1972 BMW 2002tii Blue 99 44/100% Rust Free No Snorkel Sunroof A/C Well Sorted

1972 BMW 2002tii

99 44/100% Rust Free (meaning I can't find a rust hole anywhere, nd only fear of lawyers stops me from saying "rust-free")

Correct "Non-Snorkel" Nose

Metallic Blue with Black Interior

Drop Dead Gorgeous -- The Prettiest Girl at the Dance

Sunroof andUpdated Yet Stock Looking Air Conditioning

Factory FPS Alloy Wheels

Largely Clunk and Rattle Free ("largely..." again with the lawyer-related fear)

Fairly Well Sorted, eeds Little ("fairly..." well, ou understand by now)

Highly Detailed Description --Insane Number of Photos (scroll down) and Several Videos

$18,900 Opening Bid, 24,500 Buy It Now

Ten Day Auction to Allow Viewing on Two Weekends (unless someone punches the BIN)

Hi folks. I'm Rob Siegel. For 30 years, 've written the column "The Hack Mechanic" for BMW CCA Roundel Magazine. I've owned over 30 2002s, ncluding seven tiis. That doesn't mean I know more than you do, ut it does mean you can trust me to tell you everything I know about this car.

Quick Overview of the '72 tii

The car is a 1972 BMW 2002tii. It is gorgeous, 9 44/100% rust free, nd has the correct "non-snorkel" nose. If you've heard that term but don't know what it means, t means that the nose doesn't have the three inch round opening on the inner right sidefor the hose to the air cleaner housing that the nose on a carbureted 2002 has. At some point, MW stopped producing the non-snorkel nose and supplied only the snorkel nose as a replacement 2002 body panel. Thus, any tiis that were "re-nosed" due to collision or rust now have a snorkel. That's not the end of the world (my own '72 tii has a snorkel nose), ut it has made tiis wearing an original non-snorkel nose a bit more highly prized.

1972 2002tiis are unique for the following reasons:

• They have plastic plenums on the intake manifold, onnoting the prototype nature of the then-new fuel-injected engine. These plastic plenums were only used until the '73 tii came in with metal intake plenums, hich continued through until the end of the tii's run in '74.

• They still have the early "121" or "121ti" head with the small combustion chambers (and, ll other factors being equal, maller combustion chambers yield higher compression), ut while other 2002s had small (44mm) intake valves, he '72 tii was unique at the time in having big (46mm) intake valves. When the later E12 head was rolled out in '73, ll 2002s got the 46mm intake valves, ut the presence of the big intake valves on the'72 tii adds to its uniqueness.

• One can get into bar fights with 2002tii aficionados quoting horsepower, s the 142 HP listed in the original US owner's manual for the '72 tii is suspect due to a) the manual being an English translation of the German manual, ) the US-spec cars having, believe, .5:1 pistons instead of the 10:1 pistons in the German-spec cars, nd c) differences between the DIN and SAE horsepower ratings, ut, gain, ll other factors being equal, or reasons of higher compression and lighter overall weight, 72 tiis are generally regarded as being a little quicker than '73 tiis, nd certainly quicker than '74 tiis. I've seen the US-spec horsepower quoted (with caveats) as 135 for the '72 tii, 30 for the '73 tii, nd 125 for the '74 tii.

• Like all pre-1973 BMW 2002s, '72 tii has "pre- 2 1/2 mph bumpers" that are tucked in close to the body. Starting in the 1973 model year, MW 2002s needed to meet the new Federal 2 1/2 mph impact standards, o the bumpers were pushed out further, nd heavier bumper supports were used. Because of this, 72 and earlier 2002s with pre 2 1/2 mph bumpers have a particularly compact and tidy appearance as the outer edge of the front bumper only comes out as far as the nose of the car, nd the rear bumper is flush with the body. There are some other nice design details of pre-'73 cars, uch as the chrome seat hinges, hat are also on the '72 tii. (If I have one or two of these details off by a year, 'm sure one of my friends at bmw2002faq.com will correct me...:^)

People sometimes refer to the car as an "early '72 tii." My understanding is that this is nothing more than the fact that the '73 model year began about halfway through '72, o by mid-ish-'72, he '73 tiis were already being sold with the different head, ntake plenums, umpers, tc. This means that this configuration was only available for about half a year.

Probably more detail than you need, ut, ey, y license plate says "KUGEL."

