engine and drivetrain Differences Between A 1968 1600-2 And 2002

[Andrew Havens]

Sorry if this is a stupid question or has already been answered before, but to the untrained eye, a 1968 1602 and 2002 look almost identical. I am aware that the 2002 got the 2.0L engine, but other than that, I don't think they are much different. What other differences are between them? I'm interested in the minor details.

[Preyupy]

In the US all of the 2002's had Sway Bars front and rear and a tachometer that the 1600's did not have (these were mandatory options through Hoffman motors) .  The 2002 had a 3.64:1 final drive instead of the 4.10:1 for the 1600.  The seats had recliners as the 1600 were just adjustable over a small range for rake.  The early '68 2002's had the smaller 2 piston calipers used on the 1600 then went to the larger 4 piston calipers.  The later 1600's got the larger calipers.  The grills for the 2002 had black bars and the 1600's were all aluminum.  2002's had dual horns, 1600 single. Other than the larger engine those were the major differences.  From the outside the only way to tell the difference was the badge on the back and the color of the grills.   

[Andrew Havens]

Thanks, that helps. What about the interior? Besides the missing Tachometer and reclining seats, were there any other differences that you know of?

[Preyupy]

Nope, the seat material was the same, carpets ect.  There were changes made between years but not between 1600's and 2002's of the same year.

[Hans]

Depending on year, master brake cyl and booster were different arrangement. And early 1600s were 6v as I recall. I gather some 2002s had a mechanical clutch, but 1600 did.

[Mike Self]

Really early 1600s (66 and some 67s, but apparently no US bound cars) didn't have power brake boosters.  And I believe that all the US spec 68 1600s were 12 volt.  

 

Also, all 1600s had smaller rear brake drums, and smaller clutches than the 2002s.  Only the first 3-400 2002s had mechanically activated clutches, and I'm not sure if that included US spec cars, as they didn't go into production until March or so of 1968, some time after Euro and rest-of-the-world 2002s started coming off the line.

 

cheers

mike

Edited December 20, 2013 by mike

[Kpeters]

Weren't early 1600 rear tail lamps all red with no amber?

[Preyupy]

Yes the 1600's all were mechanical clutch linkages, so were the first 2002s  then switched to hydraulic.  My '68 1600 had the remote T50 style brake booster that used a master cylinder mounted in the pedal box.  It was also 12 volt, the only '02 I have seen that was 6 volt was a '67.  I don't believe the amber turn signal lenses were used until '70 or '71.  My '70 1600 (build date Sept 16 1969) had red turn signal lenses. It also had the 4 piston calipers,  a short neck 4.10 diff, The mounting brackets on the rear crossmember  for the rear sway bar (no bar) and the larger 2002 rear brakes.       

[dbmw2002]

Was there a differnce in side marker lights and knee trim for 1600s, I know we have seen 1500s with no belt trim. The one thing the 1600s got that no 2002s had was a real convertable top, correct me if wrong but the sweet 16 was the only full convertable ever offered by BMW in the e10 varient

[Mike Self]

The red center tail light lenses were used on all US-bound 1600s and 2002s until near the end of 1969 production.  When one of my red center tail lights melted on my '69 in  Sept '69 (defective brake light switch) the dealer couldn't get red center lenses and had to replace my melted ones with amber center lenses.  Preyupy's Sept '69 1600 with red center lenses was built very early in the 1970 production run which began on 1 Sept.  The factory was famous for using up parts in production; suspect that's exactly what they were doing with those red center lenses.  Yours is the first 1970 I've heard of with red center lenses.  

 

Changeover from longneck to shortneck diffs came on 1 January 1969; 2002 VIN is 1664761.  That was part of the changes that occurred on cars built after that date, thus the "first series" and "second series" 1969 cars.

 

Also the early cars (at least partway or all the way through 1969 production) had side marker lenses (reflectors only) that didn't have external screws holding the aluminum trim and lens to the pot metal backing.  They've been NLA for many years.

 

And BMW did build 200 true convertibles in 1970.  Exactly one was US spec--currently owned by Carl Nelson, La Jolla Independent Service.  I've driven it, and it's a US spec car with a US VIN.  And it's a Bauer full (not Targa) convertible.  Most interesting story behind it.

 

mike

[Nesset127]

And BMW did build 200 true convertibles in 1970. Exactly one was US spec--currently owned by Carl Nelson, La Jolla Independent Service. I've driven it, and it's a US spec car with a US VIN. And it's a Bauer full (not Targa) convertible. Most interesting story behind it.

mike

Interesting. There is a Fjord blue roundie that's a full baur here. Not a targa but a full drop top. A family friend that owns a body shop sent me a picture of it when it was parked out side his shop.

[Nesset127]

And BMW did build 200 true convertibles in 1970. Exactly one was US spec--currently owned by Carl Nelson, La Jolla Independent Service. I've driven it, and it's a US spec car with a US VIN. And it's a Bauer full (not Targa) convertible. Most interesting story behind it.

mike

Interesting. There is a Fjord blue roundie that's a full baur here. Not a targa but a full drop top. A family friend that owns a body shop sent me a picture of it when it was parked out side his shop.

[Preyupy]

Carl bought that 'vert when he lived here in Seattle in the '70s. He beat me to that car by about 30 min. I'm glad he has kept it all these years. I just saw the Fjord car in Redmond 2days ago, I was stuck in traffic and could not follow it when it went by.

[jgerock]

Carl's convertible (featured in Katy Perry's video). Note the photoshopping of the license plate in this picture

[Slavs]

These early cars may both look alike, but I could fill an entire page with listing the differences I'm aware of. And, there are plenty more. As the years progressed BMW attempted to standardize the running gear and bring them closer together, The 68 2002 is unique and there are almost as many differences between the 68 2002 and later years as there are between the 68 2002 and the 1600. The same is true for the earlier 1600 vs. later 1600s. It's not just the differences between the two models, but also between the ears of each particular model. Many people are under the wrong assumption that all 1600s fall in the same category. That is not the case at all. Before swapping and substituting parts, you have to be very careful and attentive to detail, otherwise you will run into problems and what you thought would be a simple swap can snowball into an expensive project which requires all sorts of swaps and modifications.

 

Slavs