New Bay Area 02 Owner

[Flipp]

Hi everyone!

My name is Lance and I just recently picked up this 74 2002 tii from a buddy of mine who purchased it a few years back from another guy in the bay area. It has its little bits and pieces that need some attention, as most 02's do, but over the car is in excellent condition. The car was featured in Petrolicious at one point, here is the link: https://petrolicious.com/articles/this-bmw-gives-2002-reasons-to-keep-fixing-it

So far, after looking over the car, Ive found that the driver side frame rail is rusted out and is slightly pushed upward towards the driver side floor. Ive already ordered and received a new frame rail and have reached out to The Resto Shop to get that swapped out. Ive also just swapped out the motor mounts with IE poly motor mounts. The motor no longer dances while its running. Im also currently swapping out the shotty made coilovers from the original owner to some better ones. 

sadly, the original motor was swapped out for a 80's 320 m10 that had lower miles and is carbureted. Which I dont mind, but having the original setup would have been great. Im trying to see if there are any specific differences in the 320 m10 vs the 2002 m10 so I know what i'm dealing with maintenance wise. I'd hate to order the incorrect parts for the motor if there were some serious changes from the e10 to the e21.

Im still new to this car and i'm reading up more on the little quirks the 02 has and i'd love to meet up and chat with some local bay area 02 owners who I can learn from about the car and get some insight on the car/motor. So do lmk if there are any running meets I could swing by. ??

oh and sorry in advance for all the questions that I will be asking. ?

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by Flipp
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[BGB]

Cool car! Welcome to the team. Where are you located?

[Flipp]

13 minutes ago, BGB said:

Cool car! Welcome to the team. Where are you located?

Thanks! I'm in the South Bay/SJ area.

[CoastalCrush]

E21 camshaft and dizzy are cut differently and spin in he opposite direction of an 02

[2002iii]

Welcome to the addiction, I mean club lol. I'm in Oakland and have a 1974 pastellblau 2002 and I'm a mechanic and sell some parts.

 

Looks like a nice car, the tii purists will have a fit when you open the hood.

 

Yeah the e21 320i heads also have injector ports, they use a longer water pumps and a better exhaust manifold gasket with a heatshield that fits the 02 nicely. 320i's made after 1979 in the us are 1.8l.

 

If you look at the calendar there is a SF bay area cars and coffee + drive coming up on the 19th and the annual swap and show in Brisbane in October.

[Flipp]

4 hours ago, 2002iii said:

Welcome to the addiction, I mean club lol. I'm in Oakland and have a 1974 pastellblau 2002 and I'm a mechanic and sell some parts.

 

Looks like a nice car, the tii purists will have a fit when you open the hood.

 

Yeah the e21 320i heads also have injector ports, they use a longer water pumps and a better exhaust manifold gasket with a heatshield that fits the 02 nicely. 320i's made after 1979 in the us are 1.8l.

 

If you look at the calendar there is a SF bay area cars and coffee + drive coming up on the 19th and the annual swap and show in Brisbane in October.

Hahaha Thanks!

Yea I already know some will also feel the PO should have left the stock motor in the car, but it is what it is.

Yea im still trying to sort out what all im working with. I'm trying to clean up the engine bay and I keep finding more things to fix/correct. bad/damaged grounding wires, tapped up harnesses and loose hoses and other cables. the PO wasnt too much of a car person it seems. the receipts folder that came with the car was full of him going to shops for simple oil and brake jobs. I dont think he did much himself and the things he did do weren't done all that great. 

Ill try and make it to the next cars and coffee meet. I just need to sort out the suspension first. 

[2002iii]

Yeah some 2002's have had a rough life. I recently sorted out a 1969 2002 a friend bought, the previous owner was a musician who got the car running barely after a long slumber. It had all kinds of electric issues from broken wires to wires wrapped together and covered in duct tape. After a tune up and lots of test drives and adjustments it ran pretty good for a barn find.

 

If you can't get your car driveable and safe before the cars and coffee you can show up in another vehicle and check out others 02's and get advice.

[Flipp]

21 minutes ago, 2002iii said:

Yeah some 2002's have had a rough life. I recently sorted out a 1969 2002 a friend bought, the previous owner was a musician who got the car running barely after a long slumber. It had all kinds of electric issues from broken wires to wires wrapped together and covered in duct tape. After a tune up and lots of test drives and adjustments it ran pretty good for a barn find.

 

If you can't get your car driveable and safe before the cars and coffee you can show up in another vehicle and check out others 02's and get advice.

Oh man, that just sounds lovely, haha

Yea Ill make it out there one way or another. I'd like to meet the others and check out some more 02's to get a sense of how things are supposed to look like and get some inspiration. 

Quick Questions as you said you wrench on these quite often. The larger nut/bolt on the lower control arm, would you happen to know the size of it by chance? I'm thinking its a 24mm or 25mm?

Im removing the front struts and the PO used some non OEM allen head bolts on the bottom of the struts and I cant get a good angle to get them off, especially the one that more inwards towards the engine bay. Im also afraid they may strip. I'll have to unbolt the loser control arm and take it all out together. probably bring out the torch as-well. 

[2002iii]

The lower control arm bolts and nuts are 24mm.

 

I wonder why they used Allen bolts? If the balljoints have been replaced you can unbolt them to get the strut off without the control arm. If the balljoints are the factory riveted in ones you might want to replace them while your in there.

 

For reference check out the articles section, especially the BMW factory blue book manual. You can also look up part #'s on realoem.com

[Flipp]

13 hours ago, 2002iii said:

The lower control arm bolts and nuts are 24mm.

 

I wonder why they used Allen bolts? If the balljoints have been replaced you can unbolt them to get the strut off without the control arm. If the balljoints are the factory riveted in ones you might want to replace them while your in there.

 

For reference check out the articles section, especially the BMW factory blue book manual. You can also look up part #'s on realoem.com

Oh you mean just removing the nuts and bolts holding the ball joint and leaving it attached to the bottom of the strut. Good Idea! I looked back at some pics and yes the ball joints were replaced at one point in time, so I think thats the best route for me to go. 

Not sure why the PO used allen head bolts. They did the IE coilover conversion but it was shotty work. ?

I purchased a scanned/searchable PDF copy of the factory manual, but hopefully I can get my hands on a set of the blue books. Really wish they would reprint those.

and I love Realoem. Ive used it a lot for my 88 325is. great website.

[2002iii]

Are the coilovers fixable? If not I have some regular 2002 front struts with Bilstein hd inserts that I could sell you.

 

I have an extra blue book manual I might be willing to sell.

[Flipp]

7 hours ago, 2002iii said:

Are the coilovers fixable? If not I have some regular 2002 front struts with Bilstein hd inserts that I could sell you.

 

I have an extra blue book manual I might be willing to sell.

yea they are fixable, but I dont like the IE coilover conversion much. There is no preload adjustment and the ride on this type of coilover conversion can be a little rough, well for DD'ing anyway. 

I picked up a new set of the Gecko coilovers and will be getting those welded on. 

Oh yea? do lmk about that blue book you have. ??

[Cooper]

I also recommend that you make your way to our neue Klasse and Koffee in Los Gatos on Saturday! Lots of nice and helpful people will be there!
 

I'm with The Resto Shop and we’ll be there also! 

[Round 73]

Welcome! We are in the East Bay as well. Hope to meet others at the Oct. 2 event. 

[Flipp]

3 hours ago, Round 73 said:

Welcome! We are in the East Bay as well. Hope to meet others at the Oct. 2 event. 

Thanks!