Conserv

1966, at least early 1966 cars: black rocker panels with no rocker panel moulding. 1967 through 1973 (most round taillight cars): body color rocker panels with a rocker panel moulding 1974 through 1977 (square taillight cars): black rocker panels with a rocker panel moulding But, as a recent thread revealed, many owners feel free to paint the rockers however they prefer. For example, black rockers make the car appear to sit higher but look sleeker, emphasizing the horizontality. Body-color rockers tend to make the car look “chunkier”, but closer to the ground. That thread shows some photos of cars, illustrating these preferences and rationale. Regards, Steve

Although there was no factory-installed optional shift knob, BMW offered a dealer accessory knob — in either wood or leather — as shown in the first photo below, from a ca. 1972 U.S. dealer accessories brochure. The factory shift knob, from 1966 through 1977, was, as Mike pointed out, a molded rubber thing. Given the number and range of the ‘02 sub-models, it’s almost surprising that the same rubber shift knob was used for the full duration of the ‘02’s production, regardless of sub-model. Below, photos two through five — all from factory brochures — show the factory shift knob on a 1967 1600-2, a 1969 2002ti, 1974 2002 turbo, and a 1976 1502, respectively. The last photo is of the original knob in my ‘76. Regards, Steve

First off, Juan, you have even the engine compartment looking loved! They didn’t do much masking when they painted it! Many of the bolts, nuts, and details currently painted Granada were originally natural finish, largely cadmium or zinc plated. Examples are the nuts securing the tops of the strut towers, the fasteners holding the hood hold-down bar, and the hood hold-down bar itself. Below is my ‘76 to give you some sense of what was painted and what was not (although obviously many details changed from 1968 to 1976). Removing overspray can be accomplished one item at a time. The oil filler cap on your ‘69 should look like the cap on my ‘76. Regards, Steve

This looks, to me, Paul. like tired springs in a period deflector... 😯 Calling Stan, calling Stan.... 😉 Best regards, Steve

And let me guess, Paul: you have a couple of Stan’s torsion springs as backups.... 😋 Best regards, Steve

Thank you for the mea culpa, Rob! So with a build date of May 18th and a Port of Entry of Los Angeles — as stated on the window sticker — I’d guess 7 to 9 weeks from factory to BMW of San Diego. That places the car at the dealership in July 1972, and it’s sold August 11, 1972. And, since the 1973 models would be arriving soon, the buyer got a $100 discount off sticker — per the handwritten notations on the window sticker! Best regards, Steve

Based on your fixes to date, Juan, it doesn’t look like you need much help from us! The flush front turn signals, for instance, U.S.-spec until ca. 1970, are spot on. How does the engine compartment look? Just tryin’ to help... 😋 Regards, Steve

Congratulations: it looks loved! Wow! Great job bringing it back on track after its tough 4-5 years! ”Delivery to Hoffman Motors, New York City” represents legal delivery of ownership from BMW AG to the sole U.S. importer, Hoffman Motors Corp, which was domiciled in New York. It says nothing about the U.S. Port of Entry (POE), which was probably L.A. or San Francisco if this was originally a California car. U.S. cars coming through the New York area had a Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, POE. Note also that the “delivery” date was generally before the car left Germany, as Hoffman assumed responsibility for the car during its transit. Most of these “delivery” dates are within a week of the manufacturing date. Delivery from the factory to the U.S. dealership generally took 6 to 12 weeks depending on ship schedules, weather, U.S. POE (particularly East versus West Coast), Panama Canal schedules (for West Coast POE vehicles), car carrier schedules, distance from POE to U.S. dealership, etc. The car likely would not pass U.S. Customs with a km/h speedometer. But it could have been swapped in at any time. It certainly suggests a possible Canadian tour of duty, or was the car used in Europe later in life, and the km/h speedometer retained for sentimental reasons? 😉 The first thing I would do is pull out the instrument cluster — an easy job — and examine the date on the rear of the speedometer head. If it’s dated after the car’s manufacturing date of September 13, 1968, i.e., October 1968 or later, it was clearly added post-factory. But if it’s dated on or just before the car’s manufacturing date, i.e., August or September 1968, it could theoretically be an original speedometer. How to explain? One wild-ass theory — that doesn’t conflict with legal delivery through Hoffman Motors — is that the car was delivered through the official European Delivery Program (which still went through Hoffman Motors of New York City), equipped with a km/h speedometer while it was driven in Europe, the km/h speedometer was swapped out for U.S. Customs purposes, but retained, and swapped back in for whatever reason, after passing U.S. Customs. But let’s first see the date on that speedometer before we get into the wild speculation... 😁 (I wouldn’t make any apologies for those headrest seats: only 3 in 100 ‘02 people would even recognize that ‘69 models before January-ish 1969 had no headrests! And, if you ever come across some no-headrest backrests, so much the better! 😋) Again. Great job! Regards, Steve

+1 I’m with Vince on this. And if this doesn’t easily top $50K, I would be sorely disappointed! That would signify a very down market. Best regards, Steve

OK, Geoff! Reporting back with my findings. The Recaro seat adjusters have 5/16”-diameter, smooth-shaft levers, as below. Regards, Steve

Uhhh... it probably made more sense before the tii, or even the ti, came along... 😉 My ‘67 1600-2, with its 6-volt battery, had so much free space in the engine compartment... 👍 Best regards, Steve

The rims appear to be 6 x 13 Borrani’s (manufactured by CMR, of which Borrani is a division or brand). Assuming that is true, there are two different models in 6 x 13: an ET17 (R1-528) and an ET30 (R1-561). These appear to be the latter: ET30. Regards, Steve

Agreed. The Exide 26RC has the retaining tabs at the ends and works perfectly with the original tii hold-down. Regards, Steve

So perhaps the transition from Varta to Berga was, like many ‘02 changes, implemented over time. I parted a totaled 1974 2002A in 1975. It was equipped with a Berga by the time it reached me — I’d assume a year-old battery was original. I don’t have any photos of the original Berga in my ‘76, but I have the original warranty card. Best regards, Steve