photog02

Nothing like a deadline to force you to get your car ready.

Hear, hear! I just spent the better part of an afternoon working on that same cause.

If I still lived in Orlando, I would be there. I think there are two other 2002s in my area, and I haven't managed to meet their owners yet.

You can always try InstaVin or one of the similar services that use the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. They are typically cheaper than CarFax and they don't have the worthless information about every time a dealer washed the car like CarFax does.

In the future if you want to order real BMW parts at a good price with service that second to none... I'd suggest talking to the kind folks at blunt tech.http://blunttechclassic.com/

NO affiliation other than I've been buying all my 02 parts i've needed for years, and my father's M5 and E36 stuff. Never a problem.

Usually I just go to www.realoem.com find the part numbers I need and send them an email.

I am actually waiting on the second half of an order for BluntTech now. I think my mistake was not finding the a part on his website and just ordering through BA. In the future, my process will probably be to get the PN, bug BluntTech, and if he says no search for other sources.

By the way, Penske Parts has a much better quality parts picture catalog as compared to RealOEM.

Hi, are you able to bring the rocker to Vintage in winston-salem if no one else wants the part? i would like to buy it and will be in winston from wednesday to sunday of that weekend. chris

I could probably do that. It may involve some strategery on getting it strapped to Ethel, but I will work on it and let you know. Shoot me an e-mail and we can talk more about it.

Edit- a rocker panel will easily fit diagonally between the driver's side rear footwell and the passenger's side rear parcel shelf.

dip stick from early style? Is there any difference?! Hthanks.

There are two dipsticks listed. The one for early styles (04/71 to 08/73) is listed as no longer available (NLA) since 1996. This is a 11431266740, for 08/73 to 10/75. I can tell you that it didn't fit in my 06/73 tii. Sorry if that puts you in the same NLA boat as me.

I am refreshing the cooling system on my 2002 and wound up (against my better judgment and past experience) ordering from Bavarian Autosport. This is the lower radiator hose they sent me:

Even though it already had a BMW PN sticker on the hose they could have covered with their own sticker, they hit it with a plastic fastener gun to attach this tag and sticker. I know the puncture site slides over a metal neck and should be fine, but it is still frustrating to pay for something that was treated this way. Maybe I am just being too fussy, but this ticked me off.

All prices are sans shipping. I will be heading to the Vintage later this month if anyone wants to do the trade in person. E-mail me at jfmorgan at gmail with any questions.

One new dipstick (P/N 11431266740), $10.

A full set, left and right, of shock tower reinforcements from Mobile Tradition (all new and unused). $250 for the complete set.

Right side rocker panel covering from Mobile Tradition (new and unused). $90.

I believe there are fewer examples available than there were a decade ago. I purchased my first 2002 (a decent runner that needed paint and a driver's seat) for $600. I doubt those kind of deals exist anywhere anymore.

For instance, Hagerty's price guide report lists a 1970 2002 as $10,686. While they are dealing with a market that likely trades at higher prices than us folks that advertise cars on Craigslist, it still shows some appreciation in the value of these cars which is probably a reflection of there being fewer surviving examples. E30s seem to be going through a similar increase in price and decrease in good example availability.

My wife daily drives an E46 330i with 91.4K miles. These are great cars if taken care of, which means going a bit beyond the book maintenance schedule. Since this one has no history with it, plan on doing everything that has been mentioned: the cooling system, any plastic hoses under the hood, the O2 sensors, the rubber boots for the intake. If you can live with the maintenance, aka do it yourself, they are great cars.

A Peake scanner is a great starter tool for modern BMWs. The next step for more intensive troubleshooting will be something that reads live data and talks to INPA/EDIABAS. Your computer is going to be the best troubleshooting tool for an E46, through a data cable and searching the E46fanatics site.

VA has the option of personalized antique tags on the yellow ones, but not the black ones.

That gets you out of the annual Virginia "safety" inspection that winds up as you showing someone how to operate the turn signals and windshield wipers.

Our lovely commonwealth also has the no daily driver/commuting restriction for antique/classic registrations. I have no idea how they enforce that but, seeing as how harsh penalties are for other vehicle infractions, I am not willing to test them on it.

Amazon.com has the 1847V for $74.44 with free shipping.

I'm not sure if anyone else from here reads The Truth About Cars, but today's junkyard is a 1973 2002 Automatic: Link to post

That was mentioned in Hemming's Sports & Exotic this month.

That's why I think it is such a powerful film. My wife, who puts up with my car habit but doesn't have an addiction to autos or racing of her own, thought it was a great documentary.

wife sat through the WHOLE movie. Amazing pure driver.

And here I was ready to write off the middle of the state. I need to start job hunting there.

I'm interested in one... could you e-mail me at photog02 at yahoo dot com with info please?

Also, your other car... an E39 V8 wagon? If that has a manual transmission, I'd love right of first refusal if you ever decide to sell it. Awesome car, anyway!

Edit- added an e-mail address...

This is a great documentary, regardless of topic. Non-automotive/racing people can enjoy this film.

Clay, I'd be very interested in hearing how that works out if you go down this route. I have a non-functional Behr coupled with a non-functional heater core. This seems like it would be a great replacement if it could be easily adapted.

Everyone else has given you good suggestions, but you do need to replace that cracked fluid reservoir cap. Brake fluid's performance, as well as its ability to help prevent corrosion and brake system problems, depends on not having moisture in it. Your cracked cap will allow more moisture into the system.

A friend of mine passed this on; there is not a lot of information but a few pretty 2002 pictures.

http://magazine.roadlanes.com/download/march2012.pdf

He's no Giovanni Michelotti. However, he is a significant designer who did exactly what he was hired to accomplish: give BMW styling a new direction. Half a decade after flame surfacing, every other car maker in the class seems to be adopting his styling touches.

I could get 3 or 4 2002s for the money!

I use the 2002-equivalent measure on a regular basis.

Change it as soon as you see it darkening.

Nope! That might have been true with the older conventional oils, but that is certainly not the case with any modern synthetic (and probably with any modern conventional or semi-synthetic) oil. Dark oil simply means that the oil is capturing soot particles. This doesn't pose any danger to the engine provided you are staying on track with the manufacturer recommendations on oil change intervals. The only way to know exactly what the condition of your oil is is to perform an oil analysis. Barring that, just use any decent quality oil and follow what the owner's manual says.

At least it probably has a dipstick... I kid!

Seriously, it might be a fine engine: Subaru-sourced 4U-GSE 2.0L flat four with 200-hp. I just really get the chills thinking about trying to do any work in an engine bay that crammed full of stuff pointing in the wrong direction.

Edit: Here is an interesting bit of information on the car from Edmunds: http://www.insideline.com/scion/fr-s/2013/2013-scion-fr-s-10-things-you-dont-know.html