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As many of you know by now, I'm **no longer working with Maximillian Importing** selling parts. In February I began building my own new business specializing in mechanical restoration and preservation of EXCLUSIVELY classic and vintage BMWs in Western Pennsylvania. This is both exhilarating and terrifying... but it's high time I took the plunge and started working for myself - doing what I truly love. If you have parts needs, you can still contact the folks at Maximillian using their e mail address: classicbmwparts@gmail.com but I am no longer viewing or answering any of those e mails. Saul can help you out from here onward. Current goals include buying real estate / shop space later this summer, and my plan is to remain highly specialized, drawing on my 35 years of experience and singular focus on classic BMWs from the 60s and 70s. I'll be working from my home shop as well as "moonlighting" at a few specialist shops throughout the USA over the next few months.... so it will be a wild ride, indeed! Last weekend I had the pleasure of being flown out to Laguna Seca for 4 days to handle some trackside duties for a 2002 racer.... and I had an absolute BLAST. I'm hoping to do more of that in the future! And I even got to give my favorite FAQ founder Steve, a great big vaccinated hug while I was there! (In case you're wondering - he's bigger in real life and I'm smaller!) Having been a member of this forum for the last 18(?) years, I'm hoping to increase my activity here, since this is STILL the best place to find good information for our little rats! (I'd been a bit quiet over the last couple years.... but I'll be back to litter the FAQ cyberspace with my ramblings!) Yay for Springtime and New Beginnings!!! Paul Contact info below.

For those who were not aware, this site was started on 02/02/02 at 20:02 pacific time. We have had some iterations of the software, but the idea has remained the same. Gather 2002 owners from around the world into one spot for ease of sharing information. The Article section is here for anyone who wants to write something and leave it a bit more permanent and sorted. Blogs are personal project. The forums are for basic communication. Gallery is for your photos. We have added many features over the years and hope you all enjoyed them. Look at the menu at the top, you might have missed a few. Enjoy another year! Steve K. p.s. we have a store

I knew eventually this would pop up here. I've been trying to process all the gratitude I feel, over the last few weeks, but every time I think about the compassion I've received, I end up blubbering like a baby. You might think I'm exaggerating, but I assure you... I cry at the drop of a hat these days. The GFM page was initiated by my employer's wife. That speaks volumes about the quality and character of the people I work for. And again - I haven't been able to form the words to properly thank her, or my boss. In the coming days, I will remedy that. I will also try to convey my gratitude to each and every one of you that has shown me encouragement and love, as I enter into this weird little Cancer gig. I have been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. It's a Cancer with an extremely high cure / successful treatment rate. The symptoms of it suck (crippling fatigue, crazy night sweats, pain from swollen innards pressing on nerve bundles) but compared to so many other things.... pocket change in the big scheme of diseases and maladies. The chemo routine will start in mid April. Right now I'm recuperating from some fairly involved biopsy surgery that required deflating my lung to access lymph node samples for testing. Over the last 5 weeks, I've had 3" chest/needle biopsies, marrow biopsies, sliver biopsies.... and last week... some big chunks taken out. Right now, I look and feel like I've suffered a couple gunshot wounds... but that's healing quickly. I've been reciting the following joke lately: I've lost much of my muscle mass (I miss my biceps most)....my ass is a shadow of it's former self....my legs look like twigs....but at least I still have great hai.... Fuck. Chemo will take care of that. I can only hope it grows back silver, so I can play the Anthony Bourdain card when this is over. That dude is a personal hero. Truth be told, I have never been kind to my body. Between smoking cigarettes and my exposure to chemicals / asbestos, and other "old car" poisons... this was only a matter of time. I'm lucky that this serves as a wake up call, and that I can begin to live a healthier lifestyle - hopefully before it's too late. I spend much of my time lately, being grateful for modern western medicine, my ability to get health insurance (that happened at the 11th hour and was a minor miracle, in February), and for the incredible, indescribable network of friends and support I've witnessed, in the last few weeks. I am so very vey lucky. I'm not sure I deserve any of it.. My Lady keeps saying: "Take that stuff out of the 'stress / guilt' column and put it in the 'grateful' column, and just move on." That's harder than it sounds sometimes. So... I raise a bottle of "Ensure" to you all, and want to take the time to say THANK YOU with every fiber of my being. Every Fiber Much love- Paul

We always come back! After nearly 12 years of wandering the hinterlands, working of other peoples 2002s, and/or trying to satisfy my hunger for a 2002 with a series of E30s, I've acquired a solid and fairly original 1972 2002tii (#2761221). It's been a full, half-century of 2002 enthusiasm and (BMWCCA membership). I can't say there haven't been a few speed bumps, detours, and potholes along the way. But all-in-all, it's been worth the effort. Like my first 2002 (#1666747), It is ironically and justifiably Chamonix over Marine Blue vinyl. I've come full-circle. Onward!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a family friend, Enrico. Even at 83 years old, he took some time and fuel to show me around his 1972 Turkisblau 2002 which he ordered himself brand new, eventually taking delivery of it in 1973 in Sydney, Australia. He told me that he purchased it as a wedding gift for his wife and eventually became the one who fell in in love with it over the years. The spot in the garage is still the same spot where he parked it on day one, have never moved homes since then. It is a 4 speed manual and sports a fair few European accessories as it was delivered. It has never been restored or repainted and shows light patina and a few dings here and there but its easy to say that this has to be one of the best kept privately owned, unrestored examples floating around, and almost none can boast the same owner for 50 years. As you can see from the pictures, he has kept every piece of paperwork associated with the car over the years, in chronological order. The car's odometer is at 73,0XX and honestly I felt a little guilty that he drove me anywhere in it considering that comes out to about 1,200kms/miles? (I forgot to look to see if the odometer was miles or kms now that I think about it but as it was a car spec'd for Australia, I'd imagine it was KMs) a year for the last 50 years. He also kept a book and looked each time it was driven and how far. Before yesterday, the last time he drove it was in August! Everything down to the radio was in working order and as you can see from my smile, I had a good time on the drive. Enjoy the pics. glad I found this place, now if I could just find my own 2002......

