BMW E30 cars are not exactly rare, and I’m no fan of M3-inspired bodykits, but this car made me look twice. Something about it was… different. It was a convertible, but were those doorframes I saw? Yes, and this is no ordinary BMW. It’s a Baur Topcabriolet, the coachbuilt convertible that preceded BMW’s own droptop. Never sold in North America, this car warranted a closer look in a way that few other E30s would.
To understand how this curious convertible fit into BMW’s evolution, let’s take a quick trip back to the mid 1970s. When BMW replaced its legendary 2002 for 1975 (1977 in North America), the company attempted one of the toughest tasks in the automotive world – following up on a legend. Yet BMW largely succeeded with its E21 (commonly known as the 3-series), rightfully claiming that they raised the bar for sports sedans, even though purists bemoaned the loss of its lightweight, tossable predecessor. While the E21 hasn’t become a cult classic quite like the 2002, it further cemented BMW’s reputation as the purveyor of high-quality driver’s cars.
Throughout its lifespan, the E21 was offered only as a coupe, with no convertible version. Not directly, anyway… and that’s where the Baur Topcabriolet fits in. Starting in 1978, European customers could walk into a BMW dealership and order a convertible. Only it wasn’t made by BMW itself; instead, the company contracted with the well-known Stuttgart firm of Karosserie Baur.
Baur had a long and impressive history as a coachbuilder. Founded in 1910 by Karl Baur, the company customized cars of numerous German manufacturers (such as DKW above), and eventually became closely associated with BMW, and more specifically, BMW convertible conversions.
Before the E21 debuted, Baur had designed and produced cabriolet versions of BMW’s 700, 1600 and 2002 models. The 2002 above shows a theme that would continue through the next two decades of Baur cabriolets – instead of a completely open car, these Baurs featured full B- and C-pillars, as well as roof rails.
The resulting convertible (called the Topcabriolet, or TC for short) kept the coupe’s general silhouette, and even featured the characteristic rear quarter-window Hofmeister kink. Despite its thick C-pillar, and chunky, black B-pillar, the Cabriolet’s top-up appearance was pleasing, and the large (plastic) rear window helped maintain an airy look. With the top down and the targa roof panel removed, though, this didn’t look or feel like a typical convertible. While not quite a trend-setting concept, these quasi-convertibles did hold some benefits… namely structural integrity.
Most convertibles have heavy under-skin reinforcements to keep the cars from bending and twisting due to the loss of body stiffness that the roof provided. But in these Baurs, the reinforcements are visible – sort of like scaffolding.
Such cars were not unheard-of in the 1970s and ’80s… Lancia’s Zagato and Jaguar’s XJ-SC featured similar set-ups, however given that none of these models sold in large numbers indicates that customers worldwide tended to shrug these cars off with disinterest.
Regardless, the Baur found somewhat of a niche for itself. Between 1978 and 1981, about 4,500 E21 Baurs were produced, and the concept had enough merit to warrant an updated model for the next 3-series BMW.
The E21 was superseded by the E30 in 1983 – similar styling and market placement ensured this was a smooth transition. Excellent handling and build quality remained hallmarks of the BMW brand; during the E30’s tenure BMW raked in heaps of new customers.
In the early 1980s when the E30 debuted, convertibles were re-emerging in many manufacturers’ visions, but BMW took a characteristically cautious route. Given the previous Topcabriolet’s modest success, BMW elected to keep its relationship with Baur going, even as the Bavarian automaker began development of a fully in-house convertible. Our featured car represents the first year of the E30 Baur’s production. Known as the Baur TC2, this updated model retained its predecessor’s most distinctive characteristic — its convertible top arrangement.
BMW’s own stylistic changes between the E21 and E30 are readily apparent, in the form of a less angular, and somewhat more generic design. However, the Baur-modified portions of the car remained rather consistent – the most visible improvements being a slimmer B-pillar and larger rear quarter windows.
Customers could order a Baur convertible in any 3-series trim level, from the frugal 316 to the speedy 323i. Our featured car was built as the latter, making this a double-surprise in North America, since neither the Baur nor the 323i were sold on this side of the Atlantic. Introduced to Europeans in 1977, the 323i was somewhat of a hot-rod for its day, and was a mighty frustration for North American BMW enthusiasts, who were offered only four-cylinder 3-series cars until 1985. Featuring a 2.3-liter six-cylinder, 148-hp fuel injected engine, this car combined sport and comfort in a way that other 3-series owners could only dream of. It was eventually replaced in BMW’s lineup by the 325i.
Our featured car’s interior is quintessential 1980s BMW… a serious and businesslike driving environment, with the center console controls angled toward the driver. Nothing says “no-nonsense” like a black BMW interior, and if there’s anything frivolous here, I haven’t spotted it yet. This particular car is actually somewhat tarted-up, featuring M Sport-style leather seats and steering wheel, though those may not have been factory issued.
