$2,800 doesn’t buy much these days in the way of a project that will not only be enjoyable to drive but also promise not to take you under water once you begin tinkering. Unfortunately, some of the proverbial ships have sailed to the point that you may have to lower your standards to “get in”, such as with this 1975 BMW 2002 in the awesome factory color of jadegrun. This is a running, driving project car with rust issues of the type that will definitely need attention in the short term. Find it here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $2,800.

The good news about a car like this is it has some features that won’t need attention in the near term, like an interior that is holding up well enough and actually looks to have been redone at some point. There’s a tasteful aftermarket three-spoke steering wheel, decent carpets, and the factory center console, which is missing its original radio. The carpets, sadly, appear to be hiding a fair amount of rust, and the gallery photos show daylight pouring through what looks like the left corner of the pedal box area. The seller is up front about the amount of rust repair needed, which includes that area of the floor and the passenger-side front floor, which is noted as being soft.

The fenders also show some rot-through, and while the troublesome shock and strut towers aren’t fully compromised, I wouldn’t say they can be ignored, either. The seller also points out evidence of prior fiberglass patching in the trunk floor. None of this is particularly surprising in terms of rust springing up in those locations (the rockers and fenders have some rust, too), but given the seller is admitting it to being more of a project than he wants to take on, you have to wonder if the color alone will entice someone else to dive in on a rusty, square-tailight, big-bumpered 2002. The wheels look sharp, having recently been powdercoated.

Fortunately, the matching engine is said to run well, and is fitted with a Weber carb, aftermarket header, and Ansa exhaust. The 2002 does run, stop, and shift well, so you can at least move it around while the rust is attended do, but the seller makes sure to emphasize that this is by no means a daily driver. As a BMW enthusiast, I can attest that some of the less-often seen colors like this deep green can help you gaze over the more serious issues, but you may have to accept the fact you’ll be underwater on this example if properly restored. However, if we judged everything on the basis of ROI, you could write off many otherwise-deserving project cars. Can this 2002 be saved?