis 3200CS appeared at the Frankfurt Show in 1961, it's hard to say whether Giugiaro or Hofmeister invented this window kink.  No matter, the new four cylinder cars were the shape of BMW's future, while the 3200CS was the last of the hand-built V8 cars... 

Giugiaro's 3200 CS, above, previews his work on the Alfa Romeo GTV, while Hofmeister's work on the 2000 CS below shows plenty of Chevy Corvair* influence, including the more prominent horizontal crease, outlined in chrome, which unlike the subtle crease on the 3200CS, encircles the whole car...

This American market version of the 2000CS substitutes US-legal quad round headlights for the body-contoured units on the original, which are shown in the Hofmann ad in the top photo. The frontal design was a bit fussy, with the big twin-kidney grille fighting it out with the multiple vertical cooling slots above the bumper, as seen in the top 2 photos...

Also, there was a bit too much overhang forward of the front wheels, and the proportions were not quite right. And at around $5,100, which came close to the Stateside price of a Jaguar E-Type, the 2000 CS was not a huge sales success. What it took to resolve the proportions was the new inline 6 BMW introduced in 1968. This went into the new 2500 and 2800 sedans, and eventually the Bavaria sedan.  Along with the new sedans, BMW released a 2800 CS with the E9 body designation that year.  It got the 3 extra inches of wheelbase it needed to fit the new engine, and that fixed the proportions and brought the whole car into focus.  The 2800 CS made do with rear drum brakes, but with the 1971 introduction of the 3.0 CS and fuel injected 3.0 CSi, the car got the rear discs it had always needed.  It was a kind of accidental car, one that occurred at the intersection of BMW's new status as a mass-producer of sedans, and Karmann's traditional hand-built approach to making special touring cars...

But accidental or not, the new details, from the lights and the alloy wheels and the front fender air vents to the new grille, worked together to make a memorable composition that went well beyond its Corvair inspiration and the boxier, less-confident looking Neue Klasse sedans.

The BMW roundel emblems in the C-pillar behind the famous Hofmeister kink were alleged to function as air vents, but it's hard to imagine much air venting here. The rear windows opened anyway, and the door windows overlapped them in a fussy detail that probably leaked more air than these roundels.  At the front, the fuel-air mixture was handled by Weber carbs which replaced the Zenith originals on this example.  Everything under the hood was a tight fit, a sign of how this car was adapted from the earlier 4-cylinder CS...

The interior of Old Blue, the author's 1973 E9, included a wood Nardi steering wheel, wood veneer dash trim, red leather seating that contrasted nicely with the dark blue exterior, and power windows.  Old Blue had a 4-speed manual gearbox.

Somehow, the author had to include a shot of the complete tool kit that was suspended from the deck lid.  He seems to miss the tools almost as much as the car...

In spring of 1972, BMW released a lightweight GT version of the 3.0 CS, called the CSL.  It featured thinner gage steel for the main body panels, as well as aluminum doors, hoods and deck lids, along with reduced sound insulation and plexiglass side windows on most models.  Initially, visual clues were slight, with subtle stripes and bright metal wheel arch extensions...

By the mid-Seventies, things were getting pretty wild at BMW Styling, and the Batmobile CSLs were contending for top honors in the European Touring Car Championship. Crazy paint schemes obscured the clean lines and proportions of the original E9. Our photographer friend Denée provides a pleasant distraction from the cowcatcher front air dam on this car...

BMW Styling returned to subtlety for the road cars when Paul Bracq's design for the E24 replaced the E9 in January 1976. The new CS series began with a 630CS, 3 liter version and concluded in 1989 with the 635CSi.  The glassy roof echoed the original, but featured a B-pillar, and the sheer flanks de-emphasized the horizontal crease of the Hofmeister designs, though that famous window kink was still there...

Recently, BMW has elected to top its internal-combustion lineup with a new CS, which honors the old 3.0CS with another inline six of 3.0 liters.  This time around, though, the engine is a twin-cam, turbocharged 24-valve unit that pumps out 543 hp.  Perhaps taking their inspiration from the CSL Batmobiles, the car's body designers have gone out of their way to make the car look fierce, with a wildly over-scaled, sharp-edged version of the twin-kidney grille flanked by frowning headlights and a bevy of clashing creases, scoops and vents.  By lowering the signature BMW body flank crease to the zone between the wheel wells, they've finally gotten rid of any Corvair influence, but they've also gotten rid of a whole lot of visual continuity and the instantly recognizable identity that once went with BMW.  Drivers of the New CS, though, won't have to look at that messy front end, and they'll probably be distracted by all that power when they get on the loud pedal...

*Footnote:  

The influence of Chevrolet's Corvair on the design of Sixties BMWs and other European cars is reviewed in "Getting Over the Corvair, Part 1", posted March 16, 2016 and in the archives for that year.

Photo Credits:

Top & bottom:  BMW

2nd:  bringatrailer.com

3rd:  BMW, on es.motor1.com

4rd & 5th :  Isaac Stokes

6th thru 15th:  the author

16th:  Wikimedia