1972 BMW 2002 For Sale $8500 San Jose

[daniswaytough]

Car's current Location: San Jose, California

Registered Year: 1972

Mileage: Can be 70,000, or 170,000 Miles I am unsure, but am leaning more towards 170,000. EIther way it has definitely been a california car it's whole life. I found hardly any rust when i wet sanded the paint, stripped the interior, and removed all glass and trim. WHat little rust there was had already been killed by a previous owner. I have pictures of this.

My History with the car:

I bought the car in the spring of 2007 and since then have replaced almost everything mechanical. The car was originally a sahara brown, but was repainted long before i or the previous owner had gotten to it. It's now a later BMW alpine white.

THe previous owner had the motor rebuilt about 20,000 miles before i bought it. So i estimate the rebuilt motor to have around 30-65,000 miles. When i took the cylinder head off in 2007 the lack of coking on the cylinders confirmed the receipts and previous owner's claims

In the spring of 2007 a broken motor mount bracket on the subframe put the motor into the radiator and i warped the cylinder head. I had the subframe reinforced and the crack repaired to stop this from happening again. The head was warped and cracked so i sourced a used replacement in good shape from Ireland engineering. While the head was off i upgraded the camshaft to an aftermarket ireland engineering 292. This is a couple of steps up from the stock 264 cam and gives a lot of extra torque. I used the valve train from the rebuilt head and everything has been running smoothly since. I also upgraded the radiotor with a new OEM 320 unit to keep things running cool.

The motor runs great. It is torquey in all gears and if you ask it she will rev to 6,000 rpm without a problem ( i do not however, make a point of proving that to myself) She will cruise along all day at 4500-5500 rpm on the freeway without the slightest of qualms

While the head was off I replaced the exhaust system with an ansa, and then finally a brand new ireland engineering stainless exhaust and bavarian autosport coated headers. I have added a beefy weber 38/38 downdraft carb instead of the tired weber 32/36 that came with the car. The motor rebuild, beefier cam and carb combined with the flowing exhaust is a great combo.

When I first bought the car I also completely rebuilt the suspension. Literally just about everything has been replaced. New tie rods, new ball joints, new upper strut bearings, new urethane bushings. New steering column guibo. I then added a Mason engineering front strut brace, ireland engineering front fixed camber plates that give about 1/2 negative degree of camber, stiffer Bilstein HD shocks, and ireland adjustable sway bars front and back.

I've upgraded the front brakes with Ireland Engineering's big brake kit that includes larger ventilated/cross rotors from an e21 specially modified girling units. I replaced the brake booster with a used unit from 02 salvage in hayward and a brand new OEM bigger master cylinder from a TII. When i replaced the front rotors i replaced the wheel bearings as well. I recently replaced the rear brake drum shoes and rear wheel cylinders.

The battery is a brand new interstate unit that i bought a couple of weeks ago and when i redid the interior i relocated it to the drunk with a battery cable and distribution block from an e30. It now sits snuggly in the trunk.

I've replaced most of the interior. It came with a nice momo wood wheel which it still has. It has a new dome light, the back seat was freshly restored before i bought the car, and i put in freshly restored e21 is seats in german vinyl from Aardvark engineering. The seats alone cost $1,000. I replaced the carpet with a fresh salt and pepper kit and dynamated the interior to reduce cabin noise.

The car comes with a nicely hidden sound system that kicks really. Friends and passenger always compliment the sound. It has Two speakers sit under the rear seat, two under the dash, and there are two small tweeters on either side of the center console.

I swapped the transmission with another used 4 speed and replaced all fluids. This transmission is fine. ANd if you don't match up the engine revs it will crunch if you try to downshift into first. I replaced the driveshaft guibo when the transmission was out. I also installed an ireland engineering short shift kit

Finally the car has been freshly repainted. I stripped out the entire interior, took off all trim, glass, lights, grill, and everything. I wet-sanded the entire car and everything was in good shape. That's when i found only one spot of rust that had previously been killed. There is bondo on the car, but it is slight and not a hack job. The guys who sprayed it were a little careless and there is a bit of underspray on the sway bars and in the wheel wheels. But nothing major. I'd give the overall paint quality an 8.5. When clean, this car looks fantastic from 5 feet or 100 feet. On top of that she has original italian indicator signal lights. Not reproductions! She is without a doubt one of the nicer road-going 02's around

Two weeks ago i replaced the ignition lock assembly on my car. THe old one jammed on me so i bought and installed a whole new assembly. Everything is now very firm and it should last you as long as the car.

This is a good looking car that was built for spirited shit your pants driving in the backroads. It was never built to be a concours trailer queen. However, it's still nicer than 90% of 02's on the road now.

I would not hesitate to drive her across the country if needed. I have driven her countless times to berkeley, san francisco, and then back to san jose without issue. recently i drove from San Jose to Laguna seca, then back to san jose, over to berkeley, and then back to san jose and the motor didn't skip a beat. As long as you warm her up she will rev at 4500-5000 with torque to spare all day.

She is a very nice driver, but there are some things that do need to be addressed.

CONS

1. She has an oil leak. It doesn't burn oil, she just leaks it. I replaced the exhaust header studs and the oil pan gasket when i replaced the transmission, but i believe it's leaking from the rear main seal or maybe the rear of the oil pan as well. I am not sure.

2. There is overspray at the bottom of the car, and little bits in the engine compartment and other places, but the quality of the paint is high.

3. The dash has quite a few cracks. I just carefully covered them with electrical tape and have never looked back since. I was never bothered by them and no one has ever commented. I don't think the kind of person who'd enjoy this car most would care about dash cracks, but pictures will be included all the same.

4. The wheels. The are boring and ugly, but serve the car very well with the pirellis on them

This car was garaged all through its tenure with me except the last 6 months where it has been under covers at my uncle's House. It was driven sparsly as i went to college in the United Kingdom and was away 75% of the year. My dad and uncle took her our for occasional spins to keep her healthy. THen i got a DUI 2 and a half years ago and that's when i had her repainted and did all the prep work. So all the upgrades are basically fresh and she has not been driven much. I have been driving her daily for the last 2 months as i am back in town, but other than that she was under covers and garaged most of her time with me. I am selling as i am moving to london to intern, and well, you need a big boy job to pay for big boy toys. Right now i could use the money for more important and pressing matters in the start of my young "career" and as i am leaving, i do not want to leave my car outside as winter is about to start. I don't wan't to see her deteriorate on my watch!

Best to email me at djghurst@gmail.com

or call me at 408-373-4983

Cheers,

Before repaint/prep

this was where we found some old rust that had already been killed. it wasn't severe so we give it another dose of rustmort for posterity and a light coat of bondo

dirt!

The battery intstal

Current photos

Merry Christmas!

I will add loads of new photos shortly. These are some ones of the project phases and a couple of recent shots from this week/last two months. If you have anything specific you'd like to know just ask and i will gladly help you out as much as i can.

Dan

[1inhiding]

Email sent...

[danfromoz]

Hi Dan, My name is also Dan. Did you sell this car? If not I'm quite interested. If you could reply either way that would be great. Thanks.

[Guest Anonymous]

I know this is a fat chance, but is your 2002 still for sale? I am looking to buy one for my husband for our 6 year wedding anniversary. We do not live in CA but will be visiting family in San Jose in a few weeks. Thanks!