Bought my dream car last week: An introduction.

[Jedidiah]

Hello 2002 FAQ Members whose posts/threads I have been quietly reading in the shadows for quite some time now...
 

I am very excited to say as of Wednesday last week I joined y'all as a 2002 owner!

 

The basic story:

 

I have long wanted a 2002. I recently got my first well paying gig, and am finally able to make my dream a reality. I had been causally checking/researching available 2002's for sometime, and only in the last couple of months had the search become more serious.

I was looking for a '76, that has work done on it, with some projects left to complete. Part of why I wanted the car was to work on it obviously, but I also wanted something I could drive right away.

I inquired about a few listed online, but nothing seemed right, or to work out. Until I stumbled upon one on ebay. It was perfect. Mostly restored exterior and interior, with fun projects left to finish, and a 4 year old rebuilt top half engine, new shocks and struts etc.. It was perfect. Something I could drive immediately, but would have issues arise here and there, and stuff left to do to it. And boy did I have a lot of driving ahead of me if I was to purchase the car.

 

Without going into too much detail, the sellers buy it now was listed well above what I was willing to pay, as it should have been, the car is in great shape and mostly restored. But the bidding was starting just under my budget. So, i contacted the seller. After a video walkthrough via facetime and lots of communication, I felt confident in my purchase. I waited on the auction to see what it would go for, in no way thinking I would possibly win it with my budget being just $500 over what the bidding started at.

 

With 10 minutes left, not one person had placed a bid. So I placed my max bid.

 

Another 10 minutes pass, the auction ends, and I was the sole bidder. HIZZAH!

 

Initially, I was going to have the car shipped to me. It was near Newark, NJ, and I live in Austin Texas. It's an 1800 mile voyage.

But, things worked out with work etc, and I got an extra week off. Found a super cheap plane ticket, and did the calculations for gas, and as it turned out I could save a whole bundle of money going on an awesome road trip I had always dreamed of.

I got everything set up, got a single trip permit, bought the plane ticket, got a AAA membership and off I went!
 

In person, the car was even better than i could have imagined. The engine purred, it drive and stopped straight and with ease... and it looked incredible.

We made the deal and I started my journey. My first stop was Washington DC, I wanted to catch a game at Nationals park as I had never been before. Everything is going fine, until about 10 miles away from the ballpark, I hit the brakes, and feel something pop and give through the pedal... uh oh. Now the car is jolting and grabbing every time I apply the brakes. Still stopping, but not smoothly, and making clanking noises. Time to get creative with downshifting and use the brakes a little as possible until I find a parking lot for the game.

During the game, I am sweating. I expected something might happen, the car being 41 years old and all, but not so quickly. On the first day of the journey? C'mon.

I weigh my options, inspect things as best I could after the game, and decide that as long as I am still able to stop, I will keep driving a little past DC, stop at a hotel and come up with a game plan.
 

Which is exactly what I did. Keeping up with the downshifting to nearly bring the car to a halt, and use the brakes as little as possible.

I have an uncle that lives in Lexington, and he randomly contacted me to offer to stay at his place. Great! It's on the way, and I could get the car looked at while I don't have my tools with me.

I make it ALLL the way to Lexington, perform the first oil change in the parking lot of an Auto Zone, and drive to my uncles house. It's too late to stop at Midas right now.

The next morning, I wake up and get to Midas before it opens.

Upon inspection, the mechanic tells me the rear brake shoes literally fell apart. His words "As far as I can tell it's been totally restored, except for these parts. If anything was going to break on you it was these." And they did. Not quite shattered, but pretty close. I couldn't believe I had made it nearly 800 miles on them, and didn't significantly damage anything. He was able to order the parts, and get them the next day.

I wasn't upset it happened, more upset that I couldn't fix it. But oh well.

 

It all worked out, and I made the rest of the journey home. The engine never even gave the slightest hiccup and ran like a champ at 70-75mph basically the entire way.

Anyway, I will attach some pictures. Very glad to be joining the community.

[Zorac]

congrats! car looks in excellent shape!

[arminyack]

wow, sweet looking car man! Congratulations!

 

I wish '76 cars were not so sketchy here in cali. 

[Vintagedavid]

Kudos for driving it home!  The car looks great.

[bento]

Congratulations and welcome!

 

Nice looking car.

[2002cool2]

Nice. Congrats!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Dudeland]

Congrats I own a 75 and I love it. 

 

M

[Jedidiah]

26 minutes ago, arminyack said:

wow, sweet looking car man! Congratulations!

 

I wish '76 cars were not so sketchy here in cali. 

What do you mean by sketchy?

[zinz]

What an awesome story and a great looking car. I sure hope you will drive it out to some of our local Austin gatherings!

 

 

That pic was just last week's monthly lunch. We'll gather again, 3rd Saturday AM at Mozart's Coffee. Hope to see you there!

 

Ed Z

 

[Greg R aka Big_Lebowski]

What a beauty!  As Ed mentioned, we hope to meet you soon!  We have a monthly Austin area BMW 2002 and Classic BMW Cars & Coffee on the 3rd Saturday morning of each month.  We just had our first 02 lunch meet up last week.  We have a strong 02 community with some really knowledgeable and generous folks.  Welcome aboard!! I'll send you a pm with my contact info.

 

Greg Resa

[Jedidiah]

19 minutes ago, zinz said:

What an awesome story and a great looking car. I sure hope you will drive it out to some of our local Austin gatherings!

That pic was just last week's monthly lunch. We'll gather again, 3rd Saturday AM at Mozart's Coffee. Hope to see you there!

 

Ed Z

 

 

10 minutes ago, Big_Lebowski said:

What a beauty!  As Ed mentioned, we hope to meet you soon!  We have a monthly Austin area BMW 2002 and Classic BMW Cars & Coffee on the 3rd Saturday morning of each month.  We just had our first 02 lunch meet up last week.  We have a strong 02 community with some really knowledgeable and generous folks.  Welcome aboard!! I'll send you a pm with my contact info.

 

Greg Resa

I will absolutely be there! Part of why I've wanted one for so long!

[halboyles]

Great adventure!  Way to persevere.  

[John_in_VA]

41 minutes ago, Jedidiah said:

What do you mean by sketchy?

 

They have to pass state emission testing.  It can prove difficult.

[Greg R aka Big_Lebowski]

Sent you a pm... Also, Terry Sayther's Fall 02berfest is coming up at the end of October.  A really cool weekend gathering out in Fredericksburg that always has a good turnout.  Terry and Debbie map out some cool routes for us to cruise.

[mataku527]

I came from a similar place as you, dream car, wanted a car to learn on.  Yours seems like a better place to start.  I definitely understand the frustration when something breaks and you can't fix it; however, when you are on the road, it is definitely a different beast.  I made sure to get the AAA gold and have had to use it once already since I've had the car for 3 months - ended up being a split fuel line. The car actually stalled again on the side of the road, luckily I was able to trace it back to a ignition coil plug that somehow just popped off.  (after being on the side for almost 30 minutes of a busy street and AAA on their way). 

 

Since I've had the car - I've learned quite a bit and hope to learn more.  Just be patient, have a back up plan and take your time.   I do have a 1999 civic that I use when the 2002 is out of commission, I think this gives me time to work on it rather than sending it out.  The forums have been a good help and local owners are even better.  

 

Best of luck with the new car, it looks really great.