But these factors -- the plastic intake plenums, he early "big valve" head, he increase in power, he tucked-in bumpers, nd the chrome seat hinges -- make many people regard the '72 tii as the most desirable of the three years of US tii availability.

So...

• 2002s are rapidly increasing in value.
• Of those, mall bumpered round tail light 2002s are the most highly valued.
• Of those, iis are the most highly valued.
• Of THOSE, 72 tiis are the most highly valued.
• And this one is particularly pretty and appears to not have a rust hole anywhere on it.

So go ahead. You know you want it. Cash out the children's college money. At a minimum, ell the damn Prius. You want to buy this car now.

I kid, kid.

(But seriously, ther than a turbo, touring, r a cabriolet, or the reasons stated, he '72 tii is generally regarded as the most desirable 2002.)

Disclosure of My Role in the Sale

I do not own this lovely car. I'm helping my friend Mike sell it. He wanted an orange (Inka or Colorado) tii, ouldn't find one, nd bought this one. I started sorting it out for him, nd then he found a Colorado car, o he has decided to sell this one. It's appropriate that I advertise it for him, s I probably have logged more hours in and under it than he has. To be clear, ike is reimbursing me on a non-cash basis (a vacation house for a week, nd garaging a car over the winter) for sorting out the car and helping him sell it. However, told him that, f he wanted me to sell it with my "you can trust me to tell you everything I know about this car" statement, had to have a free hand in describing the car completely, he way I'd do for one of my own cars. He was okay with that. So, es, 've disclosed that I am acting as an agent for the seller and thus have a non-cash financial stake and a fiduciary responsibility to the seller, ut I think you'll agree, s you read the insanely detailed description, hat I am being as upfront about the car's condition as possible. Still, f you want someone independent to evaluate it, understand. We're listing the car as a ten day auction so it'll run over this weekend and the next, aximizing the window for people to see it (unless someone punches the Buy It Now).

What You Need To Know About This Car Is:

• It is absolutely drop dead freaking gorgeous.More on that below, ut you've probably already gotten a sense of that from the pictures.
• I can't find a rust hole anywhere on this car. And even the small minor patches of surface oxidation number only a handful.
• It is a fairly well-sorted tii. Both I and the two previous owners have done a lot of work on it. It's had a pretty good freshening. I systematically sorted out the fuel injection, ooling, gnition, nd more.
• It is largely quiet, argely free of rattles and clunks. People think that replacing four subframe bushings (with urethaneHAHAHAHAHA I'm sorry couldn't resist) will get them a quiet 2002. What a load of nonsense. Thunks, lunks, nd rattles can come from a hundred places other than the four main subframe bushings, nd usually do. I've spent yearsgetting my own '72 tii as quiet as this one.
• The interior is beautiful, ith rip-free seats, new headliner, crack-free dash (that has been recovered), nd the correct working vintage Blaupunkt radio and bezel.
• The car is not, owever, riginal, r restored, r perfect, r numbers-matching. The floor pans have been reworked, here is a weld on the left front frame rail, nd the motor is wearing a different VIN than the body. If you want a completely original never-been-reworked tii or a completely restored investment-quality tii, est of luck to you. You're probably looking in the $35k to $40k price range, ot this price range. Let's part as friends right now. These aren't the round tail lights you're looking for.
• But if you want to be seen with the prettiest girl at the dance, his may be the '72 tii for you.

Are we clear? Good. Let's move on.

Video

eBay is blocking direct external links so you'll need to search youtube for:

-- "Rob Siegel Selling His Friend Mike's 1972 2002tii"

--"Rob Siegel Driving His Friend Mike's 1972 2002tii #1" and #2 and hopefully #3.

Note that in the "selling" video, misspoke when I say that the interior is original. That's not correct. The seats may or may not have been redone. The headliner definitely has been redone. The dashboard has been recovered. The carpet is new. The steering wheel is from a 320i. What I was trying to say was that the interior has been freshened while still feeling very original. Also, n the video and in the photos below, he car is missing a BMW logo on the center cap of one of the wheels. It has been replaced.

Note that the driving videos are with me holding my iPhone while trying to steer and shift while driving around my neighborhood -- not smart, ot great, ut something. I do get the car up to 5000 RPM, o you can see and hear it run and drive and accelerate and stop smoothly. I've ordered an iPod dash clamp and will try and shoot a safer, onger, etter, aster video and post and label it as #3.

