Why did you get a 2002?

[Harv]

^. So right john. I totally overlooked the most important aspect to owning a 2002, the great community. Which is as important to me as good brakes.

I forgot another reason.

All the cool kids were doing it.

John

[mike472]

So I could give my friends with Chevy SS's and other various muscle cars of the day the slip on a twisty road and still be almost invisible to the police.

[Scott Sislane]

What do you wish you knew before you bought it?

I wish I knew how addicting it would become.

Anyone else have such a dilemma as me?

I wanted an old 911 just as much, torn which direction to go.

I often pass a guy on my way to work, who drives an old 911. He looks grumpy, I look HAPPY. 8-)

[1971Ginger]

I got my 02 after picking up my girlfriend from her house on our first date and seeing her dads sitting in the front yard. I instantly ask her, "whos 02 is that?" and she says proudly "my dads" I knew that my girlfriend was a keeper right when I met her and I knew that I had to have an 02 of mine own. Few weeks later I found my 02 sitting in a garage of the original owner for 12 years without being moved. She wanted to restore it as it was her first car (she bought and drove it in and around Europe) but she had grandkids and was not ready to overhaul her "ginger".

I still have the original registration from 1972 with Pat's name on it plus a few more priceless historical pieces like the european export plates she got while taking Ginger around europe.

As much as she may have a few dings and cuts, she is a barn find that I am proud to call mine. Many ask why I put more and more money into something so old but I reply, its for the love.

[OriginalOwner]

on "The Bond" with one's vehicle .....

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=562993

here's a driving impression .....

http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/07/05/retrospective-driving-impressions-of-a-bmw-2002/

Cheers,

Carl

[penth2o]

"So, why did you buy your 2002?"

Because it was given to me for my Birthday.

Would I buy one??? I'd buy ten if I had the storage space.

[killerd202]

It is my first car and my dad picked it out after finding it on craiglist as it was the car he could only dream of having as a child. i got lucky for a modest price of $3500 (dont tell my mom) and it came along with some alpina wheels (yet to be identified what they came off of) a set of original '81 recaros, and a period momo steering wheel. she has now been given the name of "Sierra" due to the fact that i always forget the color is Sahara. and after lots of body and paint repair she is the coolest car a kid could wish for.... at least for me.

[PatAllen]

i once had an old roundel with a black 02 on the front page. i always told myself theses where great cars. that was like in 1990 or so.

then one of my friend, who buys tons of weird cars and dismantle them then given them away because he looses interest, bought a uber faded red 02 from Montreal.

No brakes, no clutch, we managed to get the car back from mtl to sherbrooke on its own (2h drive)

car was smoking like hell. He had the intent to rebuild the car and make a vintage racer out of it.

I took it all apart, then gave up on the project. He went to BC so he had to give the project away. I bought it for 500$, all in boxes, in 1996.

Theni made it my turbo 02 that you all knows.

[moshulupkwy]

Back in '72 I had some money to spend on a 'proper car'. I had saved up from my college job and went out looking for a used 'muscle car' (mustang, roadrunner, GTO....etc)

My father said he had seen this car in his garage a 1971 BMW. I laughed when I saw it! The owner said to "take it for a ride".......

.....you all can finish the story

I am still hunting down the next one!!

-mpkwy

[nbristow01]

I have a passion for 70's era european and japanese 4 cylinder cars. I much prefer the european. I spent summers as a kid in Germany and rode in these cars when they were new. To me the 70's era foreign cars felt very machine, felt very connected with the road and driver. Just seems these 4 cylinder cars become an extension of you when you drive them. Like the hood is part of you, tires are part of you. Like you have machine cloths on

That feeling was quickly lost in the 80's with computers, steering assists etc

The 02, IMO is the car that captures this feeling the best. I remember in about 1972 or so my aunt picked my sister and I up in a Tii from Frankfurt airport. Car was brand new, I was 8 years old. I LOVED that car, the engine noise, wind noise...impacted me...spent the whole summer riding in that car. The following year she picked us up in a 3.0CS...brand new. Did not like it near as much. Even rode ina new Bavaria....the 02 had that feeling these others did not.

[LJtii]

After ownership of 5 2002s (still have a '73 Tii) and several other cars, notably early Mustangs, if I were contemplating the choice between a 2002 and a '53 Studebaker, what would make the decision for me would be the car's ultimate purpose. If looking at it was enough, I might choose the Studebaker, as the Raymond Loewy-designed cars are beautiful. But if you wanted something to drive and enjoy once it's done the way you want it, the 2002 would win, without question. And you do want to drive the car, right?

[adawil2002]

So, why did you buy your 2002?

I have had a love affair with BMWs ever since seeing the Alexander Calder CSL in 1978 at a Calder Exhibit in Pittsburgh. First car was a rusty '72a, 2nd car less rusty '73a, 15 years '02less, 3rd '02 is Vern, a very special '73Tii. In general they are well balanced compromise that does everything well.

What do you wish you knew before you bought it?

How much better life wold be. I make the car better, it makes me better. A majority of my friends are from various BMW circles, meaning all but 2.

Anyone else have such a dilemma as me?

Look at the signature below, I'm not limited, although BMW biased.

[TTyMiller]

Actually the 02 got me!

When my old 80's Prelude broke down one day from over heating coming home from work the tow truck driver took me home and saw the

530it Dinan in the driveway and said his cousin had an 02 for sale. Having had a 98 M3/4 in the past that got me way too many times stopped by cops and was looking for something different; I said I would be interested. And the rest is history.

[Ultralite]

I bought my first 02 almost exactly a year ago. I have loved every minute of it. I'm in the middle of restoring it.

This site has been my best resource.

If its close enough for you, I'd recommend going to Vintage at the end of the month. You'll meet a ton of great folks and really get a feel for the scene and help you can expect. At least that was my experience.

[Collinster742002]

My mom has had her 76 since she was 16, in 1977. That car was stolen 4 times in Boston, countless fog lights and stuff stolen from it. It was her dad's car, but he gave it to her on account of her Volkswagen station wagon never actually worked. My parents met in 1985, married in 86 and had their first kid in 87- and that Polaris 76 carried on until 1992 when the body was declared fatally rusted out. They went out and bought a 1974 2002A in malaga and put every part from the 76 into it. 3 months later that engine blew up and the original to the malaga one went back in- Then the car soldiered on until 1996. It was declared a total loss by the insurance company and we had the car reconstructed- my dad hit a deer head on at 45mph. In 2004, he crashed into a Buick and totaled the car again. It was fixed and sat in the garage from 2005-2008, where at the age of 12 I resurrected it. I've since breathed new life into it with many new drivetrain parts, and this car will be passed down from generation to generation in my family.