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The serial numbers stamped into each transmission could be useful if someone, with too much time on their hands, simply collected the serial numbers on every transmission for which the housing’s casting date is also available. Thus; A.) transmissions currently not in cars, and B.) transmissions for which we have photos of the serial number and casting date. I’m betting there is a clear correlation between casting dates and serial numbers! With sufficient samples, one could look at a transmission in an ‘02 and approximate its date from the serial number without having access to the casting date. Great? Not certain about that, but it could be done! Regards, Steve

+1 Agreed! If you go back to a recent comment/post by Ray, you’ll find a link to Bring a Trailer and the $265K project! No Reserve: 1972 BMW 2002tii 5-Speed for sale on BaT Auctions - ending May 6 (Lot #145,874) | Bring a Trailer BRINGATRAILER.COM Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 1972 BMW 2002tii 5-Speed at auction with Bring a... The shop appears to do mostly Ferrari’s, so there’s that… Best, Steve

😂 Something like that, Tom! With VIN 2760026 — the $265,000 project — on the market, I went into the Registry entry to update it. But linked in the Registry entry, and addressing a prior owner of 2760026, I found this thread oddly un-finished. And now, with what might be the most expensive stock ‘02 renovation project to date, and in the public eye, I thought, “Hey, that 8-year old thread doesn’t have an ending of any sorts. Maybe I should throw something in there!” So I did, hoping no one would even notice… 🙄 And, so, in effect at least, I finally hit “Submit Reply”! 😉 Best regards, Steve

Rusty, The block should have a casting date, likely one to four months before the original car’s October 1977 manufacturing date. Check the head’s type and casting date, as well, to see if it was originally a tii head. Most factory tii heads through U.S. VIN 2762372 were type 121 heads. From U.S. VIN 2762373 onward, tii’s had E12 heads. Here’s an article that will help you find the block and head casting dates: And, yes, many of the original tii bits — such as the aluminum runners, front engine covers, and injection pumps — will have casting dates as well. It sounds as if tii components were swapped onto an e21 block after the original block failed. If you see 1974 casting dates on the four aluminum intake runners, dollars to doughnuts the tii equipment came off a 1974 tii… If you show us a photo of the left side of the accumulator (plenum), to which those runners mount, we can see in a flash whether it’s a 1974 model year component. Regards, Steve

How about a photo of this? I’ve never seen anything like this. Are you certain the VIN is on the aluminum bellhousing and not on the flat boss at the very rear of the cast iron block, where all original blocks were stamped? In 51 years of ‘02 ownership, I’ve never seen an ‘02 transmission marked by the factory with the car’s VIN. Below, circled in red, is the boss on the engine block — machined flat by the factory — where engine numbers (VIN’s) are stamped. Regards, Steve

Thanks for sharing @pehlivanov_tii. The rims look great! And, yes, it looks like the “rim stampers” had a rough Monday morning or Friday afternoon! 😉 For a more original appearance — I realize you were pursuing a more personal aesthetic and technology — I’d avoid both glossy and matte finishes, choosing something between those extremes: semi-gloss or possibly satin. And the original steel rims, of course, did not employ a clearcoat, which is a more modern technology. Thanks for posting your findings, experience, and beautiful re-done rims! Steve

U.S.-bound cars were supposed to have — by U.S. DOT regulations — lower-gloss, e.g., “not polished chrome,” interior trim from 1968 onward. But… there are quite a few examples of the European-style chrome heating control escutcheons appearing on 1968 and later U.S.-spec cars, as we see here with VIN 2760026. Dashboards or controls swapped post-factory may explain some of these, but, yes, it’s possible some of the chrome escutcheons made it onto new U.S.-bound cars and slipped un-detected 😯🙄 through U.S. Customs. Regards, Steve

Much rarer than the service manuals, Barrett! Best regards, Steve

Well done, Barney!

+1 Agreed. These started life with an e21. Admittedly, ‘02 owners, by the very late 1970’s, were mounting them on ‘02’s — with a bit of luck, depending on tire size, tire brand, camber, suspension mods, and rolled fender lips. But the offsets were perhaps ET13, rather than the ET25 to ET29 one would prefer for an ‘02. They’re generally dated, often show the offset. The part number should also take you to the parts catalogue, where the ET is usually shown, if it’s not cast into the rims. Best regards, Steve

Thanks, John, They've offered the certificates for decades. They were 100€ for the longest time. Of course, very few people purchased them because you’d get the same exact information in an email, for free! I suppose they’re making the Group Archives help pay for itself! Best regards, Steve

Say it ain’t so, John! Seriously, how much are they charging for a reply email? Or have the stopped issuing email replies and begun insisting on the “certificate”? Thanks and best regards, Steve