My shop recently hired a young BMW nut as a service writer, and he brought in a framed picture that he had found at the local Goodwill store because he had always loved the pic and thought it would look cool hanging in the office. It turns out that said car is my own '73 tii complete with Turbo-style flares being driven through the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca by the previous owner! My co-worker had no idea I owned the car. Judging by the period tobacco advertising, it was probably from the late '80s-early '90s at a BMWCCA driving event. It is a great tribute to our late friend and customer---he had about a dozen BMWs at the time of his death, and I bought the tii from his family almost 9 years ago. My boss bought his '91 E34 M5, and we helped the family sell other cars such as a Euro E24 M635CSi and a Dinan Turbo M6, E39 M5, and several storage spaces worth of parts. I am kicking myself for not grabbing one of the E21 245 OD 5-speeds, there were 3 of them! Oh well. A pretty cool discovery on 2/22/22.

Here's the place to post your best 2002 photos. Perhaps a bit like the stance thread, but with less emphasis on the "stance", and more emphasis on the car and photo quality. I'll start...

So....last nights humor about the eyebrows (If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen it - I was bitching about how much I miss my eyebrows.) was a nice way for me to let off stress, since I knew I was finally getting the results of my latest CT scan today (Monday) as well as my chemo session. Thanks to *all* of you that jumped on board. Made my night. Here's where I'm at: The largest lymph tumor that was once the size of a boneless chicken breast (11cm x 6cm, roughly) has shrunken to about the size of a sugar cube or two. Same with the other tumor, nearby. The Doctor is pleased and says this is just about perfect progress and leads to "cancer free" if all continues. I have three more bi-weekly sessions of chemo ahead of me (7 weeks, roughly) and then we'll see how things go. He says that it may never totally disappear - but that's due to the structure of the tumor and is more like harmless scar tissue than anything else. Obviously I'll have to monitor it for years to come. Prognosis is very good. Side effects are fatigue and aches / pains, etc... and I'm still dealing with an unrelated inguinal hernia the size of an avocado. Once the chemo is finished, I'll be under the knife to fix that sucker. I'm thinking that if that bastard gets any bigger, I'll have to name the thing and buy it toys and a litter box or something. For the record; I still eat like a damn horse. Constantly. Need to regain 10-15lbs before I'm happy, but things are OK. I still have some pretty shitty "unable to move off the couch" days...and they'll get a little more frequent, as the chemo builds up, they say....but I'm thankful to everyone in my life (friends, family, my employer and workmates) that has made this journey a little bit better. 2002 people are the best people. See you in Monterey at the end of the month! Thanks for keeping me company on this ride, you guys and gals are truly magnificent humans.

I finally finished my custom carpet install! I’ve been working on this for almost 2 months now. It’s been a lot of effort and a lot of learning, but I’m super happy with how it came out. It all fits and lays well and feels really custom tailored, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Initially I wasn’t sure I was up to the task and I almost went with an Esty kit, but I’m really glad I took on the project. I learned a ton about sewing and even tried my luck with some minor embroidery. 😬 The German square weave is beautiful, I love the charcoal and brown combo, and the floor mats make me happy. Progress!

I started using this forum on rare occasions a half dozen years ago. Over the past six months or so, I've been here daily. I've bought some things, sold more, participated in discussions, and asked a lot of questions. Whithout fail I've received kind and valuable advice, and in some cases, detailed help with something thorny. In recent weeks I've had occasion to use other forums for my other BMW, an E30, and other purposes. The participants have been good people, but the depth of knowledge and support hasn't been quite the same. And the technical side of this site blows everything else I've seen out of the water. The self-described old-timers who created and maintain this site perform an extraordinary service for those of us still trying to keep half-century-old cars on the road, sometimes as daily drivers. (I've put 311,000 on my two 2002s, using them as daily drivers for 36 years.) It's a pleasure and honor to be involved with this community.

Very excited to say that after a lot of tinkering, the website is now up and operational! Through ADAMS Autosport I will have a store for parts, lots of tutorials, and a blog for the Diana V2 project. There is also a map of resellers and recommended shops. BluntTech, Ireland Engineering, Ken Blasko, Vintage Sports and Restoration, Terry Sayther, CoupeKing, North Bay Bavarian, Sports Car Restoration, Guten Parts, Korman, and others are on board as resellers/installers. The idea is to produce and offer high quality aftermarket parts for our old vintage BMW's. There are a lot of neat new parts in the pipeline for the coming months. This post will be the only time I will spam on the bmw2002faq. I promise to limit Adams Autosport-related posting to tutorials in applicable threads and occasionally announce a new product (in the classifieds). Thank you so much to everyone for your support thus far. https://adamsautosport.com/ Now I need to get back to a very very patient couple of guys waiting for their differentials....

