On some occasions, when you read a description for a car, you instantly forget about any cosmetic concerns and just get more enthralled by the upgrades made by a previous owner. The round taillight BMW 2002, commonly referred to as a “roundie,” has been rising steadily in value, leading to many survivors and restored cars flooding the marketplace. But when these were just cheap used cars, owners used to build them into autocross and track-day warriors, and this 1971 2002 here on eBay reminds of how these were always tremendous driver’s cars, especially with some choice modifications thrown in.
The 2002 is offered with no reserve and bidding has reached $7,900. The BMW is far from perfect cosmetically, but it’s not bad; the car resides in Woodland, California, so the sun has done some damage to the clear coat. The rear fenders on the passenger side do have some rust bubbling which is surprising for a California car, but I don’t see any other rot concerns. The BMW has been modified under the hood as well as the chassis, so it should handle as well as it goes. The listing indicates the 2002 has been in storage for the last 10 years but was periodically started every 2-6 months.
Inside, you’ll find a very sweet set of period-correct Recaro seats, drilled pedals, and a three-spoke Momo steering wheel. These are not cheap knock-off parts; everything you see here are top-shelf modifications for the era in which this 2002 was put together. A bolt-in roll cage has been installed as well. The chassis benefits from front and rear sway bar upgrades; Top End Performance front strut tower and engine brace; rear shock brace, with rear battery/shock brace kit; and lowering springs paired with KYS shocks. The wheels are stock BMW E30 “bottlecaps” rolling on aggressive Yokohama A032R rubber.
The M10 engine features 9.5:1 E12 pistons, an upgraded camshaft, and a 38/38 Weber carburetor. The listing notes the head and engine were overhauled approximately 5,000 miles ago, with machine work including the following repairs: bored and honed to first overbore; balance complete engine; crankshaft journal weld; crankshaft grind; recondition rod and align; the list goes on. The seller notes that his mechanic installed new main and rod bearings, block and head seals, oil sender, timing chain, wrist pin bushings, and an oil pump chain. The head has been freshened up as well. Overall, this is a 2002 you can drive the doors off of without worrying about dinging the perfect paint or scratching the spotless body. This is a driver 2002 with the kinds of modifications that make an already-fun car an absolute blast to drive.
Sweet looking roundie! This would be a great resto/restomod candidate. Hard to tell, but the rear shock towers look solid, which is the biggest area of concern for rust on these cars. It’s probably had the snot beat out of it on track days, but that wouldn’t stop me from buying it if I could.
I’m not one to ever expect to profit from restoring a classic car. But if someone buys this for under $10k and puts another $10k into body and paint and whatever mechanicals it needs, I reckon they would at least break even in a few years.
What a cool car. I remember parking a few of these at the airport valet lot at age 17 – loved them. Someone just snapped it up via eBay for $8,500.
I think it sold for a fair price. Not mentioned was the rusty rockers. being a sunroof car, the drain pipes lead into the rockers (ughhh) and promotes rusting in the wheel arches and rockers. They should be rerouted out into the wheel arch during sheetmetal repair. I’d ditch the boy-racer add-ons and keep the seats. Unless this car was originally a Fjord blue I’d likely want a solid color and avoid metallic paints on these earlier cars. Somehow, Fjord looks better on the squaretails and 320i’s.
A friend of mine owned one of these years ago. He was a big guy who weighed about 375. He couldn’t understand why he had to replace the driver side shocks both front and rear every year……….
Someone got a nice deal here. These were nice driving quick little sedans in their day. Always liked the round lights best. This is what old gearheads like me want to daily. Nothing better than out maneuvering that the self important inpatient SUV driver in the stoplight Grand Prix.