LA to Chicago- am I crazy to try and drive it?

[Guest Anonymous]

I found a great 02 near LAX. I'm about 90 miles outside of Chicago. The car is in great condition, and has pased a mechanical inspection.

Enclosed truck looks like $2000.00 open truck $1000.00, or I could drive it home.

If I drive it, it would have to be a 2 or 3 day trip at most.

What would you do?

[MichaelP]

Check out the car thoroughly yourself, change as many of the fluids as possible (Jiffy Lube-ish places are great when you're from outta town), get names of folks from this board along the way and/or bring/borrow a copy of the BMW_CCA "Friends of BMW" glove compartment book. Bring a cell phone and check basic tools with your luggage on the flight out. Just about any 02 part can be delivered anywhere by FedEx.

You could rent a Ryder type truck with a tow bar, but that might end up as much as the open hauler.

[ryanOC]

i negotiated the purchase of my car via email, trying to check as much stuff as i possibly could think of

when all was said and done, my brother (mechanic) and i checked the car out, and took it to the hotel for the night.

the drive home was around 500 miles or so

only problem was loose connections with coil. the car was not near good condition even, but it fared great.

anyways. we brought some tools, a belt, fuel filter, some hoses, and i forget what else, but we made it, and it was a great drive (this was from RENO, NV down to SoCal- great trip thru the mountains w/ snow, etc)

1 problem not thought of... and was a bit distracting... heater box was all screwed up, with air coming into the car without the vent flaps working. it was freezing outside, and our feet, etc. were suffering! there was also a vent coming in from the window.. bad seal.

all in all it was good times, and a great trip. my fair to poor condition 2002 had no problems making the journey...

2000 or so miles is another question, but how can you ever be sure...

['02onthebrain]

You're not crazy if it is a good car. I just bought one in Toronto and drove it to Philly, over 500 miles. I would drive it to California and back, the car is that solid, but I got very lucky, had a great seller who did extra work for me so the car was tight. The other option is borrowing a truck from someone, or put a hitch on your car and rent a u-haul flatbed out in LA and drive it back to Chicago. Certainly cheaper than paying someone to haul it.

[prsncat]

Have someone local inspect and service it... then, fly in and drive it home. Brian Foster

[ryanOC]

also, i had to rebuild the engine about 2 months after buying it

:-X

[_z_]

you might want to join AAA or something before you do the drive.. at least you can get a free tow if something goes wrong.

[K-Swiss]

All that we had was a factory tool kit and a spare fan belt this summer...

Would I do it again? You bet! theres no good reason that a good running 2002 shouldn't make the trip.

[Mike Self]

to add to those already posted...

1. Watch weather carefully so you don't get caught in really bad WX crossing the mountains (you have two sets, remember). Take a laptop.

2. Make sure the heater is functioning properly and the thermostat is also. You definitely don't want to be traveling cross country in the winter with little or no heat. That's dangerous.

3. Make sure the exhaust system (and the floor) is good and tight--with the car all closed up you don't want fumes creeping in--they can kill you.

4. Before leaving California, pick up some basic spares--stuff that could get you going again if you have a breakdown on the road--points, condenser, cap, rotor, a couple of spark plug terminals, fuel filter, fan belt, fuses, assortment of metric fasteners, duct tape, an inexpensive blanket, a gallon of pre-mixed antifreeze, oil, WD-40, windshield washer antifreeze, an 8x10 sheet of heavy plastic or a plastic tarp.

5. Put on new wiper blades and get the windshield washer pump working.

6. Take warm clothes with you.

Go for it--sounds like a real adventure! Post your route in advance so we can offer help if needed...

cheers and happy roadtripping

mike

[Delia]

I purchased my '73 tii from a guy in Washington DC and DROVE it (650 miles) back to Michigan during the first week of March, 2001. I'd not inspected the car, and decided to take along a friend and make the trip "an adventure." The weather was cold, clear, sunny and DRY.

The heater worked, the lights and signals blinked, and with the exception of the valve train rattling like a coffee can full of nuts and bolts, the car performed without incident.

A year later, I drove it (2500 miles round trip) to O'Fest 2002 in Keystone, CO. That trip cost me a new triple core radiator from Curt Ingraham. Money well spent, IMO.

Crazy???

