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Bimmer Bargain? 1973 BMW 2002tii

The “Oh Two” community is a worldwide network, according to BMW, and that network consists of enthusiasts of what is technically known as BMW’s “114” range. Included in that range is this 1973 2002 TII, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina and available, here on eBay for $10,750. There is a “make an offer” option too.

The BMW website further states that the successful 2002 series first went into production in 1968 with HP ranging from 100 to 170 (turbocharged  version). I first remember encountering a 2002 in late ’70 or early ’71; a good friend’s older brother had a ’69 version in classic Teutonic silver and it was surprisingly fast; a real taut driver’s car that was notable at a time when “foreign” models were generally considered to be aberrations. Short of VW beetles, which were everywhere then, you just didn’t see a lot of Mercedes, BMWs, Saabs, Volvos, etc. They were around but completely lost in a sea of Impalas, Galaxies and Furys.

This subject 2002is a Tii so it’s fitted with a fuel-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine good for 130 HP. Unfortunately, the seller states that it is non-running. It has 93,000 miles on its clock and is a “matching numbers” example. The seller claims that it will take some work to get this Bimmer running but the engine turns over and the manual transmission (four-speed?) shifts through all of the gears.

The body has some observed problems. The seller doesn’t state the obvious but a picture is worth a thousand words and the truck lid looks cooked – lots of trailing edge rust which explains the missing trim. We are also informed that the driver’s floorboard and the spare tire well need work.

There is little said beyond these described problems. The seller does advise that the front and rear shock towers are good and there is no rust. Perhaps he means rust in the described areas because the images that are included pretty much illustrate that the left side quarter-panel appears to have what looks like rust along its stainless-steel beltline as well as trailing the driver’s side bottom door edge. As is always the case, a thorough underside inspection is warranted.

The interior has what I consider to be a no-nonsense Germanic design that is all business. In this case, it looks like it was in a flood. There is no mention of the interior other than the aforementioned fact about the driver’s side floorboard – and I can now understand that. The floors in their entirety need to be thoroughly checked. As for the upholstery and dash, no reference provided and the images show a clean and straight backseat, good door cards but a questionable driver/passenger area.

The seller states that this 2002 was originally taiga green which was a very desirable color at the time; too bad it’s still not that very desirable color. The seller has also included some value estimates, the lowest being #4 (fair) at $16,500. That’s about $6,000 beyond the asking price for this example so I’m not sure if $6,000 would get you to “fair” condition – and maybe that just doesn’t matter. The 2002 was and is a desirable car, this one obviously needs a lot of help. My experience with BMW tells me that parts, and labor if needed, are expensive so there is a bit here to have to realistically consider. So, is this a good start towards resurrecting a valued ‘70’s German performance automobile or does it make more sense to go with a better example?

Comments

  1. Avatar Mr. Bond

    Most body panels are available. From experience this will need a few when you dig a bit deeper. However, these roundie tii’s are really nice cars. Should be a reasonable deal at about $10k, if you can do most of the work yourself.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar CJinSD

    I’d like to see photos of the rear shock towers. In Virginia, they were rusted into screens on many 2002s by 1985. This would be a good car for the crowd at BringATrailer to look at, as some of them know so much about 2002s that they can make you not want to buy one restored by BMW.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    The market for these is hot right now, so even despite the rust issues, this will get snapped up at this price. It’s gold Jerry, gold I tell ya!

    Like 3
  4. Avatar Danger Dan

    How is this still for sale! Screaming deal

    Like 0
  5. Avatar ken tillyUK Member

    The seller states that it shifts through all the gears so I would say that it is definitely a 4 speed manual gearbox.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jim ODonnell

      The question is, and I couldn’t find the answer, was a five speed manual available in ’73 or four speed only? Do you know?

      Like 0
      • Avatar Leslie Martin Member

        Most 2002’s and 2002 tiis have the stock 2002 4 speed Getrag 232. Many owners have upgraded to the 5speed Getrag 245, which is a relatively easy swap. There was a factory 5 speed option, but its extremely rare.

        Like 1
  6. HoA Howard A Member

    I had a buddy in late ’73, bought a new ’73 Tii as a leftover, exactly like this. He traded a ’72 Vega GT for it( which was a nice car too, properly maintained) It was a 4 speed, and a darn nice car, before BMW got all stuffy. I had my ’71 MGB, and this car beat it in every way,,,except one, reliability. It was ok for about a year, 2nd gear began to grind, so BMW fixed that, then it began using oil. Not much at 1st, but significant usage later, and he traded it, while my little archaic MGB chugged along. Nice cars then, I’d have to think something like this would drain your wallet faster than anything. I’d just look for a nice one off the bat.

    Like 0
    • Avatar ken tillyUK Member

      I bought my ’69 2002 in about 1980 with many thousands of miles on the clock, drove it for many more until the radiator blew and seized the engine. Re-built it and drove it for many thousands of miles more but as far as I can remember, it never consumed oil between services. One thing I did discover was that if you ordered parts for a 2002 then they were very expensive but if you ordered the same parts for a BMW 320 the parts were exactly the same part number and were as cheap as chips. The gearbox was an absolute delight and the car itself went like the clappers. I would buy another in a heartbeat if I could afford the current asking prices here in UK.

      Like 2
  7. Avatar Leslie Martin Member

    It’s a tii, it’s a roundie, and best of all it’s all original. All the panels are available. And if the motor turns, I’ll bet a few squirts of diesel in cylinders, new plugs and points, and it will start right up.

    Someone in the 02 community will save this car. Buy it for $10k. Put another 10 into it, and you’ll still come out ahead as tii values continue to go up over time.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Doug M.

    One should check the VIN to be sure it is a true tii. The front radiator support has the round hole as found on the air intake on a non-tii. However, this part was all you could get if you had to replace the original radiator support back in the day. So, if this is truly an original tii, it suggests that it has had the front panel replaced at some time. No problem… however, it does mean the VIN should be checked to verify the tii series. Sorry, I don’t know the designating numbers/letters, but surely someone else can chime in with that?? Otherwise, looks like a great car… 73 is the good year!

    Like 2
    • Avatar Leslie Martin Member

      The vin listed, 2764182 decodes as a Model 71 (genuine tii) built as a 1973 model between Jan-73 and Aug-73.

      There is a lot of controversy about the front panels in the 02 hobby. Some people claim that there were tii cars produced with standard “snorkel” nose panels when the factory ran low on tii panels. But it’s still possible the panel on this car was replaced due to collision damage as the only new stock panels that were widely available were the standard “snorkel” ones.

      Like 0
  9. Avatar Louis Chen

    It’s sad that BMW can’t or won’t produce these types of “Ultimate Driving Machines” anymore? Starting with the 1600 through the 2002 these were the “Ultimate Driving Machines”, they were reasonably priced and relatively easy to repair and maintained. My father had a ’72 with automatic and if was a great car for the price at the time. With this car, I was hooked on becoming a gear head! Unfortunately the ’72 rusted out and I was able to save the engine and trans. It’s really sad to see that “German” engineering now means: megabucks price & maintenance cost! I guess now: If you wanna play, you gotta pay! As for this car, I’d skip it unless the new owner want to use it as a parts car?

    Like 0
  10. Avatar TimM

    I always liked these ever since I lost the chance to get one when I was 20!! I was about 10 minutes to late and the new owner was getting ready to drive it away with a smug look on his face!!

    Like 1
  11. Avatar Britcarguy

    I agree with Jim O’Donnell about this car being in a flood. There is remarkable corrosion of the intake manifold and valve cover and other places under the hood where rust isn’t common.

    Like 0

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