history and reference Bmw 1600 Vs. Bmw 1602

[eastsidebimmer]

My January 71 1600 was badged a 1600 but I noticed the 1602 badge was still available new so I bought one a few years back and swapped it out just for S & G.  I guess I just have a little 02 envy.   From what I understand, the final late71 1600s sold starting in April were badged 1602 and had the knee trims that everyone above described.  My car is identical to a 70 as far as I can tell, possibly with the exception of rear reflectors.  I can't remember what year these first started.

 

[danco_]

I have a similar story.

 

I recently purchased a 1971 1600 manufactured in February 1971, and sold through Schneider Motors in Orange County, CA on June 30, 1971.

 

The original owner put over 72,000 miles in the first three years. I have the original Service Booklet with every maintenance check (up to 72,000 miles) performed and stamped by only two BMW-exclusive Dealerships in Southern California. It's so nice having original documents and records.

[danco_]

So the 1600, 1602, and 1600-2 were all manufactured in 1969?

 

I'm restoring my 1969 1600-2 and want to get it as original as possible. So other than badges where could I find the most information on the differences between the models?

 

Example - my 69 1600-02 has grey plastic door handles which I haven't come across on any other model.

 

Maybe read again above and you will find out: 1969 official naming for the 2-door 1,6-engined BMW was 1600-2 and it was badged 1600 in the rear.

 

BMW started using "1600" with start of production of the 4-door BMW 1600 NK sedan. With the introduction of the 2-door model in 1966 they feared confusion and changed the naming in 1600-4 for the NK and 1600-2 for the 02.

 

I´m german and not too much into the specialties delivered on US market (and according to what Mike wrote in some older posts there were some specialties). So following info is mainly for german-delivered 02s, but maybe nevertheless helpful. There were three kinds of grey door handles:

1. stone-grey for stock interiors before appr. second half of 1968

2. light-grey for special option leather interiors

3. a different light-grey for the model-73 squared-taillights cars

 

For Germany we distinguish between date of production and date of first registration, not sure if it is like that in US also. Noted down in german car´s title is date of first registration and most people falsely refer to that also as the year of make. But exact year/month of make you can only find out by decoding the VIN because there were cars going out to the dealers not on customer´s orders but for exhibition-in-showroom purposes and not being sold for a longer time.

E.g. for Germany it was like that with some summer 73 roundies: People already saw the ads in the media for the new facelifted squared-taillights models and insisted on buying the "new" car instead of the rest of late roundies the dealers already had instock. Those roundies subsequently popped into the market later and could only be sold at reduced prices. So it can happen that you´ve got a roundie that is 11/73 or 12/73 from its title although production was already discontinued in 07/1973.

 

With that said, what is the VIN of your 1969 1600-2?

 

Regards, Lars.

 

 

My late-1968 built 1600 also has stone gray, plastic interior door handles. I thought these were wrong as I've only ever seen chromed metal door handles. Now I'm all kinds of confused. I know that Brian's 1600 has VIN: 1568951 while mine is a bit earlier at 1567199. This would coincide with Lars' prediction that they ended sometime in late 68. 

 

 

How strange. Nothing makes sense. 

[BeMyWay]

BMW 

[Slavs]

From what I've read the main reason for the rebadge was done to diffrentiate the Neu Klasse 4 door 1600 from the 1600-2.

Parts dealers were mixing up the two cars and ordering the wrong parts.

 

By the time BMW rebadged the car in 70 or 71, the drivetrain, with the exception of the motor, was the same for both the 1602 and 2002. Earlier 1600s had an entirely diffrent drivetrain and rear subframe. In this respect the 68 to mid 69 2002 was also more similar to the early 1600.

 

Slavs