*-Sold-* 1976 2002 well-running driver

[toucanbrian]

For immediate sale is one 1976 BMW 2002.

Please excuse the length of this sale notice. I enjoy to be very thorough when selling.

Overview: 1976 2002, black, 4 speed. Runs well. Somewhat ugly. Ingraham radiator, new carb, many others. Passenger side door dented from being backed into. I do not know the mileage, odometer has never worked under my ownership. Clear title. VIN 2741650. Let me know if you carfax this because I never have, and am curious.

Reason for selling: I no longer live in the USA, it is pointless for me to keep a car registered and insured there, and it is a burden having a friend keep it in his driveway.

Asking price : 2000 OBO, quite motivated

Details: I purchased this car in October 2008 from a fat girl in San Antonio. I have done much work to this car and replaced or rebuilt many things on it, only in interest of having it very well-running and trustworthy. I have done all work myself and under my ownership the car has never been in a shop save for replacing tires and adjusting alignment. I myself have had no interest in full restoration or or in presentation. To the eye, the car has always looked somewhat rough. The paint is oxidized and sun-baked. The interior is clean enough, but somewhat worn. My interest has always been in function, as this has been my only car, and as I have required it several times to haul me across the country. I am not so nice looking myself, but function quite well. I have been left on the roadside needing a tow twice during my ownership of this car. I will explain below.

Work I have done on the car is as follows: Nonworking A/C system completely removed and garbaged. Front end complete rebuild (all urethane bushings, bearings, ball joints, etc. Steering box not replaced). New shocks, front and rear. New engine and transmission mounts. New guibo, new center bearing. Upgraded 80A alternator, internally regulated. Electronic ignition conversion. Curtis Ingraham 3-core radiator. New water pump. New fan. New Weber 32/36 carburetor, manual choke, jetted to CD's prescription. New plug wires. New tires (spring 2009). New brake hoses, pads. I believe I ought have all receipts. If I do not have ALL, I certainly have almost all. I have no receipts from anything previous to my ownership.

I have not touched the clutch, transmission, or differential, other than to change fluids to redline synthetic. No differential whine, clutch still feels good, and 4-speed transmission has never given me reason to complain. Shifter somewhat sloppy, but I have seen much worse.

Known issues with this car, presently: Passenger door / A-pillar dent. This does not affect handling or steering but affects proper closing of window and is unsightly. I do not know if this can be properly pulled out. Guibo needs be replaced again (new part goes with sale). Windshield cracked on passenger side in colorado hailstorm. Brake pads need renewing. Belt squeal above 4k rpm I cannot seem to be rid of, this began only after installation of 3rd alternator. Windows need arm-help when cranking up and down. Heater blower inoperable but heater itself works well (the gas pedal is your blower). Seats somewhat ugly. Swapped ripped driver's seat to passenger side, good passenger seat to driver side. I have never had a passenger, why let the seat go to waste? Rear seat perfect, like new. All window glass good, no cracks, save windshield.

The car has very little rust, and no rust in important areas. Worst rust is at bottom of driver's door, for instance. No rust on shock towers. Floor pans good. Paint is rough, perhaps surface rust on trunk lid, hood. Tires are still quite good. No fluid leaks from engine. Burns a negligible amount of oil, less than 1/2 qt between changes. Doors are straight, no creases from broken checks.

Under my ownership this car has carried me, with zero or minimum issue, on the following hauls / loops: Texas to south Florida to Tennessee to Texas. Texas to Tennessee to Kansas to Texas. Texas to New York to Texas. Texas to Tennessee to Colorado to Texas. Among these, many other shorter but still significant hauls. The vast majority - 95% - of the mileage added to this car under my ownership has been highway driving and open road. I have been left broken on the roadside twice needing a tow (flatbed towed both times). Once outside of Eureka, KS, previous to electronic ignition I had a set of points wither and die. Foolishly, I had no replacement in my kit. One night in hotel, five dollars at Napa, and ten minutes to install fixed this. The second time, outside of Abilene TX, after bearings seized in ebay alternator. This one was trickier, I had to buy the only alternator in town that would fit the car, simply to keep the belt tight to drive the oil pump and water pump. I could not get an 80A internally regulated alternator for this car on such short notice in Abilene and so drove back to Austin on the battery only. In all honesty I had heard the bearings in that alternator giving the warning call for nearly a year, had ignored this, and thus deserved to be left at the side of a caprock dust field in west Texas for my negligence. One reaps what fruit one sows.

