In this episode of Spanners, we meet Dan Cole and his rebuilt 1973 BMW Bavaria, a car born from the wreckage of his first Bavaria after a devastating crash.
Dan tells the story of loss, resilience, and passion that drove him to salvage and rebuild, using parts from the original car to craft a new masterpiece. The practice of “Wabi-Sabi”
We also dive into the current specs of this classic BMW, including his plans for an M30B35 engine swap, and get an inside look at Dan’s garage and his love for driving this iconic sedan. Along the way, Dan shares his thoughts on the car community—the good, the bad, and how groups like MARS help bring enthusiasts together.
Finally, we explore Dan’s experience with Midwest rallies and the motivation behind starting his own event, the Round Headlamp Rally 1000, creating a space for classic car enthusiasts to connect and drive.
With stunning shots of the Bavaria and its journey through the Midwest roads, this episode captures the spirit of rebuilding not just a car, but a connection to the community.
The TTAC Creators Series tells stories and amplifies creators from all corners of the car world, including culture, dealerships, collections, modified builds and more.
A transcript, summarized by AI and edited by a human staffer, is below.
[Image: YouTube/Michigan Automotive Relic Society]
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Transcript:
0:05
[Music]
0:18
This community has some of the dearest people I’ve ever met. People I’ve met because of cars like this. Cars are really just a portal for experiences.
0:30
[Music]
[Applause]
The Crash
0:45
It was heartbreaking, because I spent four years getting my first Bavaria. I was on my way back from work one day. I’d had an especially bad day, and I decided to take the back roads to clear my head before getting home.
Then a girl turned in front of me—she was only 16—and hit me head-on.
1:00
That’s when I learned these cars have crumple zones, which was nice, because I don’t think I would have come out very well otherwise. I just had a cracked rib, some cuts and bruises, and I was fine.
But it was heartbreaking. The car was totaled. It knocked me out. I remember waking up and not knowing where I was. I remember hurting—being in a lot of pain.
And my first thought, which is horrible, was: Is the car going to be okay?
1:25
I actually started tearing up because I knew it was done. The transmission was touching the ground. It was four years of work.
I learned a lot from that car. Instead of taking four years this time, I was able to get this one up and running in eight months. I bought the wreck back from the insurance company and took all the new parts I had put on it.
So this car is probably about 40 percent my other one.
Rebuilding
1:55
I was kind of mad, because before I got into my accident, my friend Brian sent me a photo of this car on Facebook Marketplace. I remember thinking, I already have a Bavaria, I don’t really care.
A couple days later, I got in the accident.
2:07
The car was horrible when I got it. It was covered in black mold. A mouse had made a nest in everything in the front. That was the first time I ever dry-heaved working on a car.
2:18
I know this car completely. I’ve literally had my hands on everything—except the engine internals. I pulled the subframe, rebuilt the CV axles, repainted the subframe, put in all new bushings.
All the suspension is Bilstein Sport. Later I added a 28 mm sway bar up front and a 19 mm in the back.
2:37
It has brakes from a BMW E9, because I kept having instances where I’d lose the brakes. I was on a rally once and got grouped in with a bunch of 911s. I was keeping up okay, but the brakes were getting rough.
Coming around a corner, I had no brakes at all. When I got back, I upgraded the brakes and added the sway bar kit.
3:01
It looks pretty rough, but mechanically it’s pretty sound.
3:12
[Music]
The Iron Pig
3:25
It’s called Eisenschwein—the Iron Pig. It’s called that because it’s an iron block, it’s bulletproof, and they made them from about 1968 to 1995.
3:39
The hard part was getting everything in the correct order. I had one side fully assembled, then realized one of the retainers was flipped. I had to pound it back out.
I made a puller tool, but then the rear rocker shaft ended up being loose. I noticed it was pushing back, so I had to stake it. I got everything lined up the way it’s supposed to be—hopefully it stays that way.
M30B35 Swap
4:07
That engine probably has over 200,000 miles on it, but it runs pretty solid. The valve seals at the very least need attention—it smokes on acceleration.
4:18
I’m tired of carburetors. I’ve been fighting to synchronize them for almost eight years, and I can’t quite get it right.
Putting an M30B35 in this car has been a dream for a while. It has more displacement, and the torque is noticeably better. At the same time, I’ll swap in a five-speed transmission to replace the four-speed.
4:43
I’m hoping for around 200 horsepower to the rear wheels, which would be pretty good in this car.
4:52
There’s so much stuff the books and the internet don’t tell you. Most of the forum posts are from 2006, they’re fragmented, and the photo links don’t work anymore.
It’s hard to piece everything together. I can’t imagine trying to do this on something older. But I’m really grateful—there are a lot of good people in the community who are willing to help.
Wabi-Sabi
5:23
I think working on things is good for people. It’s therapeutic. You can work all day and not see any results. You can come home to a relationship that maybe isn’t fulfilling.
But you can go out into the garage and fix one thing. It might take half an hour, but at least that day you can say you did something.
5:51
I love the term wabi-sabi. It’s more fulfilling to take something and do your best to fix it. In Western culture, if something breaks, we just throw it away.
The Japanese have this principle of repairing things with integrity. You don’t just bodge it together. Over time, wood expands and contracts, nails loosen, things weather. You fix it with a screw, but you still see the rust, the age, the beauty.
6:27
Sometimes you can make something better than it was when it was new. It has aesthetic challenges—and that’s what this whole car is.
Rally Hunting
6:39
I was looking for a rally in the Midwest that was approachable—something without a four-figure entry fee, something I didn’t need a week off work to attend.
6:54
I found one and signed up. It was cool, but they wanted me to write an essay about why my car deserved to be there. Then they said they’d let me know two months before the rally.
7:11
That made me angry. I’m impulsive, so I immediately bought the domain Round Headlamp. Years ago, Brian, Carl, and I used to joke that if a car has round headlights, it’s probably cool in its own way.
Round Headlamp Rally 1000
7:25
I wanted good people—people who were good to each other. I wanted it to be approachable, something you could do over a weekend without burning all your vacation time.
But I also wanted it to be challenging. I wanted people to feel proud that they got their car through it.
Car Community & MARS
7:45
This community has some of the dearest people I’ve ever met. Cars are just a portal for experiences. At the core, it’s about people.
7:57
But the automotive hobby also has some of the worst people. There’s exclusivity, brand snobbery, income segregation.
8:09
MARS is different. It’s good people—people I want my kids around. People who help each other instead of just busting balls.
8:21
I want people to feel included—especially people who usually aren’t. We had a lot of LGBTQ folks from Ohio get interested in the rally, and I’m really proud of that.
They felt like this was a safe place to be included, and that means a lot to me.
Outro
8:46
[Music]
8:55
That’s really all life is. You just try to accumulate as many good stories as you can—so you can think about them when times are rough, or share them when it matters.