One of the Baur’s strongest attributes was that it was sold through BMW dealers, and importantly carried a full factory warranty. Baur convertibles were occasionally featured in BMW factory literature, as shown by the above excerpt from a Dutch E30 brochure. It’s no joke that Baurs were officially sanctioned BMWs.
Well, sometimes it was a joke. BMW UK’s unique tradition (that continues to this day) of running annual April Fools’ Day ads featured a Baur in 1981. This well-executed ruse – which didn’t, incidentally, mention Baur by name – claimed that BMW engineers fit the cabriolet with air ducts at the top of the windshield that would shoot out jets of air… thus keeping out rain. No, Baurs did not come equipped with air jets, though in a testament to the quality of this ad, it’s not unusual to find internet commenters who believe this to be true.
Back in the real world, ordering a Baur was easy. A customer could simply walk into a BMW dealership and specify Option Code #829A (Preparation for Convertible Conversion). A car would then be plucked from BMW’s assembly line and sent off to Stuttgart without the side and rear glass, headliner, and other things it would not need in its next life. In this way, the Topcabriolet was not unlike many American cars of the era, whose bodies were shipped off to companies such as ASC or Cars & Concepts for similarly “approved” convertible conversions.
Once at the coachworks, Baur removed the coupe’s roof and welded its galvanized cabriolet exoskeleton in its place. Baur’s facility carried a reputation for exacting craftsmanship… and exclusivity. These were not the only cars of the 1970s and 1980s built there; some of the most memorable German low-production cars, such as BMW’s M1, Z1 and Audi’s Sport Quattro were also assembled by Baur at Stuttgart.
Baur advertised its product as being four cars in one – which was true, though few drivers likely used the targa or landaulet arrangements. Used as a coupe, the Baurs were very pleasant, since the combination of structural rigidity, the hard targa panel, and the fully-pillared doors made them feel like regular coupes when driving with the top raised. Plus, the targa panel could be tilted up like a sunroof.
To achieve the full open-air feeling, a Baur’s driver needs to perform a two-step routine. The canvas-covered fiberglass one-piece targa is fairly lightweight, and can be removed by one person and stored in the trunk (Baurs are equipped with rails in the trunk that hold the targa panel just below the trunklid, so it interferes minimally with luggage capacity). The softtop portion of the car’s roof folds (manually) behind the rear seat, coming to rest above the trunkline.
As one would expect, the convertible conversion wasn’t cheap – the option added about 30-40% to the price of a standard 3-series. Though the price fluctuated over the decade, this was somewhere in the range of DM7,500 or £2,500. A handful of Baurs were imported privately to the United States and Canada when new, but BMW had no part in these grey market imports. Most of the Baurs in the US now are more recent imports, as this car most likely was as well.
In total, about 14,000 Baur TC2 convertibles were produced between 1982 and 1991 – just short of 11,000 in Stuttgart and then an additional 3,000 in South Africa.
The Baur convertible’s status as the only way to get a BMW droptop ended in 1986 when BMW began building full convertible E30s. This did not, however, spell the end for Baur production, as customers were still able to special-order Baurs either through BMW or privately. Though Baurs cost considerably more than the readily-available BMW cabrios, those who liked the roof frame and/or the exclusivity that Baurs provided continued to order them. Several hundred Baurs were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s until the E30 coupe’s eventual departure in 1991.
Being able to examine one of these cars up close gave me an appreciation for a rare car that I’d never encountered before. Unlike many convertible conversions that looked awkward or of questionable quality, this custom-built cabrio looked great, and well-built, when sitting top-up in a parking lot. And although I have usually been somewhat ambivalent about convertibles that retained basket-handles or roof frames, this car has really grown on me. For some reason, I keep picturing myself owning one and driving it around as a landaulet…
Photographed in Fairfax, Virginia in March 2019.
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For lots more pictures of BMW Baur models, visit the Baurspotting blog.
For some reason Melbourne has quite a few of these, and I find myself a bit of a fan. The E30 is of course a very handsome shape, and the side window profile of the Baur is a nicely balanced application. Comparing it with the clunkier E21 version really shows just how nicely balanced it is. I could do without the flared fenders though.
Love the April Fools ad. Great piece Eric.
I dare say that I like the looks of this example without the ground effects, spoilers and M-treatment better than the later factory cabriolet. Something about the chrome door frames brings the whole look together. It just reeks of quality and solidity.
I love the shift boot in the interior shot of the featured car though. Very chic.
When I was researching this article, I noticed there seemed to be a lot of them in Australia, and a few of the South African-built cabrios as well, though I’m not sure they were sold in Australia when new. I’m not sure just where the South African cars were sold when new, though… that’s one bit of information that eluded me.
