Current market value

[esty]

17 minutes ago, conkitchen said:

He lives in Wisconsin,sheesh Esty, do a search within the thread.  ?

 

 

 

Been waiting like ten years to tell Esty to do a search.  

i did a search...i assume google hsn't had time to pick it up yet

[Henning]

Read. Read. Read.

Try to get as much info about these cars, their specs concerning year ranges, issues and options as you can.

 

Follow, follow, follow.

Ads, threads and posts discussing cars for sale and their condition to get a certain overview about what to look at. Try to find out if they're actually sold and for how many $$$.

 

Check, check, check.

Get out of your house to inspect cars for sale. Be prepared for surprises and far distance trips. Have your wallet turned inside-out for disappointments.

 

Spend, spend, spend.

Money for nightflights, motels and rental cars. Patience for waiting for the real one. Time for explaining all this to your wife and family.

 

h

 

[Shawn Piper]

4 hours ago, Steve Tochi said:

Yes as others mentioned, do you homework and be patient.  Learn everything you can about values and condition, then you will be really confused.  Perhaps really give some thought if you want an 02 for a daily driver, yes they're cool but practical?  These are 50 year old cars, I wouldn't be focused as much on price, but rather maintenance and condition.  I don't know where you're located but consider certain regions have more rust, smog requirements, and hotter/colder weather.

I recently acquired a VW Westfalia poptop, talk about a money pit.  Their forum poses a couple of thoughts which are applicable to buying any 50 year old car...paraphrased to 02s:

"if you were to be given a 2002 for free, would it make sense to pour money into it"

"The cheapest 2002s are the most expensive"

"Do it once and be done with it"

And this is one of my favorite quotes I use negotiating at work "don't step over a dollar to pick up a penny"

Steve

 

This is very good advice. 50yro cars can have lots of hidden issues. Bthorne should buy the best 2002 he can afford.  I've seen nice cars on BaT sell for $20-$30k. If you don't pay up front, you will pay later in your time and money.

 

Case in point, I received my running and driving 2002 for free (inherited), it was allegedly rust free (California car), with a decent maintenance history (going back to purchase), so it was ostensibly a great car. During repaint, I found rust holes that weren't originally apparent. The suspension needed a full rebuilding. Diff had a chipped spider gear.  Engine needed new seals. Etc etc.Granted, I was happy to rehab a family heirloom, but this car has been a huge money pit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Conserv]

2 hours ago, conkitchen said:

 

He lives in Wisconsin,sheesh Esty, do a search within the thread.  ?

 

Been waiting like ten years to tell Esty to do a search. 
 

Still laughing.... ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

[saaron]

In general, ‘73s and older cost a little more, fwiw.  Which can be a little counter intuitive at first - newer being less costly.  You might want a ‘74-‘76 if you are going to daily it - better bumpers.  When I bought mine I was looking for a ‘74-‘76 because of the better bumpers.  Ended up with a ‘72 tii.  Best laid plans...

 

It will go better for you if you do your own work.  If you have to run to a shop every time something breaks or needs attention, you’ll be spending a lot of money, and time running it back and forth.  

 

If you don’t do your own work, seek out a good independent shop that will work on 02s.  The more experience, the better.  As everyone points out, these things are old, so not every shop is going to be good at working on it.  

 

Scott

[catlin]

I sent you a PM. 

[steve oneill]

For personal reasons I was looking for an automatic with AC. Looked for two months. Then put up a post on E9 where I mostly hang out with my 3.0CS. 

 

A guy responded immediately, had a Chaminox 76, auto, air, 78,000 miles, Weber, perfect original condition. A true time capsule. No rust, seriously, two tii buddies confirmed no rust.

 

Paid $18,000, drove it home from north NJ to Bucks County PA.  

 

So you may be thinking, what's there to do? Plenty. 

 

Chrome bumpers, five new tires. My mechanic installed the new Petronix that came with the car, and a new K&N air filter, tore out all the emissions junk, replacing the AC face plate which does not have the original ash tray. 

 

esty, are you reading this, made front and rear sisal carpet mats and a trunk carpet, perfect.

 

Down the road a 5 sp is in the car's  future. And headers and an Ansa exhaust.  At that point I will have added $6,000 to the $18,000 purchase price. Worth every penny!

 

Repeating the advice above: Buy the best car you can afford, travel if you have to and are serious, then be prepared to spend more.

 

 

[Schon '02]

Worth reading to get a feel for the market and learn about what to look for:

 

https://bringatrailer.com/auctions/results/?search=Bmw+2002+

[Flamingo 5]

Round tail light cars and sunroof cars sell for a premium.

Tiis ( fuel injected) sell for a premium and

haves lots of expensive parts in the fuel delivery.