No, the triangular cut-outs were a 1967 feature that carried over into the earliest 1968 model year cars, but those cut-outs, like the forward-mounted rearview mirror, 2-spoke steering wheel, and chrome-trimmed dash, were gone by early November 1967. A December example, such as yours, likely bears none of those carryover features. By December 1967, BMW was finally getting ready, as Mike mentions above, to comply with the 1968 U.S. DOT requirements, with a drop-dead effective date of January 1, 1968. The flat face of the bezel, between the gauges, was also black after early November 1967-ish, although each gauge retained a silver rim. Unlike U.S. manufacturers, who adopted U.S. DOT and EPA requirements with the new model year — September generally — BMW was dragged, kicking and screaming, into each new year’s requirements! @BritshIron wrote an excellent and detailed article on the likely rationale behind the cut-outs! But a December 1967 never had them. Regards, Steve

If you email your car’s VIN to BMW Group Archives (hdz.info@bmwgroup.com), and request their data on the car, they will provide you with (a.) the precise manufacturing date of your car, along with (b.) the date that legal ownership was delivered by BMW AG to Hoffman Motors (the sole U.S. importer at the time), and (c.) the car’s original exterior color. There is no charge. Kindly share it with us, so we can populate our Registry with accurate data. With a VIN of 1561924, yours is probably a December 1967 production. I guesstimated December 14, 1967. BMW will tell you the correct date. But your question about the silver vs. black textured instrument bezel is certainly well-founded. Many of the distinctly “1967” model year features — outside rearview mirrors placed close to the leading edge of the driver’s door, two-spoke steering wheels, chrome-trimmed dashboards (I’m only talking U.S.-bound examples here), silver-painted instrument surround, and triangular cut-outs in the trunk bulkhead — continued into the early 1968 model year cars (beginning with VIN 1560001 in September 1967). I won’t pretend I can provide the exact changeover dates or VINs for these 1967 features, but most indicators suggest that most of these 1967 disappeared around or before early November 1967, which is around or before VIN 1561300. A December car is likely too late to have had any of these 1967 features. @Lucian‘s November 4, 1967 1600-2, VIN 1561224, is the latest example I see in our Registry of the silver-painted instrument surround (photo below). But note, cars are altered and few members place sufficient photos in their Registry entries to help answer such questions — I said with a bit of annoyance, but not directed at you! — and additional photos could expand or contract date and VIN ranges of many features. So, as you’ve already been informed by any number of knowledgeable members above, a December 1967-ish example started life with a black instrument surround and silver rim bezels. If built approximately a month earlier, however, the answer might have been different! Regards, Steve

Tommy, I believe that semi-gloss was the likely finish: less glossy than the car’s exterior finish. Best regards, Steve

I found an MVP tank, on eBay, that is currently in my ‘73. It’s 51 liters, like a square taillight tank, but has no cropped right rear corner. So it wouldn’t fit a U.S. square taillight tii (1974), but it’s too deep to work correctly with my ‘73’s pickup and sender. Four years in, I’m still looking for a correct 1973 tii tank (46 liters, screw-down pickup). The trend I’m seeing is that the replacement fuel tanks are all becoming 51 liters. I suppose “why not”, assuming you’re replacing your 46-liter pickup and sender with 51-liter units. Best regards, Steve

Talk with Blunttech. If there is a problem, it’s probably easier to handle it within the U.S. rather than with overseas shipping. Here’s what happened with my Walloth und Nesch tank, which arrived with a defect. First, the complicated ground of U.S. tii fuel tanks. From an earlier thread of mine, a summary of the tii tanks: “Type I. VIN’s 2760001 through 2761963 (most 1972 models): tank (46 liters) = 16111107596; pickup (twist-in) = 16121107413; pickup seal = 16121105332; fuel sender = 62161354267; fuel sender seal = 62168782015 Type II. VIN’s 2761964 through 2764369 (some 1972 and all 1973 models): tank (46 liters) = 16111110614; pickup (screw-down) = 16121110621; pickup seal = 16121110598; fuel sender = 62161354267; fuel sender seal = 62168782015 Type III. VIN’s 2780001 through 2782927 (all 1974 models): tank (51 liters) = 16111111604; pickup (screw-down) = 16121111607; pickup seal = 16121110598; fuel sender = 62161358096; fuel sender seal = 62168782015 Type I. is used on 1972 models through VIN 2761963, which was built in early June 1972, just twenty cars after the initial switch to E12 heads and aluminum intake runners. Thus, a majority of 1972 tii’s have Type I tanks, with their twist-in fuel pickup. Later 1972 models, VIN’s 2761964 through 2762629, and all 1973 models received Type II tanks, with screw-down fuel pickups. Lastly, all 1974 tii’s, VIN’s 2780001 through 2782927, received Type III tanks, with screw-down fuel pickups and a cropped right rear corner, but having an additional 5 liters of fuel capacity (51 liters versus 46).” No one seems to have the correct Type II tank I needed for my ‘73 so I bought the Walloth und Nesch tank they sell for 1974 U.S.-spec tii’s, among other possible models. It’s 51 liters, like original square taillight tanks and has a cropped right rear corner, so it fits with a U.S. square taillight — or most anything, since a square taillight tank is the “universal donor”. But, the filler neck on my example was attached wrong: it was clocked about 15 degrees too far clockwise. Thus, you couldn’t, even with the late rubber filler neck, get the filler neck to align with the filler aperture in the right rear quarter panel. The tank went back. I never got an explanation whether my tank was a one-off boo-boo or whether they were making all that model tank with the badly-aligned filler neck. I found a new tank without the cropped corner — more round taillight in style — but it’s 51 liters, so my round taillight pickup and sender are too shallow in it. Finally, here are photos of the Walloth und Nesch tank with the bad filler neck. Tii fuel tanks: sheesh! 🙄 Regards, Steve

