BarryA

interested - set of 4 on the car + one in the trunk. Some curb rash on a couple of them, paints pretty marginal, and no center caps but P&P only gets about $15 a wheel for aluminum rims. Wheels are on a black first-gen E30 2 door. There's also a set of four 15x6 or 15x7 E21 offset Enkie 2 piece BBS RS replicas on a medium blue (Baikal?) E21 in the back row - pretty decent shape, but no center caps on them either.....

Over the years, I've let several cars go that I'll never be able to replace - in most cases, values have escalated to a point where they're no longer even remotely affordable (the 356 Porsche Roadster resto project I sold for $6k 25 years ago is worth more than 10 times the selling price now). If you you're having second thoughts even before you put on the block, you'll undoubtedly have major regrets later.

probably going to be to start by contacting Mobile Tradition - from the vin, they can give you the build date, delivery location and original specifications. From there, a reasonable next step would be to start contacting some of the shops who specialize in vintage BMW work (Carl Nelson @ LaJolla Independent, Rob Torres at 2002 Haus, Don Dethlefsen at the Werk Shop) for their input. Any specifics and detailed photos you can provide to any of them would undoubted help pin things down....... I seem to remember reading somewhere that "Alpina built" cars carried a separate Alpina number plate and that Alpina kept records on them - don't know what level of modification it took for Alpina to keep records on an individual vehicle, though. Obviously the full turn-key cars like the E21 B6's were included, but earlier in the company's history the process may not have been the same.

2002 book with the orange cover - if anybody knows of a source that has them, or has a copy and can provide the exact title, author and pub date, please let me know.........

if any component of the emissions system that was there when the car was new has been removed, the emissions guy is supposed to fail the car on the spot (for cars that did NOT have a cat, that should mean that anything downstream of the exhaust manifold has no bearing on the test). Years ago, an old girlfriend had a VW Scrocco fail because of a missing gas tank fill neck restrictor - that fact that leaded fuel no longer existed (and hadn't for several years) didn't matter. Air cleaner is another story, as is the carburetor - for cars that originally came with Solex 2 bbl's, 32/36's are ok as long as they have a CARB E.O. (Calif Air Resorces Board Executive Order) tag showing that the carb is the model that's an approved O.E. replacement.

the left and down, with 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th where 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th would be in a 4 speed (or OD 5 speed), it's probably a C.R. 5 speed. If you can get far enough under the car to see the transmission, check to see if the trans case is one piece with a tailshaft housing, or has a third case section sandwiched between the case and tailshaft housing - unless I'm badly mistaken, all 4 speeds have a one piece case, and all C.R. 5 speeds have the 3rd section (most O.D. 5 speeds also have a 3rd case section, but the shift pattern is the similar to a "normal" 4 speed, with 5th up and to the right). It's not that uncommon for early and late series production European "home market" cars to differ from US market versions - most likely, the folks who are proclaiming the car to be a fraud are operating on the "common knowledge" that the last tii's were built in 1975 (much like those who have insisted that my '69 sunroof "can't" be a 2002 because it has single circuit front brakes and black painted grill slats - what they're not aware of is that all '68 and early '69 2002's built through 12/31/68 came that way). There are some really, really interesting gray market cars around - hopefully you'll be able to fully document the history of this one.....

with maybe a hint of Ceylon. Nice work

did mention et 30........

The sites below (see links) cover most of the models cureently available from Herpa, Brekina, and Busch - all three make BMW models from various eras. Truck Stop Models specializes exclusively in 1/87 scale vehicles (they've got some very, very cool stuff); Walthers is a wide spectrum model railroad supplies company and has a good selection of vehicles - if you ever wanted to build a diorama to display car models, this is the place to find supplies and accessories........ Although Herpa models are usually "dead on" as far as scale and appearance are concerned, the Brekina 2002's are much more accurate. http://www.eurorailhobbies.com/erh/brekina.asp http://www.busch-model.com/default.htm http://www.herpa.de/ http://www.truckstopmodels.com/ http://www.walthers.com/

