Anyone have experience with these? A rust free shell with all the parts in boxes has become available for fairly cheap. I am considering dumping the e30 convertible and tackling this much larger project.
Can they be good autocross cars? Seems like the perfect recipe being light, rwd, and able to accept a number of engines. Are there any inherent flaws that make them significantly less capable then say........ a miata? Car in question in a '76 with the big bumpers.
Good support, great looks, of course it would be!
Problem is if it's really rust free. I seem to remember that they really like to rust where you can't see.
How rust free is it and where in New York are you?
It's one of those cars that is a project car by definition, I think. Kinda like an MGB or anything Italian.
I love my 2002, and am thus biased.
As far as less-competent or less-fast, they are nose-heavy, and have suspensions designed before radial tires. I did okay locally in FSP, and had a ball.
They are a great combination of visceral feel, style, sound... Have you had a chance to be near one which wasn't in boxes?
The square-taillight cars are, as I understand it, a couple hundred pounds heavier than the round-taillight cars, though a significant chunk of that has to be in the bumpers and bracketry. OTOH, some of it is in nifty stuff like side intrusion beams, which don't seem like a terrible thing.
It's neat that they used that engine up 'til... '91? In various incarnations. I did a Megasquirt installation on my car, and I was able to use the intake manifold and fuel rail from an E30, which made things very tidy...
My car is presently in stasis, awaiting a pretty thorough re-engineering. They certainly don't need that to be fun, but I'm so smitten with the darned thing that I'm gambling that I won't un-2002 it while trying to make it competitive with more modern machinery.
They definitely grew in structure - the boss has one that's in bare metal and some parts from a later car to fix the rusty bits, and there's a notable increasing in bracing.
One used to run with our local track group. Rusty, blew a bit of blue smoke, not super-fast - but the driver always had a grin.
Ive driven one with an S14 5spd, 5 series brakes, coil-overs....etc.
Yes they are fun. If that thing is truly rust free, get it.
If it's truly rust-free, the rest is relatively easy. I've had mine for close to 20 years at this point and it's still entertaining to drive. I autocrossed it for many years; it was never competitive, but I built it for the street, not the track, so I had no expectations of winning, but it was always fun to drive.
I had a '69, for a brief time. It was a blast, when it wasn't broken (21yo noob mechanic, just learning).
I wish I still had mine. I Megasquirted it and was about 95% complete with the project and I relocated 1000 miles away and figured shipping two cars was enough, so I sold the thing.
Go 4 it. I hear almost all parts are carried by BMW. Bring My Wallet.
There's a guy who apparently does very well in one in the Southeast region rallycross 
ransom wrote: It's neat that they used that engine up 'til... '91?
To my knowledge, the M10 (fuel injected) was used only up until 86 in the 318i, at least in the US. When the 318i came out again in 91 it had the M42.
But maybe they kept using the M10 in Europe or elsewhere.....
Wow, pretty damn unanimous 
. I have contacted the seller and should be paying a visit this weekend. I generally jump on deals asap but this would be the 6th car in the driveway and a non-running one at that. I expect to be 2 cars lighter by the weekend and if fate allows I be back at 4 by next Monday, a number which I (and my girlfriend) feel is reasonable.
Any thoughts on throwing a turbo-ed m20 motor in one? I'm sure there is plenty documented online I am however more curious of opinions on if keeping sort of 4-banger in there is more bettererer.
In reply to Markde:
Reason I ask about the m20 btw is that I am familiar with it and have all the turbo bits in storage already.
why not just turbo the M10? Better weight balance and most things I've read seem to indicate that the M10 will hold more power than the M20 anyhow.
Not apples and oranges, but I swapped an M42 (4-cyl) into my M10-powered e30. While I won't win in a drag against M20 cars, It's still not far off and has MUCH better weight balance. It's the reason I put the M42 in there instead of the sixer.
I know I'm probably in the minority, but I like the carbed M10 in the 2002; I prefer the traditional modifications - dual carbs, exhaust, some internal engine work, and that's about it. I really feel like many of the 02s I see out there with a bunch of big power mods have been largely ruined by them. The chassis is happy with some extra power, especially if you keep the weight and balance near-stock, but too much is too much. The car may be faster, but it won't be as nice to drive. And it's hard to beat the induction roar of two big Webers.
In reply to 02Pilot:
I actually preferred the mechanical fuelie found in the tii. I will own one someday, but not unless I find a good deal on one.
Also, I'm in the "Don't ruin the car with a M20" crowd.....
02Pilot wrote: I know I'm probably in the minority, but I like the carbed M10 in the 2002; I prefer the traditional modifications - dual carbs, exhaust, some internal engine work, and that's about it. I really feel like many of the 02s I see out there with a bunch of big power mods have been largely ruined by them.
The last arrangement before my 2002 was involuntarily parked (blue smoke clouds) was an E30 intake manifold with 325i throttle body. I doubt it made a ton more power than stock, but it had fantastic throttle response and pulled from very low revs as far up as I imagine the stock cam was any good for.
Dual sidedrafts probably is good for more peak power than the E30 manifold and EFI, but I really liked that setup.
They're kinda cool cars but suffer from the same hype as other Baby Boomer cars of the era.
Quick question, how high is the m10 revving to on the efi/carb versions?
if this is a truly rust free example it should be restored. the price on rust free examples just keep climbing and are getting harder to find that have not had mods done to them
the thing to remember even if you dump a ton of money into it. it still will be slow on the track compared to a lot of other cars out there that have a lot less money time in them
The problem with restoring a 2002 is you can quickly exceed the final value in restoration costs. That is unless you have a bunch of spares laying around anyway. Your first next purchase should be to go find a rusty 320is that will have a 5 speed and LSD you can swap into the 2002 fairly easy. It will also offer up some slightly better brakes. You will also need to join this group of 2002 enthusiasts. http://www.bmw2002faq.com/
In reply to tr8todd:
i agree and dont...if the car is truly rust free it can be restored and you can make money. in restoring a car like a 2002 body work and rust removal can be the biggest cost
They are terrible cars. Can't win anything with them. 
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