Adding nothing new, the U.S. square taillights (1975-76 model years), because of the mandated body reinforcements, required a cropped right rear corner for their fuel tanks. As Gordon mentioned, capacity went from 46 liters to 51 liters, by increasing the depth of the tank. I don’t know what Euro square taillight cars required — cropped corner or “not-cropped” corner — I only know U.S. models. The first photo below shows the original fuel tank in my ‘73 tii (VIN 2762757). It is, of course, not cropped. Surely someone here has a good photo of a cropped square taillight tank, in place — tii or carbed. The closest photo I have shows the cropped corner, but not well (second photo)! Regards, Steve

Yes, the ‘72 model year U.S.-spec airbox has the vapor recovery nipple. 1972 and 1973 U.S.-spec airboxes are identical. Below, circled in green, is the U.S.-only vapor recovery nipple. Regards, Steve

+1 Here’s another view of the “hose accommodation dent” on 1974 U.S. tii’s. I believe Euro-spec tii’s for 1974 and 1975 share this feature. Attached below, shown at left, is a pre-1974 front snorkel; right is the front snorkel for 1974 and 1975, the latter model year only available outside the U.S. While there’s generally not lots of tii airboxes listed for sale simultaneously, I don’t consider them particularly rare. I, for instance, probably wouldn’t jump at the first airbox I saw… Regards, Steve

The center section, at minimum, is from a 1974 U.S.-spec tii: it has a bracket for the vacuum limiter valve only found on 1974 U.S. models (see first photo below, with the bracket circled in red). There are two separate brackets that attach the housing to the two brackets that have been welded onto a tii’s left inner fender. Finding those two brackets, on a stand-alone basis, can be a challenge. Optimally, but rarely, you can find a tii airbox complete with those brackets (second photo below shows a 1972/73 tii airbox, with the two separate brackets). Regards, Steve

Another view… Regards, Steve

10 years ago, there was at least one U.S. firm and one U.K. firm that restored headlight reflectors — properly. The U.S. one, I seem to recall, was in some place such as Michigan or Minnesota (I apologize Mid-Westerners, for not being able to distinguish among states west of Pennsylvania and east of Oregon…🙄). I was looking at this issue because I wondered whether it might be worthwhile having a set of Amplilux restored. I stopped that investigation when I discovered that restoration costs began at $500 (?) for a pair of lights — at a time when I could still find an NOS pair of Amplilux for less than $500. Somewhere in this forum, I’ve discussed this topic previously, probably naming names. I don’t know how to find it. “Amplilux re-silver”? “Amplilux reflector”? Regards, Steve

Meanwhile, the ‘02 VIN decoder provided by the BMW 2002 Car Club of Columbia is accurate, without being date-specific. Servicios :: BMW Club Clásicos Colombia WWW.BMWCLASICOS.COM Adquiere Merchandising del BMW Club Clásicos Colombia Decodificador de la serie BMW '02 Servicios y almacenes de partes BMW en Colombia. And for Archives, I assume you’re using the newest email address: hdz.info@bmwgroup.com Have you checked out VIN’s close to your car’s in the forum’s Registry? Have you checked manufacturing dates on some of the many dated components, e.g., engine block, head, trans, diff, rims, instruments, lights? Are your front seat headrest supports 10mm or 12mm in diameter — the switchover occurred in late January 1973, with VIN 2763352? Regards, Steve