It was interesting to read that other thread with the Hemmings article about The Coolest Performance Cars of the 1970's because the first car listed was the 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS454. Well, back when I bought my '74tii in November 1974, I was driving a '70 Chevelle SS396, which actually belonged to my dad. And therein lies today's tale of time travel. November 1974, the paperwork is signed and the '74tii is ready for pickup at the dealer. On that Friday evening in November 1974, I was stationed at the Naval Amphib Base in Coronado, CA. One of my Navy pals and I jumped into my '70 Chevelle SS396 and we headed north to Saddleback BMW in Mission Viejo. Signatures accomplished, my pal jumps into the Chevelle and begins the drive back to the Phib Base. I jump into the brand-new '74tii and likewise begin the drive back. Later that evening, both cars are on-base, parked side-by-side. Ease forward just a tiny bit to September 1977: my dad sells the '70 SS396 to a local kid in Simi Valley, CA. Now let us Time Travel ZOOM ahead just a bit over 45-1/2 years from NOV '74 ..... to arrive at this past Sunday (August 16th). I'm cruising around Simi Valley in my '74tii and in a housing tract I see an open garage door ..... and there is the '70 SS396. The kid (now a few years older) that bought it never left Simi Valley, and never sold the car. He's working in the garage and I stop and tell him the story. Neither of us can believe the "statistical impossibility" of these two cars being reunited after so many years apart, with such a unique story which first connected them together. They were side-by-side in 1974, often in 1975 and 1976 and a bit in 1977. Now in 2020, they are again almost side-by-side. One owner is an original owner, the other owner is a second owner. In this picture, there's the SS396 in the background, with the same license plate as when my dad first bought the car in DEC 1969. There's the '74tii in the foreground, also with the same license plate as when I bought it in NOV 1974. Cheers, Carl

1664801 was assembled on 4 February 1969, but due to an East Coast dock strike that year, it didn't reach Bavarian Motors in NYC until May; I took delivery on 5 May. He just turned over 227000 miles, still on the original engine bottom end (valve job at 157k), transmission (no 2nd gear crunch!!!) and differential--even the original half shafts! The interior is all original except the driver's seat cushion (victim of a screwdriver in my back pocket). The 40th "second series" '69 off the line. $3452 out the door, with Michelin XAS tires and a sunroof, plus all Max's "non optional options." Taken on 6 May at our then home in Rome NY, still on NY dealer plates while I awaited my Florida license plate. I still have the plate too! mike

State of Texas said I was finished enough today to drive on the road... I still need to address a few items but mostly complete, here are some pictures of the finished product ...

Fifty years ago today, when I was 17, I bought my 1600. It was manufactured on Feb. 2, 1968. I wonder where it was hiding for those 13 months before I bought it. Maybe everyone wanted 2002s. It still has the original engine with 298,000 miles. I have done numerous upgrades to it throughout the years, but I still have most of the original parts in storage, including the spark plugs and tires.

Ok I’ll say it since it hasn’t been said yet.... why come here and ask a bunch of 02 guys to talk shit about a 02 parts supplier?!?! AFTER you stopped working for him? If you have a story to tell then tell it. If not move on. Personally I think showing up with 1 previous post to a forum and asking people to pile on and talk shit about someone without having a point in the conversation (other than to drag someone’s name in the mud) on the internet is bullshit. I’m neither a friend or foe of Ben. Met him twice. Bought something from him once which was a $20 part he had in stock and had no issues. I know others have and I use that specific knowledge to make informed decisions of doing business with him in the future. A former employee wanting to talk dirt is just poor taste. In my opinion. Especially when you start out by saying you parted ways on good terms and are starting your own 02 endeavors. Personally I’ll take that into consideration as well when I make future decisions with my 02 restoration. Rant off.

@Mark92131 Like the bracket solution. Looks slick. Painted the uprights and the areas behind the headlight brackets black. Authentic brush stroke pattern, haha. Also painted the front portion of the radiator with Eastwood’s radiator paint. Test fit the front grill to make nothing visually jumps out from behind. Fun fact, I bought the grill in 2012 when BMW did a batch of them. Price was $107. Glad to finally see it on the car. Got the header back from ceramic coating from the boys at Raw Powdercoating (LongBeach). They do fantastic work, enthusiast owned/operated. Thanks to Jesus at CK for the E9 3.0cs OE spark plug wire loom, another little period touch. Mounted it with some standoffs, but will likely get some more thermal protection for the wires. ….. and it’s finals week! First final is tomorrow morning.

Completed my Esty carpet and Recaros installation - that was a job!!!

Hi folks, I thought I had given up my desire to own a classic car, but a good friend reached out with an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So here I am with four kids and a wife, finally owning the car I've wanted since high school. I've been meaning to post for about a month, but every question I've had about the quirks of my particular car I've found the answer to by searching the FAQ. So hat tip to all of you that make this community so much fun to finally be a part of. This is a big part to why I've always wanted an old bimmer- the wealth of resources and people who've passed down all the knowledge of what works and where to find parts! My car is named Kate. If you have adolescents who've read The Mysterious Benedict Society book series, you'll know that Kate is the character who's always up for an adventure, even when there isn't one to be found, and she always keeps a bucket of tools with her. My kids named her when they saw me carry my tool bag to her when we bought her from my friend- the car had been non-op'd for the past 6 years, and I wanted to be prepared! The tool bag hasn't left the trunk, but I haven't had to use it over the past month of ownership. Kudos to my friend for replacing the fuel pump and battery and getting her running, but he said he was shocked at how easy it was to start her up despite her sitting for 6 years. Kate is an early 1971 base model, but has some tasteful upgrades from a few owners ago. H4 headlights, 15" alloys, Bilstein HD's, poly bushings throughout, unknown lowering springs (more on that to come in other posts- she rides a bit harsh!), coated two-part headers (not sure what brand), Weber 32/36. My friend replaced the trunk floor and rear panel to repair rust damage, so the back end is in primer, but there are a few other spots that need attention so she'll get primered in more places over time before she sees a fresh repaint. As a father of 4 and owner of a house that I'm trying to fix up, I've got lots of other priorities above project car, so she'll be a work in progress for several years. But my goal is to keep her running as much as possible, drive her, and fix things as time and other projects allow. She runs very well right now, so if you're in south San Jose, you may see me tearing around with one of more of my kids inside and the windows down! I'm also hoping to meet up with some of you at the Los Gatos Neue Klasse und Kaffe meets! Cheers, John B

