2780118

VIN 2780118 is a U.S. 1974 model 2002tii, manufactured November 1973. Although the eBay listing identifies the color as Fjord, the photos suggest it is either Polaris, or the least-blue version of Fjord ever mixed. A non-original "polaris neu" paint sticker (BMW was employing "polaris PVC-frei" by 1973) further ads to the confusion.

Regards,

Steve

On 10/20/2018 at 12:40 AM, Conserv said:

VIN 2780118 is a U.S. 1974 model 2002tii, manufactured November 1973. Although the eBay listing identifies the color as Fjord, the photos suggest it is either Polaris, or the least-blue version of Fjord ever mixed. A non-original "polaris neu" paint sticker (BMW was employing "polaris PVC-frei" by 1973) further ads to the confusion.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Steve,

My car's VIN is 70 cars later. Did they only make 70 cars between November and Jan 11?Here's the quote from BMW:

The BMW 2002 tii US VIN 2780188 was manufactured on January 11th, 1974 and delivered on January 22nd, 1974 to the BMW importer Hoffman Motors Corp. in New York City. The original colour was Polaris metallic, paint code 060.

Nick,

Hmm... your car’s manufacturing date is nearly two months out of sequence if it was manufactured January 11, 1974! I’m showing 1974 tii’s 2780001 through 2780794 as manufactured during 1973. VIN 2780795 is the first U.S.-spec tii manufactured in 1974. And VIN’s 2780964, 2780974, and 2780988 were all manufactured on January 11, 1974.

We occasionally see ‘02’s that are 1, 2, or even 3 days out of sequence. Since the manufacturing date is the date the car passed its final inspection, I’d guess that an out-of-sequence car was begun on an earlier date but was missing a part, had a defect, or otherwise could not pass inspection on its scheduled date.

Your car, VIN 2780188, is the 188th U.S.-spec ‘74 tii manufactured. I would have pegged your car as being manufactured any work day from November 16 to 23, 1973. Why? Because VIN 2780118 (above) was manufactured November 16, 1973 and tdskip’s VIN 2780233 was manufactured November 23, 1973.

Further, RealOEM.com shows your car as a November 1973 car (screenshot, first photo below) and the BMW 2002 Car Club of Columbia’s VIN decoder shows your car as a 1973-manufactured example (screenshot, second photo below).

Does your car retain its U.S. VIN sticker on the trailing panel of the driver’s door (as in the third photo below)? If so, what month and year are shown on it? If it has the original engine, what is the casting date on the block? What is the casting date on the head?

If your car was not completed until nearly two months after it’s original sequence, there is a story there! Sadly, we may never be able to hear that story.

Best regards,

Steve