2002 bmw
 

New to me 1976 BMW 2002, non-sunroof, coupe. All original, except for a sporty muffler and upgraded downdraft Weber carburetor.

I must admit this model has been one of my favorites from BMW. I picked this up on Saturday as a first learning car for a father son thing.

This is as much a blast to drive as I thought it would be. Everything works great. The guy I bought it from is a mechanic and he has put some work into this BMW. He replaced the blower so it has heat and fixed a coolant leak, engine related items, seat cables, etc.

The air-conditioner is factory, disconnected and siting in the trunk, I think it could use a diet, but with a first time driver (My oldest boy) I think the impact bumpers need to stay on for now.

This was a California car, but I believe any of the '76 CA required emission junk has been deleted.

I'm entertaining what if any mods to make.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321979893.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321979928.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321979970.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321980003.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321980036.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321980077.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321980103.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321980133.jpg

Nice!

Looks like fun!

PS: nice garages!

Looks like a nice car.

I hate you.

Seriously.

Winner of cool Dad of the year!

So does he get to drive it?

These are such cool little cars! I think the first thing I'd do is make sure that the rubber donuts BMW used to raise these later cars to legal bumper height were removed. You should be able to see them there on the struts between the coil springs and the spring seats. If I recall correctly, they're like a half-inch thick, or more, so removing them makes a big difference in the car's stance and overall look.

Another thing you might want to think about is foreshortening those awful NHTSA bumpers. The guys do that by drilling out the shocks that control their strokes, draining the oil, and then putting a screw into the drill hole to hold the shock at the bottom of its stroke. This brings the bumpers in closed to the sheet metal and makes the cars look tidier. You also have to shorten the rubber accordian pieces at the end of the bumpers. But carefully, as I think these are NLA. You can learn more about this, and much more about these cars, here, in case you haven't already found this:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewforum/f,3/

Nice!!!

Go +1 on the wheel diameter, wider tires and lower it little. Done.....well for now anyways.

76 has the square taillights?

and your garage pisses me off...amazing...4 cars? i have to take my car out to get to the air compressor..hahha.

Unfortunately it is not a roundie, '76 has the square taillights. It suffers on the collect-ability list for that reason, but the price was right $3,350.

I know West coast cars can be cheaper, but in the midwest there's supply issue with the 2002.

Laughing...two Toyotas for the reliable everyday transport and two old Germans for fun.

What is happening to poor drippy on the right? That would be my first father and son project before tearing into the 2002.
Yasin

Sweet! Yah! -this is perfect, thanks!

Thanks! You have no idea the crap my wife gave me over this. I think she's over it and will see the benefit long term.

He will be 15 next May, so plenty of time to learn about the car. Yes, I can say he will drive it.

Very nice! Hard to tell from the pics what color it is... Too light of a red for malaga, but too red for siennabraun... granada?

If it were me, mods would be take out ride height rings in front (if not done already), add 14" (or 15" if you can make them fit) Panasports and good tires, and be done. Secondarily on the list would be a stiffer roll bar to minimize body roll, but from there it is a slippery slope.

Otherwise make sure the brakes are 100%, check valve adjustment (an easy job), and drive it as is. IIRC the '76 already has a 3.90 diff (a good thing), so acceleration is better, but can be buzzy at higher speed. The 2002FAQ site provided earlier is probably the best resource around.

Drippy is just marking her territory. I suspect my valve covers are slightly warped. He actually was never into cars, but has taken a liking to the old bimmer.

LOL But my house isn't on the Chesapeake bay, or tributary...

Potomac.

But you still suck.:D

Great garage. Did you drive it back?

Thanks, The car was moved here from CA a few years ago and went through a ziebart rust proofing and received the respray that's on it. So, I drove it only 15 miles from the seller to my house .

On the color, I think too it is not quite the malaga red, but it is close. When I saw it I instantly liked it.

Cool. The 2002s for sale out here were too good (expensive) so my Dad and I settled for an E21. :)

From the pictures it looks like the car is still at US ride height.

There is a big spacer on top of the front struts that can be removed to bring the car to Euro ride height...There used to be a really nice front spoiler available for the car.. Kamei? I think was the mfg...

I had a 76 2002, and an earlier Tii fun little cars..

So is it just the fronts that received the spacer? Easy fix?

I have a buddy who raced with a Chumpcar team at the Spokane WA 24 hour event in 2010 in a 1974 2002 automatic. It was a car one of the drivers had inherited from his father who had bought it new. He had stored it in a barn/garage, something and was planning a restoration as the car was original including rusty. Sadly a bad snow storm caused the building to collapse on the car damaging it quite badly. A local race car builder/welder did some straightening on it, built a cage, etc. and they raced it bone stock. It wasn't the fastest thing out there but finished with no mechanical issues. I don't know the original mileage on it but gheez, it had been well used, sat for a long time, they threw some fresh fluids in the thing and flogged it hard for 24 hours. Tough little car.

Google red car racing chumpcar and you'll find some photos on Flikr.

Cool car for your son. Have fun with it.

Yes... removing the spacer takes away the slight nose up attitude..mentioned in you post you say a mechanic owned this car so I might call him and ask if he removed the spacers.. IIRC the spacer fit between the upper strut mount and body..

Don't remember about the rear... Its been around 25 years since I worked on one

Very nice! I'm a huge fan of the 2002 and have long considered picking one up. I have rather fanciful aspirations of transplanting an M3 drivetrain into one one day...

Lot's of good comments. Thanks. I have heard of the M3 transplant and 5 speed transmission. I'm thinking that could be a real option one day. :)

Classic Motorsports (great mag) are doing a Tii at the moment:

BMW 2002tii: Project Cars: Classic Motorsports

Very nice, I've always wanted a 2002. Oh yeah, and I hate you for your garage.:p

That color looks like Granatrot. The original color should be on a plate under the hood. Looks nice!

Great picture and looks like my garage way back in 1973!

Miss that E coupe. Brothers and I owned many twenty O two's... all years, versions and one still has his 71.

A terrific car to introduce your son to. Safety aside, that car is a learning dynamo from understanding vehicle handling, mechanicals you can do under the tree shade and most of all... fun!

Realistic, the 2002 with transplants need serious chassis upgrades to match. Back in the day, a few pals had done them including one having the old 3.2 inline 6. Rocket fun yes but with wheel hop and unbalanced. Tweak up an original motor, add Webers or tune an injected Tii right and it's plenty.

Smokin deal. Got any pictures of the motor ?

When I was at a car show, I saw the best license plate frame: "In 1976 God stopped making BMWs." I guess that sums up the opinion of the 2002. Sounds like a great father-son project. My dad still helps me work on my S2 and I am sure I will always have those memories.

Hey! Leave some hate for me to fling at him! ahem, I hate you.

I had a '74 Tii ( prob should have kept that one even tho it was a basket case :confused: ) and a '76. I'd like to have another some day.

Took some pics at lunch. Yep, Granatrot.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322074284.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322074387.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322074426.jpg

A friend once wrote: "You can tell it's a PCA dinner meeting by all the Japanese cars in the parking lot." ;)

That said, one fantastic first car! :D

Here's a pic of the emissions for CA cars. I'm hoping I can get rid of anything still there.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322074576.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322074754.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322074889.jpg

Thanks.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322076012.jpg

Is this a plug at the top. I haven't gotten in there yet.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322076135.jpg

Interior

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322078363.jpg