1974 BMW 2002 Tii rebuild, sell, or part out...

[benjammin30_06]

I am trying to decide what to do with this car. Do I put more money in it to fix some of the rust and bad paint job?

The car runs great and is fully functioning.

Or am I better off just parting it out since the parts work?

Here is the listing on Craigslist...

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/3703268023.html

I would love a little help on this.

My other option is find a good enough body to paint and then move all the parts to that. Make a whole new car out of it...

[AndyS]

I had pictures of this car when it was for sale in OK the first time. It was pretty rusty and high dollar, so I passed on it. If all that rust was not fixed properly, you would be better buying a shell(if you can find one) and swapping it. If you can afford to repair the original one, well it is a tii and you might break even sometime in the future.

[benjammin30_06]

Well I wish I had your wisdom when examining it. It's a good car and I think I might have access to a totally rust-free shell, so the suggestion sounds pretty plausible.

I am wondering still about parting it out too.. I bet there are people looking for working Tii engines, transmissions and such...but I'm not sure.

[LJtii]

Swapping shells sounds easy, but it's not, and expenses mount pretty quickly. See my response in the Cars for sale forum on Tii values - it'll give you a real-life picture of expenditures vs. selling prices of completed cars. Not that the example cited is necessarily the norm, but it does offer a glimpse of reality.

[Gordon]

My former 74 tii was a Frankenstein, 3/4 of the front clip along with the spare tire well, sunroof clip, and rear panel had been replaced. Throw in some bondo and rust and I decided I didn't want to throw money at it to get it fixed right. I traded my Euro spec E28 525e for a clean 74 tii shell and transferred all of the parts from my Frankenstein tii into the new shell. Before the parts were transferred, the shell and engine bay were repainted in it's original color (Sahara). The diving board bumpers were converted to early 02 bumpers and the US spec side marker lights were shaved off.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,57/page,viewtopic/t,343731/

I recommend you fix your tii. If it's too rusty or been wrecked, look for a clean shell to transfer your parts into. tii prices are rapidly rising, if you invest some money into, you won't lose it if you have to sell it.

G-Man

[benjammin30_06]

That was sort of the big element that I was concerned about. However, I have a friend that is a BMW master mechanic and got his start working on the 2002 who needs some favors. So I can get labor mostly for trade and he has a pipeline for parts that are below market but quality. So I'm thinking I may be able to get into this swapping thing a bit cheaper than usual.

I don't want a show car, just a nice clean and really fun little driver that has some appeal for resale.

All this being said, does it still sound like I am going to jump into this bad-boy for way too much money?

G-man, if you had to ascribe a value to your trade for the shell, how much did the shell cost?

[Gordon]

The E28 that I traded for my tii shell was probably only worth $1.5K. The paint was original and totally shot, dash had lots of cracks in it but it was rust free. It did have staggered Euro headlights (7" & 5.75") which are very hard to find.

If your tii is relatively rust and bondo free, I would try to fix it. I would only look for a shell to swap everything from your current tii into as a last resort. The tii shell has parts that are unique from a regular 02, i.e. no snorkel, air cleaner brackets, notch in the firewall between windshield squirters. (next to last pic on your CL ad). I got lucky and scored a real tii shell (2780763) to transfer my parts into. tii shells are much harder to come by, regular 02 shells are much easier to find. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

G-Man

[Gordon]

The E28 that I traded for my tii shell was probably only worth $1.5K. The paint was original and totally shot, dash had lots of cracks in it but it was rust free. It did have staggered Euro headlights (7" & 5.75") which are very hard to find.

If your tii is relatively rust and bondo free, I would try to fix it. I would only look for a shell to swap everything from your current tii into as a last resort. The tii shell has parts that are unique from a regular 02, i.e. no snorkel, air cleaner brackets, notch in the firewall between windshield squirters. (next to last pic on your CL ad). I got lucky and scored a real tii shell (2780763) to transfer my parts into. tii shells are much harder to come by, regular 02 shells are much easier to find. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

G-Man

[benjammin30_06]

Mmmm...Good to know. I was looking at a regular '02 shell. It's good to know there are differences.

So now I'm back where I started...Need to find a viable shell i guess.

The Rust areas/bondo aren't really too terrible, just pricey to fix. I'm trying to weigh the price ranges...

[Conserv]

Mmmm...Good to know. I was looking at a regular '02 shell. It's good to know there are differences.

I may be putting words in G-Man's mouth, and I'm sorry if that's the case, but I don't think he was emphasizing that a tii shell is materially different from a non-tii (sure, an intact tii has no snorkel and it has brackets on the inner fender to support the air filter housing), but, rather, that your VIN -- which, i presume is the VIN of the new body -- may determine whether your NEW car is (a.) a tii with a non-matching tii motor; or (b.) a non-tii with a tii motor and accoutrements. I would suspect the former would have appreciably greater value than the latter!

Steve

[benjammin30_06]

That makes a great deal of sense to me. So if I was completely ignoring the value play, and just wanted a non-rusty fun driver, I could get away with putting the Tii in a non-Tii.

[Conserv]

That makes a great deal of sense to me. So if I was completely ignoring the value play, and just wanted a non-rusty fun driver, I could get away with putting the Tii in a non-Tii.

Yes you could!

Steve