What should I look out for? Its not the fuel injection engine, but should be a nice little project. Theres no rust on the rear shock towers so thats a good thung, but there little rust between the door and front fender on both sides.....should I worry too much?? Your thoughts and advice please.
Sorry I don't know more about 2002s. Maybe drop Mike Self an email. His email is on the bottom of his column in Roundel. He has two 2002s and has been driving them since new (at least one of them). He knows a lot about these cars.
I was told by someone that BMW never offered these cars in Ti nor Tii for the US market....is this true?
Pull the trunk mat if it has one, and the spare tire. Check the floor under the spare. Also check the far sides of the trunk on either side down inside what would be the backside of the rear fenders behind the rear wheels.
Kool. Where's the best place to buy parts for 2002's? I have been dreaming of owning one of these since I was 7! I can't wait to garage my M3 and start driving my dream machine. =)
The ti (dual side-draft carbs) wasn't sold in the USA, but the tii was in '72, '73 & '74. Parts are available from any BMW dealer, but several vendors specialize in the older cars & parts. There are vendors in Europe as well. One of the most active 2002 owners forum is 2002 BMW FAQ. Check it out!
Not sure about other sources, the things I offered were based on other tidbits I'd heard. If you think about it, if any rubber seals that can wear, do over the years, (even if they look good now, they may have been replaced at some time) water can get in. So, trunk gasket, tail light gaskets, antenna grommets (probably not a 2002?), window seals, sunroofs, etc... Now if water got in any of these areas over the years, it naturally would seep downward. So, look wherever the water could have gone.
Does AC come standard in these cars? If so is it expensive to replace an AC compressor in these cars?
ISTR it was not even optional from the factory. All 2002s with AC had it dealer-installed. Therefore, it depends on what's in there and what you want to have in there. The compressors that were originally used were generally noisy, inefficient piston-types and many, if not most, have failed by now. More efficient, quieter rotary-type replacements are usually a good idea. Either one may require some fiddling to get it properly mounted.
"I seem to recall" Same as IIRC (If I remember correctly). A qualifier for a possibly faulty memory. But I'm pretty sure I'm right about that.
They're great little cars - as much fun to work on as drive! Send me an e-mail (fwardell at bellsouth dot net) and I'll reply with a comprehensive 2002 buyers guide which'll tell you almost everything you want t0 know.
