Mint Green for sale

[SteveS]

Anyone familiar with this car?  I am a new member looking for a good clean car for fun that will be driven, just not daily.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-2002-2-door-/191916065366?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2caf16c256:g:4JEAAOSwzJ5XdKU9&item=191916065366

 

[Conserv]

I do not know the car, beyond viewing the photos.  But that won't stop me from having an opinion!

 

First, email the VIN to BMW Archives (info,grouparchiv@bmwgroup.com) and request their data on the car.  Although this car appears to be quite honest, original, and documented, it costs nothing to obtain the factory confirmation of build date, color, etc.

 

Second, get a PPI.  Yes, it looks low rust and the seller says its low rust (as do 98% of sellers although only 2% of the cars are, indeed, low rust).  But the underside appears to have black undercoating -- or it's very dirty.  Undercoating would be post-factory and it may have, or may not have, reduced rust. But today it has the potential to conceal more than simply the factory (body-color) paint applied over primer might have concealed.  It was, admittedly, not un-common for '02's, particularly in the rust belt, to be undercoated by dealers, specialist shops such as Ziebart, and others.

 

The front seats have what I refer to as the "Bibendum disease", where the original horsehair seats pads have disintegrated -- yes, they all do that, on square taillight cars -- and the owner, for cost savings, has substituted a massive amount of foam rubber.  The photo below shows what the seats looked like originally, before the bloating.

 

The '75 year is good in that it remains exempt from CA emissions, but bad in that the car originally came equipped with a thermal reactor, a heat generator which may have also reduced power slightly. The thermal reactors are generally gone by now but this car is sufficiently original that it may still retain full emissions controls -- I see the air pump lines.

 

The color, I must note, is actually the Mintgrun I recall from the '70's:  modern formulations of this color appear to be noticeably less....minty!

 

All in all, and subject to a good PPI, this looks like a nice un-molested example that has been consistently cared for and maintained, something that is fairly rare across 41 years of history.

 

Good luck,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2016 by Conserv

[1936spyder]

Listing ended early, so perhaps Steve bought it? Sold new in Palo Alto to a resident of SF, was being sold by someone in Alhambra, CA. My guess is that the undercoating was then applied at the dealership??? Seemed to be a very nice original and dry CA car...

[SteveS]

wasn't me

[Rookie_rr2002]

I actually bid on it and lost by $500. Sounds like it could have been a nice find. Thanks for comments!