The Stunning Blue Paint and the Overall Look

The car was originally Baikal Blue (confirmed by running the VIN through the BMW archive) and was repainted its current color several owners ago. There is an old thread on bmw2002faq that refers to the repaint color as "Sherwin Williams Baikal Blue 042." I do not believe this is correct, nless Sherwin Williams Baikal Blue is wildly different from BMW Baikal Blue. The current coloris a metallic light blue, lmost a robin's egg blue. Looking on the Sherwin Williams web site, t first I thought the color was Spectre Blue, ut now I think that looks too dark. What it is is... spectacular. If you're someone who is revulsed and horrified by a vintage BMW painted a non-original color, hat's fine, get it. But know that the color absolutely glows in the sun, nd everyone who sees this car -- 2002 people, MW people, intage car people, randmothers, eenagers, ictoria Secret models, tc -- are blown away.

But it's more than just the color. It's the overall look. The combination of the color, hedeleted side marker lights, he deleted lower trim line, he Euro-style flush front turn signals, he Euro-style license plate lights that are integrated into the rear bumper (closeup in the brightwork section), he mostly new trim, he new rubber, nd the factory alloys all conspire to create a very compelling package. They make the car look likea pre-'71 Euro 2002,very clean and tidy without crossing the line to a highly customized"shaved" or"Cal Look."Add in the very pretty interior, nd the car hits on all cylinders.

As they say, t pops.

Regarding the deleted side marker lights... US-spec 2002s had side marker lights both front and rear. If a 2002 needed or needs replacement fenders, he new fenders come without the holes for the side marker lights. Very few people drill new holes and re-install the original front side marker lights when they replace front fenders, ut leave the rear side marker lights as is. Thus, t is very common to see 2002s, venhigh-dollarvery pretty ones, hat have no front side marker lights (which almost always tells you that the front fenders were replaced) but still are wearing the original rear side marker lights. There are some on eBay right now. But on this car, he holes for the rear side marker lights were filled in, iving the car a clean consistent look front to back.

The car was painted several owners ago.I tried to find and contact the tertiary previous owner who had it painted to get more detail, ncluding the actual Sherwin Williams paint code, ut the trail went cold and no phone calls or e-mails were returned.I am not a paint and body guy, ut it is clear from the lack of overspray on rubber and trim that the paint job was done with the glass out and the trim off. It appears that all the rubber and most of the trim were then replaced. The underside of the hood, ops of the fenders, owl, oor jams, nderside of the trunk lid, nd rear shock towers were repainted. However, he full engine compartment and full trunk were not. But because it was one shade of blue sprayed over another shade of blue (it's not like it was black over Inka or anything), ny differences are subtle. If you look very closely, ou can find a few small flaws in the paint (closeups to follow). So it probably wasn't a $15,000 paint job. But it's beautiful.

History, rovenance, nd Mileage

Although the car is being sold here in Boston, t isnota New England car. It has been garaged during the 18 months it has lived up here in Massachusetts. Mike purchased the car from an owner in South Carolina, ho purchased it from a fellow in California. A web search on the VIN of the car unearthed a post on bmw2002faq confirming that the car had been in CA, nd in TX before that,seeing some time at Terry Sayther's shop in Austin,and again in CA beforethat. But, o be clear, here is no folder or thick stack of papers documenting the history of the car.

The odometer currently reads 72,817. There is no paperwork documenting whether or not it is original or has rolled over, ut both Mike and the previous owner purchased it on the belief that it is original.The overall condition of the body makes it... plausible.I haven't found anything (for example, service slip listing the mileage as 130,000 back in 1985, s I did with the Bavaria I own that purportedly had 50,000 original miles) that proves it has rolled over. So, aybe it's original. I don't know.That's thin, ut it's the best I can say.

I Can't Find a Rust Hole Anywhere On This Car

I look at a lot of 2002s, nd I would call this car is 99 44/100% rust free, hich is my way of saying that, ince on eBay, f you call something "rust free" and someone finds one spec of rust, echnically you're in violation of the terms of auction, o you can't say "rust free" without opening yourself up for trouble, ut the only rust I can find on this car is some utterly minor surface oxidation low down in the engine compartment, tterly minor surface oxidation behind the right front headlight, nd a separation at the top of the driver's door -- more of a crack than rust -- which we'll get to.

I CAN'T STAND IT! SHOW ME THE PICTURES!!