I'm finishing up a two car wheel swap (went back to 13's on the '69 sunroof, moving the E30 325is BBS's that were on the '02 to my wife's '90 325 cabrio). The woman who's buying the bottlecaps off the cabrio is going to use them to replace a set of 15x6 et30 two-piece Riken basketweaves (black center, polished rim) that are currently on her E30 325 - she's not sure what she's going to do with the Rikens. If anybody's interested, let me know and I'll pass on names/phone #'s/e-mail addresses. She's located in Elk Grove CA (10 mi south of Sacramento CA) - the wheels should be available after about 11/15. I'm not sure if she'll be willing to ship the wheels, and I'm not planning to get involved in the transaction beyond passing on contact info.

the one or two times I've had to deal with this sort of thing, I've gone back into my reciept file, sorted everything into chronological order, then gone to a copy shop, copied EVERY reciept onto a separate sheet of paper, hole punched 'em and put the entire parts purchase/maintaince/upgrade history into a ring binder. Include doucmentation of every comparable sale and ad you can find (e-bay auctions, bimmers.com listings, FAQ and Roadfly classifieds, etc) along with a full set of photos of the car pre-collision. Make at least 2 complete sets - one for you, one for the insurance company. Somehow, hitting the claims agent with proof that you've got everything that you've spent documented seems to help impress on them that you're not going to willingly accept a check for a few hundred dollars and quietly go away - at minimum, it gets your records organized for whatever battle you wind up fighting to get a reasonable amount of your investment back. One other thing that's always a good idea - take detailed photos of the whole car (interior, engine compartment, etc) before allowing the car to be towed - it's pretty amazing what havoc the tow guys will wreak on cars, then claim the parts were missing when they picked the car up.

on a Datsun years ago & found a very significant increase in harshness - personally, I wouldn't use them on a car that was going to see primarily street duty. One exception that doesn't apply to '02's - urethane steering rack bushings in an E21 - they're great in that application.

are 6 point open end wrenches that wrap around 5 of the 6 flats on brake tubing hex fittings (and other flare fittings) and are pretty much mandatory for working on brake systems. They're ALMOST as good as a box end wrench for loosening partially frozen flare fittings without rounding them off - trying to disassemble brake line fittings that haven't been touched in years with a normal open end wrench almost guarantees rounding off the fittings. The other flare tool is the "anvil & press" tool that creates a flare in the end of a piece of straight tubing - simple ones only do a single flare, full-function units are also capable of making double flare ends. Assuming you're buying tubing that's already got the flared ends and fittings, you really shouldn't need to create your own flared ends.

jump through all sorts of hoops to get a title that legally entitles a 76 to pass as a 74 and be able to dodge the "Smog II'' testing bullet. Personally, I'd definately get all the documentation you mentioned while it's possible to do so, but living in CA, I sure wouldn't have the state correct their mistake on the DMV paperwork.......

you could get a couple of folks in the area to bring that car up to operational specs so you could drive it back home........... Even with the price of gas it'd probably be cheaper than a plane ticket (and probably the source of material for a couple of columns......).

good thing I don't have space for it. Would probably destroy a good part of the long-term "collector" value, but it would be tons of fun to build it with an S14, OD 5 speed, LSD and 4 wheel disc brakes - what a sleeper.

came in both copper/brass and aluminum, 2 & 3 row, probably have 50% more surface area than an '02 or 320 unit. They're narrow enough to fit between '02 frame rails, and it's pretty easy to modify the copper/brass units - a fill neck can be added to the top of one tank if you don't want a separate overflow tank (I used a small diameter Honda Civic unit), and temp switch "bungs" from early E21 radiator tanks can also be added for a place to mount temp switches to run an electric radiator.

I need to replace two bolster covers on an E30 cabrio driver's side black leather sport seat - the seat is one of a pair that are in very good condition overall, but aged. What I'm looking for is the bolster upholstery for the upper and lower INNER bolsters from a PASSENGER side sport seat - best as I can tell, passenger seat inners are essentially identical to driver seat outers, but get much less wear (and don't get as much sun). I'd rather install used pieces than have new replacements made - new leather is going to be really obvious in comparison to the aged condition of the rest of the interior. If anybody has a passenger side "parts" seat with with those pieces in decent condition they want to sell, please let me know. BTW, there are two styles of seams on sport seat bolsters - this set of seats has the flat "french-stitched" seams with NO piping.