The last couple years have of course been difficult for many reasons. Along the way, the #1 thing to help keep me sane and to remind me how fun life can be has been my 2002. The car only just came to me in 2019 so I look forward to many more years of fun driving activities to come, but WOW did 2021 set the bar high. I feel really grateful and proud to be spending this time with the car, and just wanted to share some of the highlights from the past year. One thing that won't be repeated is this car's 50th birthday! She rolled off the factory line on February 8th, 1971, according to the VIN information I have. Here's a pic from her birthday cruise this year, at David M Brown Overlook on Piuma Rd. near Malibu, CA which is one of my favorite roads to get out and drive almost every weekend. Can't have a birthday without a birthday present. I installed a pair of DCOE 40s early this year and have really enjoyed the process of setting them up and learning to tune them. Kooglewerks intake filter is also fantastic. It sounds WAY better than the 4x foam socks I tried initially. I also upgraded to a 123ignition distributor at the same time which has been great so far. Not long after I got the new carbs dialed in, I wasted no time setting out on a 3,000 mile road trip up the California coast out of Santa Monica. Made it all the way to Oregon! Magical forests everywhere up here, and definitely no shortage of amazing roads. I timed my road trip to make it back down the coast to Monterey just in time for the Rolex Motorsports Reunion, where I camped at Laguna Seca for a few days. The races and also Monterey Car Week in general was a ton of fun, and is definitely something I'll be making an annual tradition. The car performed absolutely flawlessly on the CA coastal trip. It seriously impressed me, with the only issues along the way being an alternator housing bolt backing it's self out, and a lost DCOE inspection cap (had to go buy a big washer from Home Depot to cover it). I was not at all ready to be finished driving by the time I got home, but luckily I did make it back to LA just in time for some more fun on a couple of SoCal group drives. IE open house. Had a great time at SoCal Vintage. I went out to watch the final VARA race of the season and got to hang with the big boys! Major shout out to Mike in the white #73 car, previous owner of my 02! Huge thanks again, Mike, seriously. Pretty awesome year already, but it aint over till it's over. I had this past week off work between X-Mas and New Years, so what better way to spend it than to go out and do some more driving? This time south on a mini SoCal loop through San Diego, Anza Borrego Desert, Joshua Tree, and Temecula. I even had the pleasure of discovering my new all time favorite road: De Luz Road outside Temecula. A photo will never do it justice, but wow, just an unbelievably perfectly suited road for the car. Also got a chance to push my comfort level in the car to new heights, first time having it in snow and also on dirt... CA-74 through San Jacinto Mountains encountering some <32 degree (F) flurry conditions. A ranch road in Temecula that suddenly turned to dirt. Options were to backtrack 15 miles or just send it. I wanted to get to the cool looking roads just a couple miles further on, and it seemed dry, so... All in all over 5,500 leisure miles done this year. Met a lot of new people and learned a hell of a lot. I can only hope 2022 and beyond will bring as much excitement. My plans for the car this year are to just keep driving. I'd love to do a trip through Colorado in it this summer, and am also eager to hopefully begin participating in some road rallies at some point. Thank you to everybody on this forum for the immense archive of information which has been immeasurably helpful as I continue to get to know the 2002! -Todd

It is hard to believe that it is 02/02/0224. Because of all your help, we have survived for the last twenty two years and seem to be striving somewhat. Sometimes things are tough, but ingenuity keeps this site and our cars going strong. We are a couple of years older than Facebook and 8 years older than Instagram. We might not be as big, but that was my stupid idea to start a site that, at most, could bring together the owners of only about 350000 cars. Keep them going, and enjoy the ride! I sure do. To celebrate our twenty second revolution around the sun, I am setting the price for all T-Shirts to $22. Enjoy! And I added a new design, Racing Through the Streets. Steve K. You can find all our T-shirts at our Store Or pick them here View full article

Last night was the culmination of seven months of work replacing the drivers side front floor, fixing PO's crappy speaker cut outs, rebuilding the pedal box, removing tar, removing paint, painting, sound deadening, and installing Esty's awesome carpet. Still small touch ups and the center console/AC to tackle. Photo dump of the progress: Where it started Rusted out floor and a bit of the rocker Removing tar with the last bits of dry ice Down to clean metal in most places POR-15 3/4 done Driver's side floor removed. Went a little too far with the spot weld drill on a couple. New floor welded in Second skin installed through out After second skin was ensolite(EPDM foam). Then the awesome carpets from Esty

Today was successful …Nine hours over three days to get the title / plates to a car off the road for 34 years. 75 miles on the car getting state and VIN inspections taking it for a legal ride tomorrow morning.