We're going to step through a metric ton of pics, tarting with the outer body, rightwork, nterior, ower body, nderbody, ngine compartment, nd trunk. A discussion of the mechanicals will come last, ince they're not as lavishly photographed. You're going to need to scroll and look, s there are comments interspersed between the pictures.

I am not a great photographer. I basically use a DLSR as a point-and-shoot. I don't run things through Photoshop. And I do not detail cars. I simply washed it and vacuumed it. There is no Armor All on the interior or the tires. This is how the car actually looks, nd how it will look a week from now. As you can see, t is simply gorgeous. I'm also not great at choosing pictures, o here's nearly all of them. This also has the advantage of showing the car in several different kinds of light, n which the blue paint can take on some stunning hues.

There is one visible flaw in the outer body: The driver's door has a crack forming at the top corner. The pictures are below.

As I said, f you look very closely, here are a few small flaws in the paint. They look like this (this is on the hood).

Brightwork and Rubber

It appears that all, r nearly all, ubber on the car was replaced by a previous owner (an old thread on bmw2002faq states this). The brightwork (chrome) appears to have been mostly replaced when the car was repainted. Not all of it is new (the thin trim piece on the front of the nose, or example, ooks like it was reused), ut much of it appears new. The center grille kidney is simply the nicest one I have ever seen, o I assume it was purchased new before they became worldwide out of stock. The two other front grille pieces are in excellent condition. The chrome around the vent window frames is excellent.There is a ding in the right side of the front bumper (see pic below) and some others covered by the front license plate.The total look of the brightwork against the new paint is simply beautiful.Regarding the wheels, hey are the factory slotted alloys, ometimes referred to as "tii alloys," which is apparently not correct since they were an option on any 2002, ot just tiis. My understanding is that they were, nd are, ade by FPS, hat 43 years ago, hey carried no FPS mark on the face, nd that, hen BMW made them available again a few years ago, he re-issued wheels now carry an FPS mark on the front side. These carry that mark, o they are likely brand new, hich is certainly how they look. The tires are a new set of Kuhmo Solus 185/70/13s. InteriorThe black interior is beautiful and, or the most part, ery original looking.Seats:The seats are gorgeous, ith no rips, ears, r blemishes that I can see. They're quite comfortable for 2002 seats, hich means that the horsehair is intact and the springs aren't protruding through it. Whether they're original or have been reupholstered and re-stuffed, don't know. They have what I believe are the correct chrome trim pieces on the side, nd the chrome is beautiful and shiny. The chrome isn't photographing well, lmost looking black in the pics (remember, 'm a hack photographer), ut trust me, hey're very pretty.Dashboard:The dashboard has been recovered. Because of that, t is crack-free, ut it is visually apparent that it has been recovered. This is a tough area on a round tail light 2002. The older two-piece dashboards are virtually all cracked. The newer one-piece dashes on the square tail light cars seem to be a bit more crack-resistant, nd you now see them retrofitted into round tail light cars.Rug: The rug was obviously recently replaced. I don't know the source.

Radio:When Mike bought the car, t had no radio in it. I sourced an original correct working Blaupunkt radio and bezel. The bezel cost as much as the radio. 2002s with a/c typically had the speaker relocated into the panel next to the hood release, s did this one. The speaker was blown so I replaced it with a new 4x6 speaker. The original radio and speaker now work perfectly.

Console:These air-conditioned consoles are a pain in the butt. The plastic center faceplates are fragile and crack easily. Trying to get the side console pieces to line up with the faceplate and with the dash without shattering the faceplate is challenging. I did only a fair job of it. The left side of the console protrudes a little further than the right side.

Door Cards:There are speaker grilles in the door cards, ut no speakers. The door cards are in very good to excellent condition, ith one unfortunate rip in the vinyl card covering at the bottom of the driver's side card where the seat belt hit it when the door was shut. In the video, ou'll see that I reach in and pull out the folded-over piece, o it's not as visible. The rear edge of the driver's side door card catches slightly on the door rubber (an unintended consequence of the door rubber having been replaced), o the card is not fully seated with its snap-in clips against the door. It's possible that re-aligning the door to pull it slightly forward may solve the problem, ut I haven't had time to sort it out.

Headliner:It looks to me like a previous owner replaced the headliner. It is beautiful, ith one small grease smudge. I'm afraid to touch it, ut a pro couldprobably take it out with a steamer.

Steering wheel: From a 320i.

Interior pics are below.

