What is the most stupid thing the PO did to your 02?

[scottt]

Lost the W spring that holds the bottom of the rear brake shoes together and tied them together with bailing wire. Same person eliminated the nut that holds both halves of the driveshaft together at the center bearing.

Both pale compared to the sunroof transplant. They cut the entire roof of a car off at the pillars and tack welded it on this car. The mangled drain tubes rusted the A and C pillars straight thru.

But the most stupid thing could be ordering a brand new 32/36 from Redline, installing it, finding it won't run and selling the whole car to me for $ 50.

[rjfischerjr]

Well it was actually not the PO, it was someone before that. They completely bastardized the wiring. I am slowly fixing it a wire at a time. I believe it was done to install air horns and some fog lights. Oh, and they drilled holes in the bumper for the fog lights.

[Jim_75Sahara]

The p.o. put in a ridiculously complicated Kenwood stereo/CD unit with speakers in the doors and rear seat bulkhead w/a massive amp in the trunk. It's wired up badly and the amp drained my battery every time I parked the car for a few days. The amp and rear speakers are disconnected now. I rarely use the blasted radio. Some day I'lll get an old Blaupunkt and set it right. P.O. had a WINK mirror which looked stupid and blocked the visors which I wanted to use. He put on a crappy black aftermarket mirror on the driver's side and blacked out all trim....

[kweebs]

I'd say the two gaping 15 inch holes cut into the rear bulkhead for subwoofers was a poor decision.

[rjfischerjr]

Ah.... the Wink Mirror! One of my old 02's had one of those too. I put a normal mirror on but then had some ugly holes in the headliner.

[skipsfcr]

I'd say the two gaping 15 inch holes cut into the rear bulkhead for subwoofers was a poor decision.

LOL!!

[FunElan]

One of my PO's did the same thing that was done to Hamada's car, except the speakers don't work and are being held in by one screw each. They also jacked the car up from the wishbones. But that's fine now because I put new ones in.

For some reason also, an entire 2002 rear subframe was put in my 1600, but they didn't bother to put in a rear sway bar.

-Matt

[pkbinplano]

the po of my car took the original tii motor out and took it to the mechanic for total rebuild. Then never went back for it after it was finished. Mechanic sold it. I've heard rumors but no facts as to where it is. Thats why my tii is carbed now with non number matching motor. grrrrrrr

[RandyMolson]

AND!!>>>I can't believe I forgot about this...The PO of my jadegrun car couldn't figure out that the heater box needed to be removed in order to access the blower motor so...He AIR-CHISELED the center cowl covering (under the hood, in front of the windshield) out of the car!!

Wow!

My worst so far is blown fuses wrapped in aluminum foil and reused. I would post a pic, except the comcast server is down, again.

[mtriple]

My goodness, With the exception of "giving up his 02 for myslef" I wonder, did these people ever had a slight idea that these little cars will turn out to be special one day? what gives? they looked at them differently? compared to pricing today, were they looked at as average and not special ?

[DB]

Not my '02, but a parts car, the PO's camber adjustment for a bent strut was stupid and probably bordering on criminal.

[Guest Anonymous]

They completely bastardized the wiring.

Ditto. I am writing this anonymously because the two most previous owners are FAQers and I am not sure who did this.

But apparently someone along the lines thought they had a better idea of wiring than BMW and tried to rewire a number of things.

Result.

Sometimes the electric fan works - sometimes not.

Sometimes the temp gauge works - sometimes not.

Sometimes the blower motor works - sometimes not.

Sometimes (and this is the best one) if the overide switch for the electric fan is on and you turn the ignition off, the car will continue to run until you turn the ignition back on then the fan off then the ignition off - in that order. Shut the fan off first and then try to turn the ignition off and you have to turn everything back on and start the shutdown process again - in order.

I can't even figure out how you would do that if you wanted to.

Then the turn signal switch is on the wrong side - oh wait - BMW did that.

[RandyMolson]

They completely bastardized the wiring.

Ditto. I am writing this anonymously because the two most previous owners are FAQers and I am not sure who did this.

Go ahead and name names. Canuk and Bisquit both appear to be on vacation...so we are due for a fresh round of fireworks.

[Chris_1602]

My PO put a peugeot steering wheels and steering column. Moreover, he installed holden's door opener and some cheap ass japanese plastic side mirror. The most distrubing thing, he flared the whole body to strip the paint to bear metal altering the shape and lines of the body. Current state: I abandoned the car afterwards and bought a second car.

[kris]

Well it's hard to narrow it down as there is so much shoddy work to choose from but the highlights are the low miles rebuilt motor

Wiring was also up to the quality of his motor work

Check out the custom velcro setup for the relays

This was a FAQ member who sold the car as having a great motor. It's in the recycling bin.