Not in the slightest...

Delia and "Orange Julius"

'73tii

Inka

#2762756

BMW CCA #1974

[Guest Anonymous]

I have done that trip myself, though 13 years ago and during the Spring. I purchased a car outside of LA and actually back-tracked to the ocean, put my feet in, and then took Route 66 home. There are plenty of great Route 66 guides, though figuring out the sometimes cryptic directions in reverse can be challenging.

I stayed at no national brand hotels, ate at no national brands restuarants, and stopped at many many many classic Route 66 tourist stops (caverns, meteor impact craters, etc., etc.). In all it took five days and was worth every single minute.

I only broke down once, in Sante Fe, where some very knowledgeable cocaine dealers fixed the fuel leak on my tii (no kidding - long story).

[Harv]

I only broke down once, in Sante Fe, where some very knowledgeable cocaine dealers fixed the fuel leak on my tii (no kidding - long story).

I thought that I was the only person with stories like that.

John

[Guest Anonymous]

to elaborate...

Pulled out of the motel in Sante Fe and got about a block before smelling a lot of gas. Pulled it over and shut it down to find my tii pump under the hood completely wet and leaking from three of the four hex screw / o-rings. I pop the trunk (I UPS'd myself about 100 pounds of tools to the sellers house before attempting the Route 66 trek home to Chicago) and begin looking for the right allen wrench.

Then a big pick up truck from in the opposite direction pulls over and two guys come out. From about 30 feet away and from the front (with the hood up) one guy yells "is that a tii"? They were in Sante Fe for a vintage race and were both mechanics (so some sort). We flipped the o-rings (no spares - no real options on a Sunday for parts - Pep boys had nothing close).

It stopped the leaks, so I offer the guys cash or a drink at a bar or something for their time. They suggest a drink at the Hyatt and we go and I pay. They get a call on the cell phone while at the bar (1992 - cell phones were pretty impressive) and ask me if I want to zip down to Albuquerque to pick up a couple of keys of blow! I gracefully bow out saying that I need to put in a few hundred miles before the days end.

Nice guys, good mechanics, questionable ethics.

[Guest Anonymous]

to elaborate...

Pulled out of the motel in Sante Fe and got about a block before smelling a lot of gas. Pulled it over and shut it down to find my tii pump under the hood completely wet and leaking from three of the four hex screw / o-rings. I pop the trunk (I UPS'd myself about 100 pounds of tools to the sellers house before attempting the Route 66 trek home to Chicago) and begin looking for the right allen wrench.

Then a big pick up truck from in the opposite direction pulls over and two guys come out. From about 30 feet away and from the front (with the hood up) one guy yells "is that a tii"? They were in Sante Fe for a vintage race and were both mechanics (so some sort). We flipped the o-rings (no spares - no real options on a Sunday for parts - Pep boys had nothing close).

It stopped the leaks, so I offer the guys cash or a drink at a bar or something for their time. They suggest a drink at the Hyatt and we go and I pay. They get a call on the cell phone while at the bar (1992 - cell phones were pretty impressive) and ask me if I want to zip down to Albuquerque to pick up a couple of keys of blow! I gracefully bow out saying that I need to put in a few hundred miles before the days end.

Nice guys, good mechanics, questionable ethics.

[jgerry2002]

My most recent purchase, a 74 tii came from Chicago. A friend of mine drove it to me in NYC.

No spares, no tools, nothing.

It made it 819 out of the 820 miles and hit a bump coming off the Manhattan bridge and the B+ grounded out on the frame causing an electrical fire.

By pure luck the car ran and just barely charged. The factory solder point #19 (big piece of crimped metal on all the red hot wires) stopped the arching.

It took me 12-15 hours and several partial wiring harnesses and I rebuilt the wiring.

Two weeks after the fire, the wiring worked (mostly), and I drove the car another 320miles to my barn upstate NY. I managed to get caught in a snow storm north of Albany on 10 year old performance tires. 1.5 hours at 30mph under treachorous conditions. Cars off the road everywhere.

Once the weather cleared a little further upstate, could not figure out at first why I could see only about 50' on front of me. I arrived at my parents house and found the whole front of the car (with the exception of the two bosch foglights that I repaired at the last second) encased in thick ice.

Made it though, but it was quite the adventure.