Engine Compartment

To be clear, he engine was not removed when the car was repainted, he engine compartment was not repainted.However, s I said, oth the respray color and the original Baikal Blue are blue, o the eye isn't drawn to the slight difference in color.It isnot a fully detailed engine compartment, ut it looks generally clean and tidy. There is a small spot of surface rust behind the right headlight shown in one of the pics below. There is also a small amount of surface rust down low in the engine compartment that I can't photograph. On the right side of the inner fender, here is streaking and discoloration of the original paint. Under the hood, n the top of the nose, here is a small area where the resprayed paint did not adhere and has flaked off. These are shown in the photos below.When these pics were taken, was troubleshooting an ignition issue with the car, o in the pics below it is wearing the ignition system from my own '72 tii, hich includes a spark plug wire loom (at a slight angle) and a Bosch Blue coil and white resistor. The ignition system has been replaced with a Bosch Red coil and resistor and loose plug wires, nd is photographed in the ignition section below.And, s I said, he number stamped into the engine block near the starter does not match the VIN. The VIN and engine numbers are photographed below.Lower Body and UnderbodyBelow, walk around the lower body (meaning the rockers, nder-nose, nd under-trunk and rear quarters) andshow that I see no rust (meaning no rust-through, ubbling, r pinholes). What may look like bubbles on the lower nose are not rust bubbles; I've checked. The worst you can say is that the smooth body work and shiny paint gets a little rougher in these ankle-high areas. There is one odd hole (does not appear to be a rust hole) in the right rear wheel arch that we'll talk about when we get there.

Under BodyBelow, start with the undersides of all four wheel wells, henshow a ton of pics of the front frame rails and floor pans. The wheel wells are a particularly important place to look for rust on 2002s. Everyone knows to check the rear shock towers, nd that's trivial -- just open up the trunk and look at them -- but checking the wheel wells requires a bit more care. You can do it with the car on the ground by shining a flashlight from 9:00 to 3:00 at each wheel well and paying particular attention to the place where the inner surface of the wheel well, he floor, nd the rocker panel meet. But a more thorough inspection is made easier by having the car in the air and pulling off all four wheels, hich is what I've done below. Because this corner is not a single piece of metal, odywork in this area is more expensive than on the rear shock towers, hich, n comparison, re easier to replace.As I've said, here is no hiding the fact that this car has had under body work. Some of the floor has a thick black undercoating, ome doesn't. It looks like both thefrontdriver and passenger side floor pans were replaced, nd it looks like there was work done to the front part of the driver's side frame rail some time ago. There is also a somewhat odd small hole on the forward wall of the right rear wheel well, ore a curiosity than anything else. I'll stop and point it out. Scroll slowly. I rarely see auctions on eBay where folks photograph the underbody as thoroughly as I do below, ut where there's evidence of rework, realize that the photos are never enough. It is what it is.There was recent chatter on Facebook involving some BMW CCA notables and some bodyshop professionals who deal in six figure restorations about the myth of the rust-free and crash-free California 2002 or 3.0CS, nd how, hen cars come in for a restoration and the paint is stripped off, he truth is revealed in all its horror -- rust and crash repairs, ondo, ven occasionally the rear clip from an entirely different car. If you're looking for a virgin vehicle, wish you all the luck in the world, nd I hope the one you buy and pay through the nose for is indeed what it's supposed to be. I think you have to admit that I'm representing this car more honestly than most.

Below is the forward wall of the right rear wheel well. I'm not certain what to make of this hole. If you look at the lower corner of the well, t's possible that this area has had some rework, ut the hole does not appear to be a rust hole, nd the area around the hole is not rusted. I've poked with an awl as much as is appropriate in a car I do not actually own. You'll also see a plastic "button" of some sort. There's one of these in the left rear wheel arch as well. I don't know if this was for rustproofing, ounting of a fender liner, hat. Is the hole a manufacturing artifact, r an attempt to insert a "button" in another location? I really have no idea. But I can say that I do not see any evidence of rust in the area around the hole.

You can see some evidence of small rework at the rear corner of the right rear wheel well as well, ut I've poked at it and it appears to be solid.

Below are several pics of the evidence of rework on the left front frame rail and the area immediately around it.

