engine and drivetrain (UPDATED 2/7/12) Is this 02 a good buy?

[CharlieG]

I'm certainly with C.D. on this. If your experience and skill set would make you comfortable doing an automatic-to-5-speed conversion by yourself in your garage, $1,000 is possible; but if you're paying someone else to completely overhaul an automatic, or do the conversion, think $2,000.

Oddly, Granatrot-metallic seemed almost as common as Sienabraun-metallic back in the day (PA, NJ, NY, CT corridor). But it's pretty un-common today. The two Granatrot-metallic cars for whom I knew the owners were both automatics with beige interiors; probably entirely accidental but automatics were very rare in my experience.

Steve

According to the importation numbers, Granatrot was actually pretty rare in the states, looks like 300 of them were imported from 74-76

And yea, CD, you're correct, that's a faded Granatrot car, looks identical to mine.

-Charlie

[jgerry2002]

Look at the picture closer, I think I can make out the word "Automatic" on the left side.

Perfect 5-speed candidate. Or swap in another auto.

Rust free, good compression numbers, solid driver, then 5k is not far off. Deduct as others have said for the transmission issue.

A pre-purchase inspection from a qualified shop would also be a good idea. This way its fair for buyer/seller.

[ricortes]

Discount what I say because its more opinion then fact, but that car has probably been in an accident or two. Check out the door seam, it appears to be too tight in the front and too wide in the rear => front collision. Look at the trunk lid seam too, awfully wide by the rear window. It could be it was just removed for a paint job and installed badly but it makes me suspicious.

The front tires wear pattern looks good but it could just be they were recently rotated from the rear. Check out the wear pattern on the rear too, if it is uneven then they were probably rotated from the front and you will have alignment problems and maybe a bent frame.

I wouldn't consider this car at the price w/o a pretty thorough test drive. Just the standard let go of the steering wheel kind of stuff to see if it pulls to one side or the other, brakes in a straight line, corners evenly, smokes, et cetera. If all chassis, engine, and the aforementioned transmission problems are small enough for it to be a daily driver I wouldn't be upset with you paying that price.

Some issues people have mentioned, like $600-$2000 for transmission work and a typical engine rebuild would be another $4000 not to mention possible chassis problems. A Bondo Queen would make it a goodbye car. You could be into it for $15k just to make it run right and go down the road straight.

Rick

[Mark92131]

If you like this color, there is a 76 automatic on eBay right now with black interior.

NM/NA

Mark92131

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VERY-RARE-1976-BMW-2002-California-Classic-Factory-A-C-Automatic-transmission-/140695436463?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item20c219fcaf#ht_500wt_1182

[Jim_75Sahara]

So, mine was a very good buy at $3500. Mine presented like this in June of 2003. *

* (Despite worn-out brakes & exhaust manifold that I dealt with pdq.)

$5K seems quite high to me The owner should assure you that the engine is sound, the brakes are good, everything electrical works OK, it has no accidents in its history, etc. Any bondo? I'd want a discount for the failing transmission....

[otisdog]

The seats are 75 or 76 so I am betting it is not a Tii.

My late '74 tii (12/74 build) came with those seats.

[PatAllen]

my 76 turbo 02 was granatrot metalic like that...lol good memories.

[Conserv]

I'm certainly with C.D. on this. If your experience and skill set would make you comfortable doing an automatic-to-5-speed conversion by yourself in your garage, $1,000 is possible; but if you're paying someone else to completely overhaul an automatic, or do the conversion, think $2,000.

Oddly, Granatrot-metallic seemed almost as common as Sienabraun-metallic back in the day (PA, NJ, NY, CT corridor). But it's pretty un-common today. The two Granatrot-metallic cars for whom I knew the owners were both automatics with beige interiors; probably entirely accidental but automatics were very rare in my experience.

Steve

According to the importation numbers, Granatrot was actually pretty rare in the states, looks like 300 of them were imported from 74-76

And yea, CD, you're correct, that's a faded Granatrot car, looks identical to mine.

-Charlie

The numbers don't lie, Charlie. This is good data! Is there a public source for the import numbers by color? By color and year?

Thanks,

Steve