My neighbor has a round-taillight 2002 that is partially disassembled, and he wants me to put it back together for him. It is currently a roller without brakes, no glass or interior installed, engine is sitting in place but no transmission, etc. It looks like it should be a pretty easy project. The body is very clean, and I didn't see a speck of rust on it anywhere. So, I'm looking for reference material -- factory service manuals, assembly manuals, restoration guides, etc -- to make sure I do it right. Project scheduled to begin in October, but I'd like to gather the reference material first so I can start reading.
So, what books do I need and where can I find them?
Thanks,
PC
Get the BMW 2002 Restoration book. It has some good suggestions.
I may pick up a copy of that myself.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/ is an online BMW parts catalog. Besides being handy for looking up part numbers, it has plenty of exploded diagrams that are a real help for assembly. You'll find the 2002 in the archive section.
I would second starting with. www.realoem. com
Having the vin number will give you the build date of the car, month/year. I owned a very early '68, Granada Red , #1061.
The build "date" is the gate way into the mid year parts update/changes that these cars were "hand" built. Buy tiny people (they smoked a lot back then) that could work with the tiny fasteners used to screw together the cars.
Having the vin number/build date is very important when ordering parts, and finding out what is "NLA", no longer available. But you can update the car. These are a true "Lego", if you are not a slave to "the way it was originally built. The early single circuit breaks are much better replaced buy the later, two circuit systems, starting in 1969.
The early "long nose" diff, looks like a subi item, the U-joint half shafts and the glibo drive shaft are another example of parts that are best updated. If you get it running with the early parts you might have a 4.10 ratio from a 1600 of the same vintage. Again, finding a '69 or later car can save you lots of "education".
It continues, but learning the mix of fasteners they use to bolt the engine to the transmission is the start of the "masters" class. Then there's the allen bolt the holds pin in place at the bottom of the shifter, that you have to have in place before you put the two piece drive shaft with the center support bearing that should be refreshed but they stake the u-joint..