with the car than anything else. Unless you're ready to tackle a time consuming, expensive restoration / rust reversal project, the number one most inportant factor is probably to start with the very best car you can afford in the segment you decide you're most interested in. If you're looking for ultimate performance, start with carburated car and build up from there (you're going to be changing most of the suspension, induction and exhaust systems anyway). If you're looking for relatively low cost and easy do-it-yourself maintanence and plan to do minor modifications and tinkering, it's probably best to start with a carburated car - the buy-in is lower, there are more cars to choose from and modifications are simple. If you're looking for some rarity/exclusivity within the '02 world, want higher performance 'out of the box' and are looking for higher long term resale value / appreciation, go with a tii. The choice between round light (pre-74) and square light cars is largely personal preference - quite a few folks who drive regularly in heavy traffic areas prefer square light cars because of the sturdier bumpers (better protection from "park by braille" idiots), but square light cars are also a bit heavier, and in some parts of the country, 76's are still subject to emissions inspections. Everything else (milage, overall condition, etc) being equal, tii's will generally be: * Faster * Handle better * Harder to find * More expensive to buy * Somewhat more expensive to repair * Slightly harder to find parts for * More likely to have higher long-term resale value Hope this helps a bit

to engine speed (does the noise go up and down as you rev the engine with the clutch disengaged, or with the transmission in neutral and the car not moving?) or car speed (does it go up and down as the car goes faster or slower?). If it's tied to car speed, does it matter what gear the transmission is in, or is the same in any gear? If the noise is not engine related, it can often help to find a quiet street with smooth pavement and a long, gentile slope and coast the car down the hill at different speeds with the transmission in neutral while listing for the source of the noise. Noises coming from under the car will usually sound louder when you open the door. Pinning down the above will narrow down your possible causes quite a bit, and help avoid wasting time "fixing what ain't broke" (not that there's anything wrong with doing some preventative maintenance involving stuff that makes noise).

badge ready for the E21 when it gets its modified super eta motor - replaced the "0" with an "8" from a 528 badge, so it'll read "328 i". Subtle enough that I doubt anyone but other Bimmer whackos will notice...

choke activated but the idle speed drops off and the engine dies a few seconds later with the knob still pulled out, it sounds like maybe something's not right in the carb linkage. If everything's hooked up properly, the fast idle cam on the carb linkage should hold the engine at a high idle until the choke is deactivated (regardless of whether it's a manual, electric or water heated choke). Virtually all choke mechanisms work essentially the same way - when the choke is activated (by pulling on the cable knob, or by an "automatic" heated coil) the carb linkage effectively repositions the idle stop (forcing the engine idle faster once it starts), and a spring loaded link closes the choke butterfly to restrict airflow while the engine starts. Once the engine is running, airflow through the carb's air horn works against the spring-loaded choke linkage and pulls the choke butterfly part-way open (allowing enough air through for the engine to run but still restricing airflow, thus enrichening the air-fuel mixture), but the idle speed stays up until the choke is deactivated (either by pushing the choke cable knob in, or by the electric or water heated coil expanding) and the idle stop returns to the normal running position. The theoretical advantage in an "automatic" choke is that the choke should gradually open at a rate matched to the speed the engine warms up so the engine runs only as rich as necessary to keep it running smoothly until it reaches operating temp - in my past experience that rarely happens, especially with aftermarket carb/intake manifold combos.

same, but uses a pair of relays to switch between blower circuits. From what I remember from putting the ac back together in my E21, when the ac switch is on, power is routed first to a relay that cuts power to the heater blower motor, then to a relay that switches on power to the ac blower and the ac compressor clutch. End result is the same, making it impossible for the heater and ac blowers to operate at the same time. The ac switch itself is a combination on/off switch and variable potentiometer that's tied into the temperature probe - the farther the switch knob is rotated clockwise from "off", the colder the interior has to be before the ac cycles off......

The '02 hasn't had enough exercise lately (and we kinda wanted to see some fall color), so we decided to give it a good run - left home (Fair Oaks CA) and headed north up the valley via hwy 65 out of Roseville, then 70 to Oroville. At Oroville, we turned east on 70 into the Sierras - followed the Feather River up to the intersection with hwy 89, then south to Quincy and Graeagle, then west on hwy 49 to Downieville, Nevada City, Grass Valley and back home. Most of it's definately '02 roads - smooth, twisty 2 lane, very little traffic most of the way, killer scenery, great fall color at the higher altitudes (but not at it's peak yet). The loop takes ALL day (even without stops to poke around in the small towns) and will burn up at least one tank of gas, but I'd recommend it to anybody..........