Hello all, some of you might still know me from the days, when I still had some more spare time to show up here on the FAQ more often. With some health problems my parents sorrowly have, I do need to help them since some period now and this turns out to be "a bit" time-consuming. With being logged in right now already, that´s a chance to post an update. Spending some more time in Northern Germany, where my parents still live and I grew up, than in Frankfurt, where I was living the last 25 years, I decided to give some attention to the reason, why I became an 02 madman at all. In February 1974 my father has bought a new malaga 1802, which replaced the used chamonix 1600-2 we had before. 1802s were never officially offered in US, right in the middle of the model range between 1602 and 2002. To say it simple a 2,0 bore paired with a 1,6 crank, 90hp. We´ve kept the car for all the years, I grew up with it. More out of luck than out of reason I´ve bought my own 02, when I turned 18 and got my driving licence (and "some" more 02s since then) and with that saved the 1802 from the mods I´ve mutilated my own early cars with - but hey, I was young and I liked it. ? My father had left the BMW standing still in a garage at my grandma´s house for already some four or five years again, already happened one more time back in the 90s. Since the end of 2019 he is no longer allowed to drive a car for health reasons now. Some day in summer 2020 I couldn`t resist to try, if I couldn´t get the 1802 started with some upfront preparation. Brave as he is, of course he fired up without major problems. But brakes were stuck like hell and some other issues (incl. a bit of rust) needed attention, too. Always short of time and with all my tools in Frankfurt I´ve asked my good old 02 friend Mike - we know each other for about 30 years now and he owns a repair shop meanwhile - if he could help. He could and came with a contemporary towing vehicle: Some time, some repairs and some money later I´ve got the car back with fresh TÜV this year´s spring and already managed to complete some drives in the nearby Harz mountains. And I´ve visited the company the car was bought at back then; Still mostly original except the 7x15 cross-spoke from E30, that already my father has added back in the 90s (was delivered with 5,5x13 Rial cross-spoke which are still present in storage but will need a repaint and new tyres). Best regards and stay healthy, Lars.

I missed it by a day, but as of 4 May I've been a 2002 owner continuously since 1969--with the same car (Wolfgang, the Nevada '69), and a 2 x '02 owner since 1978 (Ludwig, the Sahara '73). Still having way too much fun with 'em! mike PS. Ludwig now wears a more proper "TP 114" license plate, thanks to Jackie Joret's correction!

Got married just in time before the travel bans started. Drove to prom in this car 14 years ago...only appropriate that we drove away from the chapel in it too.

Busy driving back from Mid America 02Fest yesterday so didn't post, but on 3 May 1969 I took delivery of my Nevada sunroof '69, after waiting over three months for it to arrive due to an East Cost dock strike that held it up in Hamburg. Still graces my garage and does its duty. First picture taken outside Bavarian Auto Sales, Woodside NY, 3 May 1969; second picture is at 3 Rivers in Pittsburg, July 2019. mike

Hello fellow 02 people, As mentioned in another thread, my girlfriend and I are driving our '73 2002tii from Santa Barbara, CA, to Fairbanks, Alaska, to participate in a Lemons Rally (our original plan of a silly old French car fell through). We still wanted to take an old car, and while the tii isn't exactly a "lemon," it is scruffy and we are not afraid to traverse any frost heaves and dirt roads in it. Due to a lack of time and cell/internet service during the last few days, I must offer the spoiler alert that we already made it to Alaska this morning, but I plan to do a recap of the trip so far and update as we have time and wireless service. Both my girlfriend and I had to scramble to tie loose ends at work all last week in addition to getting the car packed and ready, so we got a late jump on Saturday and did not leave Santa Barbara until about 2 PM. Our overnight stop was in Redding, CA, north of Sacramento, and we realized that it would be one of the only truly dark evenings we would experience during the trip. No fun roads, just 101 to 680 to I5. Day Two started with the "fun" part of I5 near Shasta Lake, which would be a preview of the many hundreds of lakes we were about to see in the next few days. We stopped in Hillsboro, OR to catch a single-A baseball game between the Hillsboro Hops and the Everett AquaSox, which was a lot of fun. Then back in the car to cross into Washington via the Lewis and Clark Bridge, which we have traversed before in our Alfa Romeo GTV6 during a previous Lemons Rally trip. The overnight stop was Tacoma, WA, which is an interesting place, would have liked to spend more time there. We saw a friend in the hotel parking garage. The morning of Day Three began with various errands around the Bellingham, WA area for coffee beans and supplies. We saw the first and only 02 of the trip so far, a dark blue roundie, we waved and flashed lights, but I couldn't get a good picture. Hopefully the owner is reading this and chimes in! We crossed the border into Canada at the Sumas checkpoint without incident, and then into beautiful British Columbia. We took scenic highway 1 to Lytton, then peeled off to take highway 12 to check out a cool little brewery in Lillooet. 12 was an unexpectedly fun mountain road, and we also got our first rain of the trip. That's all I have time to post for now, time to hit the road! I'll post updates as time/wireless service permits. View full article