Trunk

The trunk is in good shape, ut it is not detailed. It has been partially repainted -- the underside of the trunk lid and, t looks like, he wheel wells / shock towers are wearing fresh paint. The rest of it is probably the original Baikal Blue. As with the engine compartment, he eye is not at all drawn to the slight differences in the blue hue. The spare tire well has no rust. The hole you may see in the photo is that it is missing the rubber drain plug. And, s you can see, he rear shock towers are fine. Mechanical Condition

Engine:The engine appears good and strong. It pulls hard when you get on it. The pics below show nearly 200 PSI of compression in all four cylinders, o obvious visible oil smoke while idling or running, nd no obvious "trailing throttle" oil smoke that BMW 2002s are heir to, here you lift off the gas in, ay, econd gear at 4000 RPM down to 2000 RPM, il gets sucked past the valve seals and valve guides, nd it looks like you're in a James Bond film. Recent Sorting Out WorkWhen Mike bought the car, e asked me "What's that event you go to every Memorial Day?""The Vintage in Winston-Salem?""Yes, hat. Whatever you do to sort out a car to go to that," he said, that's what I want you to do to this car.""Also," he said, sort out the air conditioning the way you do on your cars."So that's what I did.Fuel System:The fuel system, ncluding the injection, as completely gone through. The previous owner replaced the Kugelfischer injection pump. When I got the car, t still wasn't running right. I found that the tiny conical screen on the inlet side of the fuel pump clogged with rust and sediment -- very common after 43 years. I opened up the fuel tank and found that the screen at the base of the pickup tube was cracked. I replaced it with a new screen. There was a very small amount of sediment in the base of the tank. I cleaned out anything I saw with a magnet and a rag. I blew out the two long metal and plastic lines running the length of the car, eplaced the fuel pump with an E28 fuel pump, eplaced every rubber fuel line and filter, ad the injectors cleaned and pressure-tested (they passed), nd replaced the plastic injection lines from the injection pump to the injectors with new ones from Carl Nelson. Several of the plastic intake plenums had cracks at the hose clamps, o I sourced good used ones. I also replaced the injection belt and nearly all of the injection linkage rods, emoving the slop that's so common in tii injection systems. I put it all together, moke-tested it, nd did not find any intake leaks. I then synchronized the pump and throttle bodies as per the 2002tii Fuel Injection Manual, oving the cam further over the hole in the tuna can until any mid-throttle mid-RPM hesitation went away. Short of installing an air-fuel gauge and an oxygen sensor, his is about as thorough an injection go-through as one can do. The car has had the automatic thermo time switch for the cold start injector bypassed and a manual switch installed, s is the case with so many tiis. It starts right up and quickly settles into an even idle.

Cooling System:I rebuilt the cooling system with a new metal radiator, ater pump, hermostat, nd every single hose. The car had a late 320i radiator with an aluminum core and plastic tanks in it that was functional but tired looking. I'm not a big fan of these radiators, s a) they have plastic tanks, nd b) they require drilling holes in the nose of the car, ut those holes were already drilled. Whoever drilled them didn't get them quite square behind the holes in the radiator, o the bolts sit at a slight angle. The car runs slightly under halfway up the temperature gauge.Ignition:In addition to the standard stuff, replaced the points and condenser with a Pertronix electronic ignition module and timed the ignition, erifying that the distributor is advancing (you wouldn't believe how often people set the timing without verifying that the timing actually advances with increasing engine RPM). I also installed a Bosch Red coil and the correct Bosch Red ballast resistor. Alert viewers may notice that the distributor and plug wires shown below are slightly different than the ones shown in the video and in the engine compartment section. That's because when those were shot, was troubleshooting what turned out to be a bad condenser, nd had swapped in the entire ignition system from my own tii. The ignition in the photos below are what comes with the car.

Transmission and rear end:The car's stock four speed works fine, o second gear munch, hough it requires a bit of firm handling putting it into first gear.I replaced the shift linkage bushings to remove some of the customary linkage slop, nd it's better than it was, hough not new car tight.When Mike got the car, he transmission was leaking fluid out the selector shaft seal (they all do). I replaced the seal. Now there's just a tiny amount of weeping. There is a little noise from the pilot bearing when the car is in neutral with the clutch out, s is commonly the case. There is just a bit of a whine from the drivetrain, othing out of the ordinary from nearly every other 2002 I've owned. Reverse is a little noisy, ut, gain, othing out of the ordinary.

Steering:I rebuilt the steering, ith new lower control arms, new front subframe "compliance" bushings (correct OEM rubber, ot urethane), new idler arm bushing, nd new ball joints, ie rods, nd center track rods. I adjusted a small amount of play out of the steering box. The steering now feels nice and tight.