This is a worthy car, but I no longer need a car as I have been the past years living between Brasil, Argentina, Mexico, and Germany. If I were wealthy and could buy proper storage for this car, I would likely keep it simply to have something to drive when I must visit the US. However, I am not so wealthy and must rely upon the kindness of a friend who allows me to leave it parked in his drive while I am away. He is a German and I believe it reminds him fondly of his homeland, but he is also a doctor and lives in a fine swank neighborhood in a big nice house, and my car is an embarrassment against the neighborhood. This is my estimation, my words, not his. The passenger side was dented in by his wife, who was late getting the kids to school and, as a perfect woman driver, was not watching where she was going and backed her Volvo SUV into the side of my car while I was away last year. The force was enough to break the window glass, which has been replaced, but the door closes "funny" now, and the wrong alignment makes the window odd to roll all the way up.

The car is currently registered, insured, and the inspection just expired on 1 October, in Austin Texas. This has been my everyday driver and my only car since I have owned it, it is not a recreational or weekend vehicle only. Were I still residing in the USA, or had I any intention of returning to live at any time, I would keep the car. If I ever own another car, in the USA or elsewhere, I will attempt to own another 2002, I will attempt to find this one and buy it back. As the car has been sitting most of the time for the past year or more, it would do well with a bit of minor tuning-up I am certain. I return to Austin each three months or so, for a day or two, and drive the car around, but I have neglected its better wellbeing for lacking time and incentive to care for it. Even after sitting, it always gets going within five minutes of having to tinker a bit with it. I am speaking after months of sitting. The car once sat six complete months while I was away in Brasil. The day I returned was February 23, the temperature was 30 degrees and I had to drive the car from south Louisiana back to central Texas. Within ten minutes I had the car running, without needing even a jump, and drove back to Austin six hours through snow, without so much as a hiccough from the car. Even on my infrequent passthroughs and after sitting for several months, it gives me no trouble the few days I do drive it. I have just come from Berlin, the car having sat four months through the hottest Texas summer on record, and the car was up and running within two minutes. This is a worthy, driving car. I would love to sell it knowing it will be kept on the road.

I would prefer this car to go to someone who knows 2002s, and who will do right by the car. I rescued the car from someone who had put rock band stickers all over the windows and floormats with naked lady cutouts in the thing and a ridiculous radio with wires strewn all over and speakers kicked under the seat and horrible air-bubbled black tint job. I do not wish that sort of high-schooler fate for this car. It deserves better. I am not in any position to attempt to profit by the sale of this car. Though I have put more into it in parts than I myself paid for the whole car, I have been buying cars for too long to fool myself that the money that I put into it matters at all regarding the final sale. I will ask 2000 dollars for this car, or best offer. I am very motivated to sell and to sell quickly. I think this figure is fair enough, as ought anyone who knows these cars and knows things like the Ingraham radiator or a brand-new carburetor are not inexpensive items. I believe I bought the very last Crane electronic ignition kit in existence only days after the company went under. Therefore, this car is of historical interest as well.

I have included everything in this document as I can think of. I am better at fielding specific questions, if I know the answers. I am not, however, a professional mechanic and I know nothing about detailed specifics such as which cam is in this car or the compression readings other than to say that as far as I know the car is mostly "stock" save for my own additions listed above.

As I write this I am in Austin until the 18th October. I would very much like to sell this car before or by then. I do not know when I will be back, and to have this much time to wait before leaving is almost unheard of for me. Therefore, the time is now. Unfortunately I am unable to arrange for any type of shipping to be undertaken in the sale of this car. I am willing to help though, however I might. A quick sale will benefit everyone. Title is clear. This is not a "rolling shell." I suppose it COULD be a parts car, but hopefully not. This is a working, well-running, workhorse. Ugly but very functional, like a good wife.

Please forgive the attached photos. They are the best that I have on hand and I wish to get this posted immediately. I can take other photos, of anything, upon request. To any who wish to see the car I am available to meet any time, any where in the Austin area.

[toucanbrian]

Sold, to the gentleman in the back from Laredo. Thank you for reading.