Hello 2002FAQ, I thought I would introduce myself and share the progress on this 1971 BMW 2002ti project. The car has been in my family since 1976 when my uncle purchased it from the original owner here in Alberta, Canada. From what I understand, this is one of the "North American 50," a detail I learned about here on this forum. The car is a 4-spd, in Colorado yellow, with the original sidedraft Solex 40PHHs. It was driven by my uncle until the late 80s when he moved to Ontario, at which point it was parked here at my grandmother's house where it remained untouched for 35 years until August 2023: This past summer, on a trip back to Alberta, my uncle entrusted me with seeing if we could get it back up and running A bit of context: I am a long time old-school JDM enthusiast, as you may be able to tell from my username. AE86s, 510s, Zs, etc. have always been my thing. This will be my first time working on a vintage BMW, but I'm no stranger to working on old rusty cars, having worked extensively on my AE86s, including replacing rockers, floors, and rear towers on my last project AE86. Suffice to say I was the ideal person in the family to get this thing back on the road. I should note that I am not by any means a mechanic by trade, just your average weekend warrior. The car has undergone a respray but remains remarkably original and surprisingly rust-free for the most part. Here's my uncle turning the crank to verify it wasn't seized. So far so good! Luckily, he was a heavy duty mechanic at the time, so he had the foresight to put oil in the cylinders when he parked the car. The battery had physically cracked into two, the rad had a massive leak, but everything major seemed intact. The tires had dry-rotted and so the first challenge was physically moving the car out of the spot it had sat for all those years, as it was also boxed-in by decades of garage clutter. We had these vintage Campagnolo wheels with 40 yr old unused tires stashed in the basement... they had never even lost air! With these on we could roll the car out and have it towed to my garage where I would be able to work on it more easily. The first time the car has moved an inch in 35 years! Back at my garage I spent the next few weeks tackling all the usual maintenance items you would expect for a car sitting this long. I drained the old fuel, oil, installed new distributor cap/rotor, spark plugs, battery, and we sent the radiator off to get re-cored. The car clearly needs a deep clean but I'm just focused on the major mechanical side of things at this point. Getting ready to see if the car would start, I took the cam cover off to pour oil on the cams. Looks pretty good in here! Put the new re-cored rad back on, some new fluids and a few other maintenance items. One of the fuel lines to the carbs was all gummed up and the T-fitting had practically disintegrated. $10 in fuel lines and a new fitting at the local hardware store fixed that. And it runs! It's a huge relief to know that the motor is still operational. One of the few upgrades done to the car was an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, which read about 60psi on a cold start, dropping down to 25-30psi at operating temperature with Castrol 10W-40. Within the healthy range for this car, from what I understand. The brakes/clutch were still operational, but were in much need of a bleed. After that, the car is ready for a test drive around the block! First time moving on it's own power in 35 years 😎 A few other maintenance items done. Car still needs a deep clean but unfortunately there's no running water at my little garage/workshop that I rent. 😑 Here it is with the original airbox back on A pic with my 86. Sadly, the drivers side fender sustained some damage during a hit-and-run in the 80s. That'll have to be addressed, as well as some rust bubbling up in the rear quarters. More updates to come! Sadly, winter is starting here in Canada, and so it's time to put the car away for storage for now. Please let me know if you have any pointers for someone new to this chassis. Thank you for reading!

Hey all - wanted to let you know that my 2002 was found, and apparently completely unharmed! It was stolen alongside a 74 Porsche 911 Targa, a VW Bug, likely a 64 Jag XKE, and others. Didn't figure we'd see it again, so I'm pretty grateful to law enforcement for doing such a great job of finding it! Appreciate all your helpful input while it was MIA!

I’ve had some extra time on my hands so started playing around with the broken die cast.

Sorry, guys, I have been a little absent from the site and have been slow to respond. Site has been a little slow, I will see what I can figure out. It does seem to be caused by the ad serve that we use. They have been contacted and we are starting to sort things out. And here is the reason for the dalays. Steve K.

A neighbor dropped this by my house. They submitted a picture to Jones Soda of my car in front of my house last fall who liked it enough to put it on a carton of soda. I checked my local Walmart and it was on the shelf. I guess this my qualifies as my 15 seconds of fame. https://www.jonessoda.com/products/new-jones-special-release-orange-chocolate-soda-bmw-label-only

Just thought I’d share a project I’ve been working on. About 2 years ago I started the big task of making a hand formed aluminum hood for my 2002. It’s quite a challenge because this was never meant to be made by anything other than a press! I’ve been chipping away at it - taking a ton of coachbuilding classes and working on it at the class every 2 months or so (mainly because he has every piece of metal shaping equipment known to man)…I’ve built out my own workshop now to have most of the critical equipment so hopefully the rest gets finished soon but I thought I’d share some pics. It’s going to be about 400 hours total to build (about 200+ so far into it) so obviously no rational person would do this for money but it’s a passion project I’ll be posting about this more on my IG handle @carsandwhisky as progress continues!

