Popularity of 2002's across the US

[conkitchen]

Whilst man needs water to survive, a 2002 in absence of it will thrive. I subscribe to the dry climate theory. 

 

But what do I know

[jrhone]

 I would say California is probably the number one location for 2002s. As far as numbers go. I grew up in the 70s in Northern California and I now live in Southern California since the late 90s.  I had an 02 in the 90s in Northern California and bought my second 02 about 2008. When I got serious about looking for O2's I instantly looked at craigslist in San Francisco and found one that I bought almost instantly.  I was very particular one is a certain year color and factory sunroof. I found it within a few days of looking. I looked in Southern California various times and did not see near the selection that Northern California seems to have.  That being said, I also believe that the mentality of the people in the bay area seem to gravitate towards the BMW 2002 more than in Southern California. Also, the culture in Northern California is to keep cars longer and maintain older cars more as opposed to buying new cars which seems to be much more popular in Southern California.   For example in the 90s in Berkeley you could throw a rock and hit a number of BMW 2002 specialists. When I moved to southern California and got an 02 almost no one in orange county would work on one.   I think there were more sold in the bay area at the time they were new, and because people kept cars longer in the bay area more were maintained and kept on the road. That makes more available on the used market place now. 

[carpediem]

I grew up in the 60s (sigh) in St. Louis.  Even in high school we had a motley collection of British sports cars.  German or Italian cars were very rare and considered exotic.  It wasn't until I moved to CA in the early 80s that I began to see and appreciate the beauty of the 2002.  

[John76]

I bought my '76 new in Northern California, and will never forget the salesman telling me that the Bay Area is the "Land of Milk and Honey".

He could sell every 2002 the dealership could get.

[pierre02ti]

What you see may not be what you get!

 

In our severe rust belt area I know of 30+ 02's that I listed over the years, sometimes seen only once and still many unseen but heard of or seen advertized.  But I will rarely see one around.

 

Our biggest meet was 5!

 

Pierre

02ti

Montreal

[Lisa.02P]

Don't know if you guys have seen this, but the FAQ has a member map that shows you where the 02 owners on this forum are located... Only if you allowed this feature on your profile is how this is being accounted for....

 

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/membermap/

 

 

[Fritz1602]

5 minutes ago, 02princessLisa said:

Don't know if you guys have seen this, but the FAQ has a member map that shows you where the 02 owners on this forum are located... Only if you allowed this feature on your profile is how this is being accounted for....

 

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/membermap/

 

 

Very cool map! Thanks for sharing!?

[tii1on]

Nice use of the available data. I have added my town. Thanks for the tip!

[ray_]

17 minutes ago, Fritz1602 said:

Very cool map! Thanks for sharing!?

 

Yeah, thanks Lisa!

 

Thanks very much Lisa!

 

Thank you Lisa!!

 

 

;-)

[jgerock]

There are cars and owners who seldom post here that are not on the map.  I'm always surprised at the number of 2002's here in the VA/DC/MD area.  

[Lisa.02P]

There are cars and owners who seldom post here that are not on the map.  I'm always surprised at the number of 2002's here in the VA/DC/MD area.  

Yeap! There are still thousands of 02 owners out there who are not on the FAQ, however, this member map gives us a good guesstimate of where some of them are... [emoji4]

[joshkrahn]

Neat! I would have expected a higher concentration on the west coast. 

[Gordon]

If you are looking for surviving 02's, just don't look in the rust belt or areas where lots of salt is dumped on the roads in the winter.  Look in California or anywhere down south in the US. In Germany, road salt, rust, cash for clunkers program, and strict TUV road worthiness inspections have taken there toll on cars. In fact, your rarely see old cars on the roads anymore in Germany. In 2008, while working in Stuttgart, I went to the German E12/E28 treffen (meeting) in Bavaria near Mindleheim. Talking to the German E12/E28 club president, he estimated that there are less than a 1000 E12's left in Germany and a lot of them are project cars. If you want to go see old cars in Germany, go to the Nurburgring Historic races in August. In 2004, I was working at Ramsten Air Base in Germany as a contractor. I wanted to find and ship back a Euro spec car while I was there. I found that the vintage BMWs I looked at were in two basic categories, very nice and out of my price range or total project cars, i.e. bottomless money pits so I passed. Three months after I returned, I found a 70 Euro spec E3 2800 on the streets of the SFV area of LA for $300 that was rust free, imported into CA in the early 70's. Just don't ask how much money I put into that E3 but no money went into rust repair or body restoration except a paint job in the original color, Granada. If you want to bring back a Euro spec car, recommend looking for a car in southern Europe, i.e. warmer climates where they don't dump salt on the roads in the winter.