introduction New Member | '75 2002

[j.rettenmeier]

I don't know if I ever formally introduced myself. My name is John, I haven't been very active on this forum because I've been at school and unable to get to work on this car. So a little story to get everyone caught up...

 

March 2013: Check Out, Pay Up, Trailer Out…
After countless hours searching the Internet, making calls, sending emails and traveling, I finally thought I had found 'the one'. The car was close to home, only a five hour drive to VT, so my dad and I went up to check it out. It ended up looking like a great candidate for a project so we paid up and trailered a malaga 5-speed 1975 BMW 2002 back home.

 

The car from those pictures is what it looks like now/how I bought it; luckily there is not much rust to repair.
I was originally going to use the car as a building block, restore it and sell it so I could buy a BMW E9. Yeah well that plan has changed... and changed a lot.

November 2013: I D E N T I T Y C R I S I S.
I got lucky with this one, a good friend of mine sent me a listing on Craigslist. It immediately had my attention and ideas were formulating by the second, so you could say I was slightly interested haha. Without hesitation I emailed the seller. Within a couple of weeks I had traveled up to Albany to check out the parts; I knew I had a project car on my hands but this... this sealed the deal, thought I might as well learn how to do some bodywork and fiberglass work right? It was like a game of Tetris getting the AC Schnitzer flare kit into the back of my noble-steed, the SRT4.
 

 

The car has the potential to look like the classic racecars that shocked the world!

 

The kit was back at my house, and yes this car is going to be sitting a bit wider than normal with the box kit going on! These were some of the coolest 2002s back in the day, the small Schnitzer race team created these widebodies that their racecars wore in the 60's and 70's. The small German race team created a spectacular machine that won the German touring car championship, it was a 2002ti. The sight of gold BBS hunkered down under the widebody created the signature image of Schnitzer.

Sorry all the photos are really busy, it was at night and the ISO setting was really high...

What are other plans for the car? Guess everything will be determined from here on out. Some more goodies may be in the works within the next couple of months, but I have too many ideas to write down at the moment. Definitely thinking about keeping the classic motorsports trend going with this car.

Some more parts that I'll be utilizing/sorting through like a new clutch, air filter, fan, a couple of intake manifolds, a steering wheel, valve cover, head-liner, sun visors, too many little bits and pieces for the interior.
 

 

^The bottom right of this last picture, there are some of the M-Motorsport/2002 Turbo stripes, came with the car, definitely thinking about using them, very tempted for sure!

Ohhh yeah and these weird looking round taillights... I think I will be converting it to a Roundie; adding a little bit more of that classic touch to the car but I am not 100% definite on this plan.

 

Thank you for looking, I hope you enjoyed this bit so far and you'll be seeing more of this little '02 in the upcoming months and years probably!

Edited November 22, 2015 by j.rettenmeier

[bimmercraze]

Nice to see the complete story. By far one of my favorite ones to follow. All around solid car. Can't wait to see this finished

[cross1717]

Nice car just make sure you have the time and money to finish the car good luck and don't give up Lol,i have a 75 automatic factory car

[j.rettenmeier]

Nice to see the complete story. By far one of my favorite ones to follow. All around solid car. Can't wait to see this finished

It'll be a fun project, that's for sure, and the story is just beginning!

 

Nice car just make sure you have the time and money to finish the car good luck and don't give up Lol,i have a 75 automatic factory car

That's my thought exactly, we (my dad and I work on cars together) currently have a couple of projects at home and this was added to the list for me to learn and create something to my taste. The time and money will definitely be taken into account, and I will definitely not give up! Thanks for the advice!

[peterschop]

Nice project. Keep it running. FYI, your wiper arms, like mine were when I bought it, are on the wrong sides. The wind deflector goes in front of the driver.

[j.rettenmeier]

Nice project. Keep it running. FYI, your wiper arms, like mine were when I bought it, are on the wrong sides. The wind deflector goes in front of the driver.

Thank you, and I may end up doing an engine swap; still nothing is 100% yet so don't quote me on that.

 

If you didn't say anything I wouldn't have noticed the wiper arms were switched haha. I will go ahead and fix that!

[bimmercraze]

What is the point of the wind deflector?

[j.rettenmeier]

What is the point of the wind deflector?

The three ideas I have are it reduces wind noise, it will prevent the wiper blades from lifting off the windshield at a higher rate of speed and the last idea is that it may potentially create a higher pressure/force against the windshield during a rainstorm thus clearing the water more effectively. I'm not completely sure though.