According to google maps, a drive from my house to Woodley park is 333 miles and should take about 5 hours and 20 minutes. Add a couple of pit stops for fuel and snacks and this whole trip should take a bit under 6 hours. But if you are doing it in style in a 58-year-old BMW with 17 other vintage BMWs you will take your time and enjoy every mile, every turn, and every moment with your friends. The planning for the trip started months ago as Eric, @002rescue ordered the stickers, printed the flyers, and started reaching out to people in the 2 previous Neue Klasse and Kaffee. I was lucky enough to meet Eric for a couple of beers to discuss a different project when he pulled out Paper California Road Atlas and decided to share the planned route. With the usual starting points in the Bay Area, an obligatory stop at an Old Saloon for lunch, and lots of twisty roads the stage was set for a fun Friday. Sorting and packing began several days before the departure. New 2002FAQ branding has increased the number of items I had to bring. The beer serving equipment was also added to make things easier and colder on the event day. Fitting it all in the BMW 1800 would be a challenge. The great thing about the Neue Klasse cars is that moving the front seat forward and reclining it all the way back allows for a full flat seating surface, great for sleeping or the canopy. The rest of the items would be spread through the trunk and the back seat with some remaining items being spread between Jan @pichos1 and Alex @aecheverri. At the last moment, @zane71 and Haleigh volunteered to drive the BMW 2002 Touring, so things got easier. A little work needed to be done to rearrange the items, but the drive south would be a bit more fun when the car is not completely loaded. At 8:00 AM, Florida BMW 1600 (Stinky Segundo), BMW 2002 Touring (FAQ Wagon), and BMW 1800 (Grandpa) were ready for the road. We left my house in the Santa Cruz mountains and headed to the second gathering point for the rally in Salinas. A little time in mountain roads, some on the freeway, and then some driving through the busy farmland allowed for some good flow. Took us about an hour to get to the first stop. Neither Stinky nor Grandpa have a functioning fuel gauge, so we did a splash and go. The 1600 does have a 2.4L engine breathing through a pair of Weber 45s, so it did burn about 25% more fuel than the Touring or the 1800. The rest of the group arrived and after a few photos, everyone was on the road. Our initial group, plus Dr. Suave, driven by @pichos1, stayed together as we tried to navigate the first part of the rally. We did have to turn around several times as we were first led by a car without a navigator and then missed when the River Rd made some sudden right-hand turns. Without too much excitement we made it through the farmlands and Vineyards of Monterey County to our first regrouping point of Jolon Road in King City. At the first stop, it was discovered that the leading car, BMW 2000 of the Friis’ was not running to its full potential. Eric was fully engaged in trying to resolve what seemed to be a fuel delivery issue. After a few minutes of messing around, and replugging the hoses, we were back on the road. Unfortunately for Eric, this was not the last repair stop. Lucky for him, there were 27 mechanics and 17 cars full of spares. At the next unscheduled stop, the diagnostics continued. Someone already had a space distributor in hand when the true issue was discovered. A dirty and corroded fuse connector was shorting out the electrical fuel pump. After a bit of cleaning and a new fuse, the car was back on the road. Not too much further, just past some shooting ranges in the middle of nowhere, we were on the side of the road again. The main distributor to coil wire was sitting on the exhaust manifold and shorting itself. At this time the wire was taped up as the core was not damaged and all wires were pulled up above the manifold to keep from further damage. 80km on this path got us to the next regrouping point at a Sinclair Gas Station. I do not remember ever seeing one in California, but I understand there are a few of them in SoCal. I think I was in Minnesota last time I stopped at one. The dinosaur looked a lot bigger there. This long stop was a good opportunity to check on Eric’s car. The burnt wire was replaced with a new one. The belt that seemed a bit loose was replaced with one that was a little bit too tight. It took some effort, a couple of engine rotations, and 2 burnt forearms to get it in place. More of the fantastic roads took us through a series of vineyards around the Paso Robles area. We were on the way to a lunch spot at the Longbranch Saloon in Creston. The menu consisted mostly of Burgers and some local Paso Robles beverages. Firestone Walker for the win! I was pleasantly surprised that the Jalapeno Burger actually had some heat to it. Obligatory “family” photo and back on the road. At this point, it was after 2:00 PM and the shortest route would take at least 4 hours to the hotel. After a bit of discussion, we continued with the original plan of 58 East to 33 South to 166 East to 33 South. Leaving the vineyards and the farmland of San Luis Obispo county you get to see what most tourists visiting will miss and that is the dry California valley. Rolling hills with dead grass, smooth roads, and fantastic long views greet you as you travel on some of the high-speed runs by the solar farms and into the oil fields. Some great photo opportunities of the BMW 1800 by the pumps in Derby Acres. Unfortunately, we did not get to the canyons of highway 33 until after dusk. French edition amber headlights were not too helpful but I am sure they were easy to spot by other drivers in the caravan. At some point, I was able to see several cars ahead at the bottom of the hill as I looked through the passenger side window and several cars at the top of the hill through the driver side. This portion of the drive was a bit tiring as it required a lot of concentration. The last fuel stop was in Ojai. From that point, the streets and roads were a bit crowded. We mostly separated from each other in the Ventura County traffic and by the time we got to 101, it was hard to spot the 2002s on the road in the fog. All of us made it to the hotel and the celebratory parking lot beer tasted great! Thank you, all for a fantastic day! see more photos at View full article

end of interior restauration😅 Now all is leather with same colors as the original "plastics"

Leonardo da Vinci doodles the perfect transportation design but it is forgotten for 450 years...

Tomorrow, according to BMW Archives, is the Orange Car's 50th birthday - even though the door jamb sticker says it was built in December 1970. My dad bought it new, and about 1984 sold it to Roy Hopkins, a former student. Roy sold it back to my dad in 1997, and my dad passed it along to me a few months before his death in 2002. I've put about 45,000 of the car's 153,000 miles on it in the past 18 years. So, to celebrate, it got 4.5 quarts of fresh Pennzoil (the only brand that has been in the engine since its first change) and a bath. Then I drove it - unfortunately to winter storage. But tomorrow brings rain, then snow, so it was time. Here's to many more years of '02 fun! My dad with the car in July 1972 My dad and I at our own 02-02-02 celebration in the backyard Today, at 50 (the car; I'm not quite there yet!) -Dave

