Dugan27

Car is now registered and title should arrive in 2-3 weeks.

When the time is right, and if he agrees, I'll try and share his info. According to him, he's restored about 20 of these cars over the years.

This is my understanding; he said he is having the local police come to verify the VIN this week and then it will get titled.

I was planning to visit this weekend to see the starting point but could not make it happen. Since we are on opposite coasts it will be a challenge. This is going to be a driver, but I still plan to keep track of anything not original and have asked him to keep a list of anything that isn't coming from the car.

Title wasn't long enough for me to give the title I intended and likely not forum appropriate anyway. Not much background beyond the only other post I've had on this forum, and too much detail on the build to get into a single first post, but in a nutshell: - I've looking for sometime for a 2002, strong preference for <'74 tii - Through a kind referral to a car in Nor Cal I met with a gentleman who had a '72 tii semi-finished build he wanted to complete - I understand the inherent risks of entering into an agreement like this but after some consideration found them less than buying a car post resto I didn't have any visibility to - we came to a deal and he is finishing a 1972 Tii for me - I will be visiting near end of build to check it out, and make sure I'm super stoked with end product but know I can't check everything so I've asked for copious amounts of photos and communication Info on the car in question: 1972 BMW 2002 Tii VIN 2761748 preliminary Punch List with not that full detail is impossible and there is trust and a relationship involved: 1) Rebuilt Lower end 2) New Seals All Around And now all the photos I have so far:

I believe I will start a new thread for the build progress photos etc.

His main business is marine (boat) restoration, but he also does cars. We'll be in communication frequently with lots of photos/specifics and I'll be flying out prior to final payment (last 50%) to inspect everything. So far communication has been very good in my mind, but there is of course some risk here. Not sure if it's significantly more than buying an already built car that I wasn't involved in observing the course of the build.

Don't think I want to share the guy doing the works personal info, but everything seems to be on the up and up from him. He's going to have a new title done which is something I guess I have concerns about only cause I don't know how that works.

The car in question. It's been off the road for a long time (+15 years) so he is working to get the new title done in my name. This is all new territory for me.

Update: I connected with the seller/restorer of this car and we have agreed to a deal on another car he is finishing. Super stoked. Any pointers for a project agreement like this would be more than welcome!

Thank you both, that's what I figured from reading previous posts.

Can anyone give any info on what the "X X" Vin marking on the motor for the red car might indicate?

Engine vin on the red illinois car: FYI this car was owned by a member of the Knauz family which is a fairly large auto dealer in illinois. They are selling it on consignment. Finally there's this one: https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/bmw/2002tii/2517551.html If I can get it down in price, I may go after it.

Looked at the two new options today, one in person in Miami and one with my brother in law's help in Chicago (he knows cars far better than I do). First the white one: https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/d/miami-1973-bmw-2002-euro-spec/7370191107.html Pros: Body seems in good shape Minimal rust and no detectable bondo on body or frame (used the Macartney book to hit all likely places and also most other places) Nice interior Motor vin matches body **see below** Starts, drives, shifts well Cons: There was no VIN on the body other than the riveted on plate (see photos) Car was imported from Bogotá, Colombia (he has a warehouse full of nice cars) When started from cold a good visible spark jumped from the middle of the motor forward Steering was hard; much harder than the other 2002 I test drove Brakes were soft and squeaked badly Took a good two seconds to start from cold Hood was hard to close; little roller lever had to really wail on it passenger door was hard to close Rear tires seem precariously close to the fenders Black 'grease' looking stuff inside rear fenders on both sides; owner says it's built up tire shire (hmmmm) Wonky roll cage Motor seemed to wobble (?) at least more than the red mystery mobile (see vid) https://www.dropbox.com/s/5fk2fsseyrzbn9h/IMG_8788.MOV?dl=0 The Red One: (second hand from BIL) https://www.nsclassics.com/1971-bmw-2002-restored-german-classic-see-video-c-5067.htm Pros: No rust, virtually no bondo Started up easily from cold with a little gas "mostly seems all original" Great interior More stock looking Cons: "pretty good oil leak dripping onto the exhaust, need to get that fixed or it'll be a drivability problem Motor vin number missing but has "X X" where VIN should be; Remanufactured?? No strut brace....not sure how important this is More to come on this one I will edit.

This was the third car in the mix, but not sure I can get over the faux turbo look; not that I don't like the look, but don't like dressing up cars to looks like something they aren't. Would not have to deal with shipping. https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/d/miami-1973-bmw-2002-euro-spec/7370191107.html Found this one as well https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1971/bmw/2002/101595440 Which is right by my inlaws house and have people that could go look over it for me. Obviously neither is a Tii but I'm not so hung up on that.

At least the Grey BATmobile was WAY over my budget.... Going to call the Portland seller in a bit

Wow....that's sharp. Who would buy it for $45k and then let it sit for 3 years?

well, the BAT after their fee and shipping would be more than even my stretch budget. However, I stayed up continuing my search and found a few other options. I'll try and keep my "hey, what about this car" to a minimum. Thanks everyone for your helpful advise and I still expect to join your ranks soon.

So at best I'd have the headache of trying to get a Rebuilt Title, if that would even fly.

This is kind of where I'm at with it....I could be morally flexible enough to look past the sleazball factor, but not sure if I could even get title and registration without playing dumb and a major gamble.

And they slapped a Ti badge on while they were at it.

Is there anyway to find out what the original VIN actually was at this point?

Oh my....