Buying a 2002 to tide me over

Nicad

Nicad

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After missing out on a couple of E9's that were good West Coast candidates, I have decided to pick up a Malaga 72' 2002 (With sunroof) for this winter's project. A lot lower cost, great parts network and a lot of directions to take the car. I put a deposit on it a couple of weeks ago and hummed and hawed about going through with it while on vacation last week. I will be picking it up on Monday. It is an interesting specimen. 100% stock other than new shocks. 95% of the miles were put on by the original owner, who sold it to his friend when he passed away a few years ago. He was a character and I mostly bought it because this car has only had one man working on it and keeping it in the state it is in. , which is 8 out of 10 all around. The interior is original, with excellent carpet, headliner and upholstery. The body is very good. It was painted once ten years ago due to water spots and wear on the roof.The paint is quite good, but has a bit or orange peel when you look at it on a lift. Maybe color sanding will make it even better. The underhood paint is excellent and original, with very good factory paint on the air cleaner. The original chrome . glass etc is excellent. The gearbox is really smooth shifting . Synchro's excellent.
It must be the most unrusted original 72 BMW that is from Ontario, so my hat is off to the Man who bought it new and kept the flame alive all those years. Mileage is 104,000.

I plan on doing a little detailing, adding proper new seat belts, adding a Becker Europa radio, and replacing and upgrading the suspension to be a bit more taught. I will consider upgrading the engine in a year or two. What I am most happy about is the parts availability through a number of sources. I will post some photos later next week.
 
Sounds like you found a good one! Maybe you'll be driving it more than working on it. ;-)

Dan
 
02 will do

Congratulations on the find. Hopefully the weather breaks before you pick it up - no A/C I assume. If originality is not the priority then a 3.90 LSD and 5 SPD is a great combo with any engine work you do.

Have you heard or seen the Vintage Wings facility in Gatineau Quebec? I'm going to tour it Saturday before flying home.

Doug
 
Thanks Doug. No, I haven't heard of that . I am picking the car up not too far from there, hopefully Monday.(Carleton Place).


The car does not have AC. Will keep the diff swap in mind. I have started researching wheels and tires (No good 13's left) and what parts of 320Is's will give me upgraded parts. I really want to get the suspension, steering and brakes as renewed as possible over the winter. Planning ahead on the hottest day of the year.
 
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I picked up My Malaga 72' on Tuesday and had an eventful ride home (About 300 miles) It ran OK on my test drive, but after about 50 miles it started to act up. I stopped at a friend's cottage for the evening and when we went out for a drive it refused to idle and was running rough. I think the previous owner never revved it past 2K and I was trying my best to drive it like a BMW. I put some fuel injection cleaner in. Next problem was the 4 way flashers refused to turn off. Next I noticed the odometer had stopped working.
Next day I looked at the points and noticed the plug wires were probably from 1972. Very Brittle and Crispy. Plugs looked OK, so I swapped in another set of points and was about to set off for home when I found out the battery was dead due to the 4 ways turning on by themselves!!. Drove to town to get cables, jumped the car and didn’t stop till I got home. It was running like crap and was starting to ping under load. Now it is in my garage and despite the Gremlins I am very pleased with the condition. The body is completely unrusted, the trim is almost perfect, as is the interior. I will get to the engine after the suspension. It is a great blank. My only worry is that in a crash with anything above a Yaris I will be toast. I suppose a purist would keep it stock and original, but I can’t leave it alone. It will get modded till it keeps up with minivans and the suspension will get tweaked till it can dodge them.
The home plumbing Cludge(see photo) is a round about way to get an alternate temp gauge to work. That will be going. As much as these vehicles are coveted for being stock these days, I will be getting rid of the bone of a steering wheel, the original seats (Great shape, but no longer comfy) and the stock suspension tuning is much softer than I like. I expect to be in the car for about 12K plus the 40% mis estimation on any build. I think it is currently worth what I paid , but as I pour money into getting what I want, I will be further away from getting that money back if I was to resell it. Maybe the market for 02's will do what the E9 market appears to be doing (how can this be when housing prices still haven't bottomed?) I was hoping to get outdoor shots of the car in it's Malaga splendour, but one of the valve lash bolts had been overtorqued and is now toast, so it will have to wait a few weeks.

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Beautiful car - the post-purchase drive home is always an adventure and part of the fun!
 
Bob's Excellant adventure

Hey Bob glad to see you made it home with the new toy.
The 401 can be more dangerous than the track. I look forward
to checking it out. I will call you next week.

Gary.
 
Hi Gary, I'm basically gone for two weeks (Back on the 16th). Going Skiing. (Chile!!!yahoo).
 
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