Searching for a 2002 - more details

lip277

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While I love the early 1600s & 2002s

By 1973 all the improvements had been made to the ‘02s. Last year of the 2 piece dash & has lighted heater controls the most simple & luxurious interior without the cross hair gauge business of the later ‘02s. On the Tii BMW replaced the fragile plastic intake runners with aluminum. They have longer bumper brackets on the 2.5 mph bumpers to actually protect the nose. All the benefits of the ‘74-‘76 ‘02s without the extra insulation, 5 mph impact bumpers & weight. Many ‘74-‘76 owners replace the 5 mph impact bumpers with the chrome 2.5 bumpers used earlier in the US & through the entire ‘02 run in Europe.

This.... :)

I had a 1973 for 28 years (1984 through to 2012 or so). Put a gazillion miles on that thing - I really really wish I still had it.

As to the car - I appreciated the lighter look of the bumpers and the round tail lights.
If I lived (and drove) in a big city - then the 74+ bumpers would have been a bit more of interest, but as I didn't... :) :)
The other thing is that the car was old enough that I never had to get it smogged. I left Monterey County (California) just as they were starting to go that way (1988) and where I moved to north of Seattle - the age of the car (even back then) meant no smog for me either. Same for the E9 I have had since 2010 or so.
On the 1973 specifically - I really liked the bumpers that came on the car that year (longer and sleeker than the earlier bumpers) and the lack of chrome on the dash gages and such.

All in all - a great year... The only year also without an air pump (stock). Another plus.
 

CSteve

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Immediately after purchasing Lilli, ym 76 2002, I swapped out the bumpers, then all the engine choking pollution junk(I live in PA, no inspections for classic/vintage cars} and then the faux wood dash. Then I replaced the stock steering wheel with an 1800 wheel with the delicate chrome ring. Serious aesthetic and performance improvements to my eyes.
 

TodB

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As long as we are describing mods, on my '75, I went for a blunt front end look with shorty rear bumper w/no overriders, eliminated the lower trim and replaced the US turn signals with dual bulb flush ones. Front Recaros and a 320i steering wheel round out the interior. Motor was rebuilt last Spring.

Kind of an early car cleaner look on a late car, sort of. Purists look away :).

So much fun to drive.
 

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halboyles

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I have a few 2002s of this vintage. I'll PM with more details and contact info.
 

bavbob

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Michel L. Potheau was the first vice president of the BMW CCA in Boston. He was given a euro schwarz 2002 by BMW as a showroom model in ( I may have my dates wrong) 1971. The car was not registered or titled since it was for show only. Fast forward after Michel passed away, the car is now in the hands of a master BMW mechanic and friend who was also a friend of Michel. This car has less than 30K miles on it, original schwarz, original everything and is for sale. The hiccup is that the car does not exist as far as the DMV goes and this is being worked on. This is a special car and I would buy it if I did not already have 7 cars and only a 2 car garage. I can pass contact info to anyone interested. I have no skin in this game other than feeling this car needs to get out on the road and have a proud owner.
 

Rex Kapriellian

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As long as we are describing mods, on my '75, I went for a blunt front end look with shorty rear bumper w/no overriders, eliminated the lower trim and replaced the US turn signals with dual bulb flush ones. Front Recaros and a 320i steering wheel round out the interior. Motor was rebuilt last Spring.

Kind of an early car cleaner look on a late car, sort of. Purists look away :).

So much fun to drive.
Love the color
 

Drew Gregg

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As the original owner of a '72 2002 with 112K miles, we need to get in the time machine and go back to the articles in those half-size Roundel monthly publications with the Circle Tire ad on the last page. Back then the talk was about the '73 having the new Hemi combustion chambers. That engine could not have the USA pollution controls removed to let the car run like the German versions,which of course,were much better than the sluggish US cars according to the members who wrote into the magazine. The '73's ran better with the US stuff left on them! But my '72 had all of the General Motors' pump,etc. come off of the engine in the week after the 1 year warranty expired in June 1973. All of the instructions for pollution stuff removal were written up in the "Roundel". And that's why I always thought the 1972 car was the best year.
BTW, the Tii was $500 more than the carb model. I test drove both and didn't think fuel injection and premium gas was worth the extra money when the salesman told me it had 1/2inch wider wheels also. Then in the late 70's and early 80's,those K-fish injection units were $700 and nobody knew how to fix them on used cars that were selling for about twice that.. Many Tii's ended up with Weber carbs.
All '02 owners need to drive their car next Feb.22,2022. 02/22/22 And yes it is a 2'sday!!
 

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Drew Gregg

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That's what the original BMW brochure has due to the higher compression engine if memory serves me correctly. I have the literature from when I bought the car somewhere...
 

lip277

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All '02 owners need to drive their car next Feb.22,2022. 02/22/22 And yes it is a 2'sday!!
We had about 60 2002's meet on 02/02/02 in Seattle... Had a great time.
We caravaned from Alki through Fremont then to Ballard (Golden Gardens Park). It was sooooooo funny to see the faces of the people gazing at us as they saw a seemingly endless string of these cars go by. You can see that seemingly endless string of cars behind me on that one pic. Yeah - the viaduct is not any longer... LOL

We had a news crew there (at the boat launch) also. We had a 30 second spot on TV that night - LOL

Good times...
(I sold the 02 several years ago. Wish I kept it... :( )
 

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dang

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I went to the 02/02/02 gathering in San Luis Obispo. Caravanned down highway 1 from Monterey with nine 2002's and one coupe. The trip down was the best part.
 
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