You just never know when Angels may smile on you

[Lil bastard]

The *ss end...

[Lil bastard]

One final shot as I'm off to San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country for 5 days of much needed r&r. I'll post more on my return...

[Thumper]

It appears that the car is as lucky to have you as you are to have it.

Enjoy the Texas hill country. Great time to visit. The weather should be beautiful as well.

[941MXVET]

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Back years ago, I test drove a 2002, I loved it but it blew a radiator hose durning my test drive. I took that as a bad omen and walked away from that car. Probably should have bought it!

Thanks for bring back the memories, and please keep us posted on your project, some of us realyy appreciate it.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by 941MXVET

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Back years ago, I test drove a 2002, I loved it but it blew a radiator hose durning my test drive. I took that as a bad omen and walked away from that car. Probably should have bought it!

Thanks for bring back the memories, and please keep us posted on your project, some of us realyy appreciate it.

Thanks. It's undergoing it's 'shakedown' cruisin' at the moment. I've got some small electrical issues, but these have ended up being mostly poor grounds. I also think I can still improve dialing the motor and carb in - I'm getting about 28MPG (mix) right now, but I think it can be improved.

[Lordblood]

Congrats on the buy! That car looks absolutely stunning, I love old BMW's!
The interior looks gorgeous from what I can see of the pictures, mind snapping an interior photo?

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by jmatta

Looks like "Max" is up for sale, yet again...

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/bmw/1217804935/1217804935ss.htm

That is a very cool car... I love the 'roundies' - pre-'74.

I would love to trick out an '02 in similar kit, but this particular car will always stay close to stock, at least while in my posession, because I believe that's what the Dr. wanted.

I would love to someday acquire another and really step it up - easy with all the aftermarket support.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by Lordblood

Congrats on the buy! That car looks absolutely stunning, I love old BMW's!
The interior looks gorgeous from what I can see of the pictures, mind snapping an interior photo?

Thanks! Actually, while all there, it was the interior which suffered greatest from all the time the car was 'stored'. '70's era plastics were notoriously poor and the dash has a couple cracks. The carpet is basically dry-rotted - not really dry rot, but hard and needs replacing. BMW stuffed their seats with Horsehair padding rather than foams and this too has shrunk. I spent a day disassembling the seats as the adjustment mechanisms were basically siezed. The headliner needs a good clean-up. But, the internal chrome work (door handles, window handles, etc.) is good and the instrument panel and switch gear is in great shape. The door panels are stretched over fibreboard, essentially heavy cardboard and this too will require replacement - lazer-cut replacements of treated Luan plywood are available. Both the windshield and rear glass rubber gaskets are totally dried out and will need replacement - I tried to replace the chrome locking strip on the rear, and when inserting the tool, the rubber just crumbled so I stopped and bought 13 ft. of appropriately sized vacuum tubing and worked it into the locking slot until I can replace the whole gasket in spring.

Most of the interior bits are available, though spendy - $400@ for the horsehair pads - 2/seat +$400 for each seat reupholstery kit in original german vinyl! I'll spend the winter cruisin ebay and other sources assembling all the bits I need to 're-do' the interior in the spring. This will include Sport Recaros to replace the base seats. Another option is to transplant the interior of a newer model - the 318i and 633i interiors fit into this car nicely adding leather instead of vinyls, so this is also an option.

I'd prefer to hold off photographing the interior until get it better sorted. I have cleaned it up and it's fine, it's just that it truly looks it's age.

[Lordblood]

Ah that's too bad, but on the bright side it gives you something to look forward to .

Yea I think old luxury cars had better interiors than new ones, they were just so...elegant. It's too bad everything gets worn down much faster inside than out.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by Lordblood

Ah that's too bad, but on the bright side it gives you something to look forward to .

Yea I think old luxury cars had better interiors than new ones, they were just so...elegant. It's too bad everything gets worn down much faster inside than out.

The BMW 2002 is not considered a luxury car at all. It wasn't until much later that BMW's began getting plush.

The '02 was considered a 'Neue Klasse' (new class) car. This lineup began with the 1962 model 1500 and in 1966 was expanded to include (for the 1st time in automotive history) a 'Sport Sedan' in the form of the 1600 and 2002 Coupes, Sedans and Touring models.

If anything, the interior is very Teutonic and sparse, very functional with little fuss or luxury. Probably the most advantageous feature was it's wonderful greenhouse effect with very thin 'A' Pillars, virtually no 'B' pillars and again a small 'C' pillar which when combined with a relatively tall roofline (look at the scale of the car, especially against it's 13" wheels - it's a very, very small car) gave the car tremendous visibility and airiness.

[Lordblood]

Ah I did not know that! Sounds like Hyundai of the past.

Either way, what I love about old luxury cars are their simplistic interior. Modern luxury cars are filled with so many buttons and gadgets, that they lose what to me is luxury. I think luxury is about having a simple, peaceful, and calm environment that takes you away from the outside world. I think this BMW delivers even if it isn't considered a true "luxury car."