I appreciate all 02s regardless of condition or modifications, but I'm most excited by original cars that have survived and still look somewhat new, or have undergone a ground-up restoration. I can only attempt to keep my car maintained as a ground-up restoration is way beyond my means and I wouldn't give up driving the car for the long period of time it takes to do a proper restoration anyway. Hence, I was faced with a decision. How do I treat the underside of my car while my 46 year old rear sub-frame is out being refreshed? I can't spray it...no room or equipment, or ventilation , and I can't leave it with surface rust increasing every year. Once again I was inspired by Esty and decided to brush-paint the underside of the car with polyurethane paint in Inka orange. In 2013 I refreshed inside the nose and in 2017 I refreshed under the trunk. As well as using Eastwood Frame Coating inside hidden areas, the polyurethane acts as an undercoat to protect the metal from road and weather ravages. Next year I'll do under the front seats and adjacent transmission tunnel while refreshing my front sub-frame. The engine bay will be done by a body shop in proper body paint while the engine is out being rebuilt. Here are the steps that I followed to maintain the bottom of the car and keep rust at bay. Scrape all the crap off Degrease Grind, wire brush, and Metal prep on surface rust areas (phosphoric acid treatment) Two coats of Rust Bullet on surface rust areas Vacuum and blow air through hidden areas (eg. shock tower boxes). Eastwood Frame Coating inside hidden areas (inside sub-frame pieces as well). Sand, sand, sand, sand, sand..... One coat of polyurethane (original shade) grey Two coats of polyurethane Inka orange Meanwhile...the sub-frame. All the original bushings were showing old age and my dif was leaking on the right side output shaft. Bearings and wheel seals were ok, but I bought new ones anyway. Surface rust was creeping around all the pieces and most of the hardware was completely rusty. One of my favourite pastimes is DIY media blasting, so my first endeavor was to clean all the metal in preparation for painting, powder-coating and plating. Both of my sub-frames (front and rear) are RAL 4037 grey and I was lucky to find a powder coating shop that had that color in stock. $180! How could I resist. Clean/media blast all metal parts Plate hardware Powder-coat and paint. New seals and o-rings in dif output shafts. Press in new wheel bearings and seals. Press in new trailing arm bushings. Press in new dif hanger bushings. Replace rear axle carrier bushings. Re-assembly. THE MOST FUN. When I'm dead and they pry the steering wheel from my hands, the next guy can do a proper restoration on the body and get another 40 years out of my car.

Decided to start tackling my scratched up bumpers. Orbital sander 300,400, 600, 800 grit. Hand wet sanded with 1000 grit. Polisher with three levels of McGuires. Still work to do but starting to look solid.

Today it drove under it’s own power for the first in 34 years…

Greg Resa stopped by today and helped me install the front bumper and hood…with the help of my friends i’m getting it done…

6 years ago and a couple days was a special day for me as I got engaged. yes, a there is 2002 content as it did involve. our touring. a couple. photos from that day breakfast in San Francisco. and a few minutes after she said yes it has been a fine ride since that moment. Steve K.

I am at the age when I should be thinking about finding good homes for some of my cars. But in a slight fit of insanity I made an offer on another race car and the owner accepted it. The car is the Fisher Technik GS Tuning 2002 that ran in the DRM (predecessor to the DTM) in 1975 and 1976 as part of the 3 car GS Tuning team: The car underwent a mechanical restoration in 2018 and has run in a couple of races in Europe since then: Here are some additional detail shots of the car and M12 engine. Will be arranging shipping this coming week. I'll be sure to keep the forum posted.

Classic BMWs! Ahoy! I'm going to be shifting gears in the vintage and classic BMW world and will be working full time with an old friend and former employer at Maximillian Importing Company once again. I first worked for Max during the summer of 1989, and again for over a decade throughout the 1990s and early 2000s back when we were among the only companies directly importing unique genuine BMW parts from Europe. We have evolved and commerce has changed a great deal since the days of faxing hand-written purchase orders overseas. It's hard to believe it's been nearly thirty years! I can still recite hundreds of 2002 part numbers from memory…and it's high time I put that part of my brain back to work! Do I miss the old **original** beige Apple MacIntosh computer? The one with the 6" screen? Nope. I believe in the company's mission, ethics and vision, and can't WAIT to get back in the world of BMW parts. I'll be handling sales, media outreach, and technical support, while maintaining my own weirdo sense of humor and style. I'll be working from a home office to bring my own personal service and ethos to Maximillian Importing Company with intimate (read: ultra nerdy and often boooring) knowledge of the parts we all need to keep our rigs on the road. With this new endeavor, I'll continue to post regular technical articles, parts tips, and stories about the cars that bind our tribe together in to such a great and varied community. There's much to be done: Updating websites, building a company blog with technical tips, learning the logistics and software of the company's system, tons of travel and education ahead of me, improving **real-time communication** with all of you…but I expect some truly great things to happen over the next few months. Though the prices on Genuine BMW parts are perhaps the best in the country (which makes my work that much easier), I'm banking on my experience and expertise to keep folks engaged and satisfied, with the knowledge that they are truly getting the very best parts and service possible. I’ll be posting specials and unique items throughout the next few weeks as I get my footing. I’ll also post an update when I go “live” with answering phone calls and e mails via Maximillian Importing. In the mean time…I’m super excited!!! For pricing on OEM/Aftermarket parts, e mail me directly at classicbmwparts@gmail.com since the Maximillian Importing / www.bimmer.com website only lists prices for Genuine BMW parts.

Glass man showed up and installed front and rear with no problems in and out in two hours...couple more days and I’ll be at the finish line.

I started my journey with my car. I picked it up in Sausalito, Ca and drove it 500 miles home. It was the first of many journeys with the car. So many emotions are tied to this car. Its truly a part if me. Soooo many here have helped me on this journey and I am glad to call alot of you friends that I have met on the way! Thanks to everyone that here on the bmw2002faq for giving me advice, keeping me pointed un the right direction, helping me out with parts or just making me laugh!!! Looking forward to many more years with this one and maybe anither build starting in 2019. Thanks!!