And as far as I could figure out, there were a few visual differences between the South African and German-built Baurs, one of the most noticeable is that the SA cars did not have the “Baur TC” badges at the base of the B-pillar, so in all likelihood the one in your photo is a German model, since it has those badges.
Thanks for sharing this picture!
Thanks in return for filling in the gaps Eric. I’ve caught a genuine South African E23 M7 on camera if you wanted to give it some of your research and writing excellence.
Wow, I’d love to see a picture of the E23 M7. The history of BMW’s Rosslyn, South Africa plant seems very interesting, and I’d love to dig deeper into it, and of course what cars were produced there.
In writing this piece, I had a good time browsing the older cars listed on gumtree.co.za (I found two Baurs plus lots of other interesting listings)… I recommend it for folks looking to lose themselves in car ads for a while.
That M3 bodykit looks like real M3 pieces to me and if not is one of the better conversions. I could be mistaken but it actually looks more like it is a Baur’d M3 than a 3-series with M3 bits on it. The only thing that gives me pause is the chrome window surrounds and the paint overspray on those in your close up of the Baur badge. But I’m not an expert so…
One minor nit – the Audi Sport Quattro wasn’t assembled at Baur. Baur did modify the bare bodyshells (from regular LWB chassis) but then final assembly was carried out at Ingolstadt. The regular Quattro was always pretty much handbuilt already and the Sports were mingled into the regular production process over several years.
Based on the VIN for this car, it was in fact built as a 323i, though it’s mighty hard to tell. It undoubtedly has gone through some major modifications over the years – I’m curious whether the M3 panels were added in Europe or in the US? Evidently there were a handful of actual M3 Baurs, but the were all privately commissioned by M3 owners (i.e., not actually officially sanctioned by BMW).
Thanks for the clarification regarding the Sport Quattro; I’ll update the text when I get a chance. I came across mixed information on this… for example, a Car & Driver article from 2011 says “224 Sport Quattros were produced, with most of the assembly work taking place at Baur.” But it seemed like a complicated arrangement, so I’ll change the text to avoid any confusion.
It was a very convoluted affair as such small homologation runs often are. As an example one of the little grilles in the bumper was laid up by hand and baked in a very small oven at Ingolstadt. It had to bake for something like eight hours so they would form one and then stick it in the oven overnight. One per day…just amazing.
There were also regular M3 convertibles of this generation but mostly Evolution spec from late in the run. Even the color on this one (kind of an orangey red, right? Similar to 1985 GTI and early 1980’s Audi Quattro Mars Red) was an early M3 color. No idea on the panels but they look good from here…Someone has spent a lot of money on a 323i, which in this generation was not ever sold in the US.
E30 convertibles vs the hardtop are usually worth less… as the sporting and handling aficionados who collect these want the precise handling. but the bauer ones are unique and more rare. so perhaps those might be worth more. i also like the exoskeleton… has a bit of safety to it.
Wow, excellent find! And kudos for doing the homework so that you could tell us all *what* you found.
The M3 body kit actually works on this car – but I always liked the E30 M3 more than those which came after. Several aftermarket companies offered body kits to transform your regular 3-series into an M3 lookalike (one even offered a kit to make a Porsche 911 look like a 959!) in the ’80s. This one is tastefully done; not sure if BMW offered the M-sport option on its cars in those days but if they did it might have come out looking like this. We had two examples of the Baur cabrios in Barbados, a 2002 and an E21, but they disappeared years ago; the 2002 was an early one with the round taillights, making that a really rare bird.
Grey import Baur cabriolets were semi common in the 80s until the factory E30 convertible came out. As an aside the first Baur conversions on the 1600 were full convertibles with no B pillar structure, unlike the later 2002. I think some motivation for this was rollover standards since VW/Karmann did the same thing with the rollbar/b pillar on the Rabbit/Golf Cabriolet. VW also used the knee bar structure from their automatic seat belt system in the Cabriolet to stiffen the cowl
Here’s a Baur in Glasgow in 1984. The car is in a starring role of a comedy film, of which this is a screen shot. Bonus points if you can name that movie.
Comfort and Joy. Great film from a great filmmaker.
Such cars were not unheard-of in the 1970s and ’80s… Lancia’s Zagato and Jaguar’s XJ-SC featured similar set-ups, however given that none of these models sold in large numbers indicates that customers worldwide tended to shrug these cars off with disinterest.
No credit given to the Porsche 911 Targa, which was quite popular and undoubtedly helped stimulate interest in this Bauer top as well as the ones you mentioned above?
My husband has the Baur but a 318is which are rare there isn’t many 318is Baurs left and now it’s up for sale !
How much ?
This particular example is my car. I was able to trace the original owner in California, an Bmw shop owner.
Great to hear from the car’s owner — hope you continue enjoying your Baur!
We have one of this Baur E21 at the shop looking for someone interested in restauration.
if someone is interested let me know.