My New BMW

So this is my new car or, as my son says, my "new to us" car.  Bought off eBay from a guy about 200 miles away, this 1972 BMW 2002A made the trip home in fine form, averaging about 65 and getting as high as 80 mph.  The interior is in exceptional original shape, with everything working (including the original Behr air conditioning).  The engine is strong and the transmission shifts smoothly.  It is in serious need of a new, quality repaint, which I'll get to soon enough.  For now, it's just fun to have a toy car to drive around.  I went for an aimless drive around Cambridge this afternoon, savoring the solitude and the driving, and the Dunkin' Donuts coffee I bought for the road.

I understand why '02 fans rave about these things.  This car is light, tossable, and fun.  The brakes are merely adequate, and I'm tempted to upgrade them, but that would sacrifice the originality of this particular example, which is nearly unmolested since 1972.  It even has the single Solex carb it came with.  At some point, I'll have to decide whether to go the pure route and keep it bone stock, or modernize it for drivability.  I'm sorely tempted by the latter.  No decisions yet, though.  As I said, it's just nice to have a toy.

Comments

[FD (Beacon Hill)]

Nice looking car. I say go ahead and upgrade the brakes; it'll be more fun to drive then. (Keep the old parts and put 'em back on when you're preparing for Pebble Beach...)

Btw I recall a Road&Track article from years ago that mentioned that BMW used a shim of some sort (maybe an aluminum disc) in the front suspension to get the bumper height up to Federal standards. Pulling that out is said to improve the car's handling, and also gets rid of that "looks like it's accelerating even when it's parked" stance.

[GTL]

Since there's not a lot 2002s left anymore, I guess you can be forgiven for getting an automatic :-) but the stick was a MUCH more enjoyable drive.

I'm surprised it still has the piece-of-crap Solex carb on it (dictated by US emissions standards) - most were upgraded to a Holly copy of the Weber carb that the cars were sold with in Europe. That's about the only mod I would recommend to an almost perfect sports sedan.

I had a '74 I bought new. The only car I've driven since that gives me a similar feeling is the Mini Cooper. The '02 always seemed to be saying to me "GO! gogogogo GO! C'mon, let's GO! Faster, faster, GO!" That may explain my plethoria of speeding tickets back then....

[carpundit]

FD- You're spot-on about those spacers. In mine, the spacers were removed from the underside of the strut tower and replaced on the top, thus lowering the ride height to a net twice the thickness of the spacer. It's ugly sitting in the engine compartment, but it does get rid of the boat look.

GTL- Yeah, I was a little bummed about the auto tranny, but my wife talked me into it. In theory, she might drive it. I kind of doubt it, now that I've seen how earthy the steering and brakes are (power nothing). The car came to me with many parts for conversion to standard, and I'll probably do that if I modernize.

[jo]

Might I add...s-w-e-e-t. There is one of those in the garage but alas not in as fine a condition as yours.

[Wave Maker]

Nice ride -- I had a '76 tii (white) down the Cape first out of law school. Killer for the chicks. But it's no car to ride a long distance.