engine and drivetrain Opinions On This Car?

[emmodg]

For that price the following should be rust FREE:

Shock towers

Sills

Doors (the whole door!)

All floor pans

Frame rails

Spare tire well

Gas tank surround

Rear quarters

Fender edges (and all "crevices")

Front pan

Window sills

Hood & trunk edges (along seams as well)

Sub frame attachment points (rear sub especially)

There should be nothing missing in the interior (all knobs, buttons, and trim should be there - look under steering colum and glovebox)

If its not the original engine you're buying a rust free straight 2002 with a motor attached. Engines can be found readily and cheap compared to bodywork.

$16k is a premium and is born from the small "surge" in prices that have come about lately...

If the car fails in the above list in the rust category it's NOT a $16k car!

[thehackmechanic]

Agree completely -- if it has ANY rust, it's probably not worth it.

 

With the bumpers close-in to the body, the car is probably an early '72tii, so it probably should have the engine with the black plastic intake plenums.

 

To my eye, the engine compartment has a fairly tidy appearance; I'm surprised he described it as "rough." It depends on your frame of reference (mine is a disaster).

 

The car has the rear sidemarker lights, but is missing the front sidemarker lights, a sure sign the front fenders have been replaced. Here in New England, you'd be hard-pressed to find a 2002 on it's original fenders, so that's hardly the end of the world, but it always raises a question mark on a car's rust-free provenance  and coupled with the fact that the car has a snorkel nose, it's likely the car was cracked in the front. Regarding the snorkel, there are folks who swear they they bought their tiis new and the nose had a snorkel, a possible indication that BMW ran out of non-snorkel noses at some point. But coupled with the replaced fenders, it's more likely the car was cracked.

 

As Conserv said, an unmolested "correct" car with no history of accident damage will always be worth more than one that's been hit and where certain parts have been brought in from later cars, but you'll pay for that; there were two recent red tiis on eBay in the $30k range. And one of those had the same issue with replaced fenders and non-matching sidemarker lights.

 

So, yes, $16k feels high, but with the upward trend in prices, a year from now it might not be. If it is truly absolutely and completely rust-free, if a PPI checks it out and it doesn't need much, if you have the money, if you like the color and the condition of the paint, there are worse things you could do. But if you have to have it shiny and new-looking, "just needs paint" are the three most expensive words in a car ad (the two most expensive words are "some rust"), and you might be better off looking for something that's already done to your liking.

[max210]

Here's a couple more pictures the owner sent me.  He also sent me a copy of the receipt of work done totaling about $6k+ in rebuilding the rear and few other things.

 

Please let me know if anyone knows of a shop in the Santa Monica area, or if someone here can do a PPI for some cash.  It's for a different car than this one. Any FAQer out there willing to help me would be more than appreciated.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2013 by max210

[vinntagejoe]

eww, all that commotion and rumbling noise outside your front door is the price dropping.................

[Conserv]

Not as clean as one might have hoped. Has the entire bottom of the wheel well been previously replaced? If so, this isn't the end of the world as even many pristine cars have wheel well rust issues. The replaced nosepiece on the other hand speaks to a different issue. The lesser of its issues, in my mind, is that it came from a non-tii with A/C. The larger issue in my mind is the amateurish workmanship displayed where it attaches to the inner fender. Whatever was wrong with the nosepiece -- collision damage and/or rust -- it was not repaired by someone I'd want working on my car!

Dig more, you will find more. But, hey, what you can see of the left rear shock tower looks to be un-rusted and un-touched.

Steve

Edited May 10, 2013 by Conserv

[02Les]

I'm looking to buy my first 02. I don't know much about them besides the informative postings I've read here. I found this car on craigslist.  Does anyone here know this car? Does not having the original engine and needing new paint justify the price? I've seen very clean cars going for about 10k-12k in this area and not restored but drivers going for about 5k to 9k.

Thanks for any help. Hopefully I'll find a nice daily driver soon.

http://santabarbara.craigslist.org/cto/3715522184.html

FYI

The pics are the same ones in his Nov '11 Craigslist ad when he wanted $18k for it. Time for some new pics?

If it's an orig CA car, why does it have a relatively new CA tag?

[Conserv]

FYI

The pics are the same ones in his Nov '11 Craigslist ad when he wanted $18k for it.

Hmmm? This is interesting data. If he keeps reducing his price $2,000 every two years, and the tii market keeps rising, eventually he'll reach fair market value.

Steve