Suspension:The springs appear to be stock (that is, hey look original; they're not red or blue or yellow).The suspension has a nice original feel to it, ery comfortable.The car appears to be sitting at its original ride height and has not been "stanced" in any way. There areBilsteins in the back. I believe the front struts are Bilsteins as well from the blue bellows and the Bilstein-style locknut.The sway bars appear to be stock.

Brakes:A previous owner had recently updated the front brake calipers. I replaced the front pads and the rear wheel cylinders and shoes and replaced the flexible lines.

Clutch hydraulics:A previous owner replaced the clutch master and slave.

Pedal bucket:I did a partial rebuild of the pedal bucket, eplacing the bushings to tighten up the clutch pedal and to free up a sticky accelerator pedal.

Fluids:Oil is fresh Castrol 20W50. I drained the trani and differential and filled with fresh Redline MTL and Redline 75/90, espectively. The brake fluid has been thoroughly flushed.

Under-engine cleanliness: The bottom of the engine and the front subframe are not detailed, ut I cleaned a lifetime of dirt, il, rime, nd road junk out from the engine's crevices and the top and bottoms of the front subframe. I don't see any oil leaks.

Air conditioning:As I describe in my book, rebuilt the air conditioning by:

--Using a Sanden-style rotary compressor

--Using the "hobie dave" bracket (available from "hobie dave" on bmw2002faq)

--Using the original evaporator assembly (though I opened it up, leaned it out, ested the motor, nd replaced the expansion valve with a NOS one)

--Installing the largest parallel flow condenser that would fit into the nose of the car

--Installing a high-quality Spal fan on the condenser

--Making and installing all new a/c hoses

--Recharging with good old fashioned R12

So, fter All That, ow Does It Drive?Very well. It starts right up with a flick of the manual switch that squirts fuel into the cold start injector (which most tiis have, s most of the thermo time boxes have died and have been replaced by such a switch). It settles into an even idle. It may stumble a little in the first 30 seconds if you get on it hard, ut after that, t's fine. It winds up to redline without stumbling or hesitation, ulling hard while you do so. It tracks straight down the road. It brakes straight. As I said, he ride quality is excellent, ith very few annoying noises.A Few Other QuirksI tried opening the sunroof, ut when I began to slide it under, t seemed to scrape very lightly. There's a very faint scrape in the paint on the sunroof. The first pic below shows the whole sunroof, n which you can't see the minor scrape; the second pic has my two fingers positioned on the minor scrape. I'm fairly sure it'll buff out. But I'm now afraid to open it. I leave that for the next owner. It may be perfectly fine, nd I may be a wimp. It may just be dragging slightly over the rear sunroof seal.The left directional works, ut the indicator light in the gauge cluster doesn't flash. This is very common, nd is usually a resistance issue.As I said, he driver's side door card catches slightly on the new door rubber, o the door card isn't currently firmly secured to the rear corner of the door.The lenses of the Euro flush turn signals have a few fine cracks in them.Inspection / Test DriveI am available to show the car weekends and evenings. I have a mid-rise lift at my house. If someone wishes to come to the house to perform a PPI, r to send someone to the house, hat can be arranged. If someone needs the car brought to a shop for a PPI, hat's not out of the question, specially if the shop is in the Boston area.And Now, he Money PartMike has instructed me that the terms of sale are:

• $500 deposit at close of auction (within 24 hours, xcept if Buy It Now is used, n which case the deposit is required immediately).

• Balance via wire transfer within seven days (we will supply account and routing numbers) or cash at time of pickup. Bringing cash, owever, oes not buy you a negotiation of the final eBay sale price.

• The buyer, bviously, ay pick up the car, r it may be shipped. The car is currently at my house in West Newton MA (zip code 02465). I can assist with shipping. Weekend or evening pickup is vastly preferred.

• US sales only. No international sales.

Feel free to call me with any questions at 617-365-8303 Monday through Fridaybetween 5:30 PM and 10:30 PM Eastern Standard Time (please don't call me during work hours), rweekendsbetween 8AM and 10:30PM,but please make any questions as specific as possible to the car. I like to talk 2002s as much as the next guy or girl (maybe more than the next guy or girl), ut I'm pretty busy these days.

Lastly,I hope you'll agree that I've gone into more detail than most folks would. But even with that, here may be things I've forgotten. Plus, he car is 43 years old, nd there may be things I'm not aware of.