It’s fitting that the week where many BMW 2002 fanatics make their annual pilgrimage to the annual Vintage festival that this incredibly preserved 1971 example comes up for sale. The Vintage celebrates antique BMWs pre-dating the mid-90s (a constant thorn in the side of E36 owners) and draws one of the largest gatherings of 2002s, E30s, E9s, and more classic models. This minty round tail light example here on eBay would fit in nicely with that crowd.
The seller lays out the entire ownership history of the car, revealing that it has been cared for since new despite changing hands more than a few times. It seems after the first owner kept the mileage incredibly low while in his possession, future owners showed similar restraint and kept the 2002 out of the daily slog of a commute. Currently, there are just 47,000 original miles on the 2002 with mostly original paint.
The interior looks too good to be true, and I’d even say the vintage Nardi wheel spoils it a bit – making it look completely restored. A less flashy steering wheel would really drive home just how original it remains, but most enthusiasts who own one of these classic wheel designs would likely disagree with me. The seller notes a healthy amount of periodic maintenance while reads more like a typical servicing schedule than a complete overhaul of an occasionally-neglected summer car.
The only major detraction is that the engine is not original, which blows my mind. The M10 is a fairly robust engine, and while it’s not anything remotely exotic, I always scratch my head when an incredible survivor like this has a non-matching unit under the hood. Thankfully, the history seems well-documented, so any worries about a slippery odometer reading should likely be laid to rest. The asking price is $32,990 with the option to submit a best offer.
Had one, not two with this…..but same color combo.
2002, white with blue interior. Great car, lots of fun.
I’d like to have it back again…alas, no room in the garage.
Had two of these as I have said, selling the last back in the late eighties……I know a long time ago. Still have a set of factory repair manuals,,,,,,.hoping I get another. lol.
What strikes me is the amount of work it has had done to it for a supposedly well taken care of original with only 45 K on the odo. Oh yeah and the price.
Needs a Getrag 5 speed :)
How about a little love for the E21s, the Bimmers that really brought BMW into the mainstream. And yeah, I’m biased, I’m the second owner (since 1982) of a 1981 Alpina C1 (323i) that’s been in the U.S since it was a few weeks old and even has a California BAR sticker. It’s still a blast to drive and can embarrass a lot of decades newer ‘performance’ cars.
I own 2 of these and 7 other BMWs. They are a lot of fun and very easy to work on. Although this one seems original (the engine compartment and suspension has been redone and the nardi wheel is a recent upgrade), this one is more in “want-to-be” price range rather than “is” price range, thanks in part to the dealer markup. I hope he gets that price, though, since one of mine is in the midst of a complete strip-to-bare-metal restoration.
These were cool cars in there Day but the price!!
I forget what the issue was, by my parent’s 2002 had the engine replaced by BMW. Maybe this suffered the same fate?
Nice to see it still has the summer/winter cold air intake box.