m-racer

I had an 82 323i Baur top that I imported from Italy in 84. It was a BMW Individual car and was Inka (perhaps the only one) with black leather sports interior. It was stolen from the Norfolk Va. Airport parking lot in May 86. It is currently registered in Brazil. It was one of my favorite cars. by the way, the top leaked even when it was new and it was a handful in any kind of wet weather.

My former Inka 73tii is owned by Mike Houx (who owns Sandia BMW). Check out the pics on the chapter website (go to www.bmwcca.org and then use the chapterfinder). There are a number of nice 02's owned by club members there.

I might have interest in the seats and perhaps the Mahle wheels.

Yeah Baby! Mike Pugh's 02's!!! As I have told Mike in the past, he is the kind of engineer that made me decide business school was a good choice. Tim

Thanks.

If anyone has detailed pics of a Baurtop, could you please post or email me some. I am trying to understand the differences (other than part of the top missing) vs the other variants. Thanks.

Tim, I have had a few E21's (78 320i, 82 Alpina B6, 83 Baurtop 323i, and an 83 Alpina clone with an M50 vanos engine). They are much much maligned. The US models are heavy and underpowered. They are tailhappy in any kind of weather. They are, for the most part, bulletproof. Some problem areas are leaky steering racks and some suspension design issues that make the 320i front end shake a problem (I think IE stil sells the kit to try to correct it). The other problem is availability of parts. Dashes and body panels were nla last I checked. The more obvious problem is that they aren't worth much no matter how nice. There is a national concours winning example (with 35k mis or so) that has been for sale on the P'tree chapter website for la year for less than 8k. Paul Cain had 25k in my last one when I bought it for 12. I put another 6k in it and sold it for 8k. You get the picture. Best, Tim Jones

Ash, Some of the later factory units require a lot more power than older stock alts can provide. It is very cool to find out that there are kits like yours that have no such requirements. That must be a really useful upgrade. Thanks for offering to get me a grill badge. I've got a really cool one I will send you in exchange. Best, Tim tljonesco4@aol.com

Much improved. Will the stock alternator power the xenons? I retrofited a set of X5 Xenons into a set of euro light housings on my E28 Alpina B9 and had to upgrade to the next largest alt. BTW, I collect grill badges and would love to have one of those BMWCCofwaydownunder units. Happy to send you some US club junk or money to re-imburse. Thanks. Tim

Bill, Good on you for the Habitat for Humanity mission. I used to swing a hammer for them most Saturdays when I lived in Atlanta in the 90s and have supported them ever since. One of my nieces just made a similar trip to NO. It's a fine organization. Don't forget the gumbo! Tim

I will be in Va. during August. There us an active group of 02'ers in Fl. I would be happy to put someone in touch with them. I would think that they would have stepped up if asked. More likely no one talked to them. I know for sure they are not going to be driving the 15 hrs to Herndon in the August heat.

I have used them several times over the years. They did the engines for my Inka 74 and my Black ti. I was always fairly pleased with the stg2 engines I bought and the installs were priced a little high but nothing over the top. I didn't have any reason to use them for a long time, but liked their experience with E30 M3's and decided to have them do some work on mine. This was 24 mos ago. They did cams, airbox, chip, oil pan baffle etc. along with the suspension. They confirmed with me that the work was complete and I flew in to pick the car up. They found they did not have the right chip and I ended up going to the expense of flying back out to meet my client obligations and flying back later in the week. Never did I get an apology or a discount for my expense or trouble. This is just the start. I picked the car up in GBO with the plans to drive it to Tampa. I stopped to get gas down the block from the shop and checked the oil (which was just changed by Korman) and it was a qt. low. I got about 15 mins out and started to smell oil burning. I pulled over, popped the hood and found that several of the acorn nuts that secure the valve cover were missing and the rest were loose and oil was everywhere (all over my new white evo valve covers). I secured the remaining acorn nuts and drove back to Korman. They replaced the others and blew it off as a rare occurance. To me it was a simple matter of quality control. Oh yeah, the evo valve cover's paint peeled off within a couple of weeks. They did replace them. I refused to pay my Amex bill until I worked through a discount that covered my expense, cleaning the engine, etc.. Ray was indignant. To give you some context, This was a 54k mi E30 M3 and a muli-concours winning car. The work at Korman was in the 7k range. I will never use them again. I recently passed on a really nice Polaris 2002 turbo because Korman appears to be the EC authority and I didn't want it badly enough to deal with them. In all fairness, the work they did for me in the late 80's- early 90's was satisfactory. The bad experience is more recent.

Sounds like a great idea. In my opinion, you need to add a location in the SE and SW US. Florida is 1100-1200 mis from Herndon. AS most 02'ers in the far south (and there are many) don't even make the drive to V@V which is a few hundred miles less than Herndon, I don't think it is likely that they will come to this either. Same deal with Texas and KC. I know Herndon looks like it's in the middle of the EC geographically, but on a population basis that is certainly not the case. I know the Herndon location is a good one, just don't think you will draw anyone much past NC (It's 11 hrs from Atlanta, 15h hrs from Tampa for example). Perhaps a couple of locations could be added to truly make it a Nationfest.

Bill, Congrats. Sounds like a great fit for you and for Max. Best of luck on your new position. Tim Jones

That's a steaming hunk of funky junk!

Splendid!

Bill, email would be great. Tim

It seems that many factory turbo owners have added intercoolers to their turbo units. Does anyone have experience with this. Average cost, increases in durability, downsides, etc.

Thanks Michael. That is high praise indeed. I will let you know how it goes.

To the best of my knowledge, Alpina did not begin stanping blocks until the 80's. The started issuing their own VIN's in late 85. CD is right. The paerwork helps. The parts they produced are for the most part clearly marked.

I am looking at an 02 mechanically restored by Bill Holmes in Ramona. Can any of you West Coast types let me know what you think of his work? Thanks in advance. Tim

One of these days I am going to get to Ark. for this event. Bring the extra T shirts with you to V@V. They will be gone in a flash.

Delia, That's one of my favorite wheels. I still have one that has been on all of my 02's at one point or another. I also have it on my 84 Alpina B9 and on my 85 Euro M5. AGLA has recovered a couple of wheels for me and I have enjoyed the end product. In case you haven't thought of this, they will do custom stitching. My 02 wheel is stitched in orange (it was in an Inka 73 tii) and the one in the B9 is stitched in Alpina green and blue. I had a sport wheel in an M535i a while back that was stitched in the motorsport colors. Just something to think about.

Bob, Lots of guys on the mye28 board also have e34's and are helpful.

And for the record, this T Jones is not me. Lots of Jones's out there. T Jones's included. Tim Jones