Standard o2’s with a single carb is a bargain ( you can even buy a complete spare carb for $300)

[7502]

I feel like I got lucky on my '76 with sunroof. Found it on Craigslist located about 30 minutes south of me in an even smaller town than mine. It was advertised for $6900. After a quick once over and test drive I bought it for $6000 cash money amd drove it home. A buddy followed me home in my VW. . Apparently the 2002, was a recent, not quite finished father son project where they fixed it up mechanically and gave it an amateurish repaint in the original Chamonox color. I think the son went away for college or something and the Dad sold it. It wasn't quite finished on some interior details but it was decent.  A big part of it was luck but the other part was me checking Craigslist daily for a month or so. It was actually the first 2002 I even looked at. All the rest were too expensive or too rusty and beat up. I drive it pretty much daily. But my commute is only about 15 minutes city driving and secondary roads so if anything I probably don't commute long enough for it to even get fully warmed up in the winter.  

 

Only really expensive thing I have done was to have a local shop swap out the good 4 speed for a good 5 speed.  I like a car that looks good at up to about 10 foot or so, for me that's good enough.

[Robert Kyle]

no such thing as a non-rusty 2002 under $20k IMHO.

 

My "rust-free California car) looked rust free.  Looking from underneath, just showed a few rusty-looking zits under the paint.

 

Sure enough, the front floor pans are shot!

 

Daily driver in WI...I say, find something else made at least in the '90s.

[majdomo]

Lots of good advice here, on buying and locating and how much to spend and all of that. Totally true.

 

I would also be very clear about your goal for the car. If you want to daily a 50 year old car, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it will cost money and time and will break your heart and your wallet at the same time. Ask yourself, especially if you’ve never done this before, if that’s ok. And I don’t mean, like, yeah it’s fine whatever I’m good I just want an 02 to daily. I mean, like, it’s -10 out and the car won’t start and you are late to a meeting and there ain’t no way she’s taking you to work AGAIN because then SHE’S late and the kids are late and all because yadda yadda yadda.

 

However, if your goal is to drive a cool car every day, and to only have ONE car that gets you around and tootle around with on the weekend, it’s going to cost you $ up front to get something reliable enough to get you to work and back. Every. Single. Day. Think of it this way, even a really good 02 will cost $30k up front, which would get you a Camry these days. I know what I’d drive, if I had the choice.

 

I daily’d the E30 318is for about a year, after buying it for $8.5K and putting another $10K into it. Car is awesome, but I like it too much to daily. Which sounds weird, and I never thought I’d be one of those guys who just doesn’t want to drive it too much. For me, though, it’s more like I like it so much I don’t want to waste the miles on the odo sitting in traffic on the 5 back and forth to work every day, I’d rather have those miles putting a smile on my face blasting out the 2.

 

Bottom line - it’s your money and time and effort and all of that stuff. Do it for the right reasons for YOU and remember the nasty surprises that come along just turn into more awesome stories for later.

[Bthorne]

9 minutes ago, majdomo said:

Lots of good advice here, on buying and locating and how much to spend and all of that. Totally true.

 

I would also be very clear about your goal for the car. If you want to daily a 50 year old car, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it will cost money and time and will break your heart and your wallet at the same time. Ask yourself, especially if you’ve never done this before, if that’s ok. And I don’t mean, like, yeah it’s fine whatever I’m good I just want an 02 to daily. I mean, like, it’s -10 out and the car won’t start and you are late to a meeting and there ain’t no way she’s taking you to work AGAIN because then SHE’S late and the kids are late and all because yadda yadda yadda.

 

However, if your goal is to drive a cool car every day, and to only have ONE car that gets you around and tootle around with on the weekend, it’s going to cost you $ up front to get something reliable enough to get you to work and back. Every. Single. Day. Think of it this way, even a really good 02 will cost $30k up front, which would get you a Camry these days. I know what I’d drive, if I had the choice.

 

I daily’d the E30 318is for about a year, after buying it for $8.5K and putting another $10K into it. Car is awesome, but I like it too much to daily. Which sounds weird, and I never thought I’d be one of those guys who just doesn’t want to drive it too much. For me, though, it’s more like I like it so much I don’t want to waste the miles on the odo sitting in traffic on the 5 back and forth to work every day, I’d rather have those miles putting a smile on my face blasting out the 2.

 

Bottom line - it’s your money and time and effort and all of that stuff. Do it for the right reasons for YOU and remember the nasty surprises that come along just turn into more awesome stories for later.

Thank you for your response, really appreciate the advice. 

[majdomo]

17 minutes ago, Bthorne said:

Thank you for your response, really appreciate the advice. 

Happy to help. I went down this road about 3 years ago, with my E30. In a lot of ways, it was painful, difficult, trying, expensive, and totally worth it. Daily driving the E30 forced me to get good and comfortable doing my own wrenching. I had never done an oil change 2 years ago, and just finished a transmission, rear subframe, and drivetrain refresh on the 02 last week.

 

Also check out r3vlimited.com, if you haven’t already, for a great E30 community. Different than FAQ but still good.

[Bthorne]

14 minutes ago, majdomo said:

Happy to help. I went down this road about 3 years ago, with my E30. In a lot of ways, it was painful, difficult, trying, expensive, and totally worth it. Daily driving the E30 forced me to get good and comfortable doing my own wrenching. I had never done an oil change 2 years ago, and just finished a transmission, rear subframe, and drivetrain refresh on the 02 last week.

 

Also check out r3vlimited.com, if you haven’t already, for a great E30 community. Different than FAQ but still good.

Thank you I will check it out.