When I was about to be discharged from the U. S. Army in Europe, I was told that I could send a car home from Germany for free.  So the thought came to mind to buy a 250 Mercedes Coupe.  After determining that $5500 was more than I could afford, I settled on the 1971 BMW 2002 for $2900.  I drove it to the port and then was left without a car until I returned to the states and picked it up in New Orleans.  It was a renewed friendship when I drove it back to Arkansas from Louisiana.  After a brief loss of the car due to divorce, I bought it back, and then later sold it to a couple from Louisiana.  Years later, I found the "red" car on e-bay and the rest is history.  It is a great little car.

The BMW 2002, introduced in 1968, laid the groundwork for the modern sports sedan. It offered nimble, sports-car-like handling and strong performance in a conventional two-door sedan. When Consumer Reports first tested the 2002, in July 1970, they said "the BMW’s quick acceleration and nimble handling make it a car that’s fun to drive--well worth considering." The successful 2002 is the grandfather of the current BMW 3-Series.

This car is a late model 1971 BMW 2002, VIN 2572582, manufactured on April 21, 1971; delivered on May 4, 1971 to the US-importer Hoffman Motor Corp. in New York.  Here is a mock up of the window sticker.

I bought this 4 speed, sunroof, BMW 2002, (after it was donated to a church auction by its original owner, George C. Reinmiller), on January 12, 2003. It had been cared for and kept garaged in Portland, Oregon. There was no rust from the sunroof. The only rust was on each door toward the rear, where almost all of these cars will collect water, even from washing, and some rust on the front lower panel, and a minor amount in the spare tire well. All this was repaired during the restoration process, which included changing the color from Sahara to Verona, and can be viewed by clicking here.

EVERYTHING works on this car. With a lot of help from the various members of BMW forums and Chris and Danuel at Skip’s Foreign Car Repair in Conway, Arkansas, I managed to get this car in great driving condition. The engine had a new short block #5473598 installed by the previous owner and has a Weber 38 with electric choke, and Petronix ignition. Redline fluids are being used in the tranny and differential.  It is strong and fast as anyone in the Arkansas group can attest to, and got 30 miles per gallon on a 1200 mile trip to Biloxi, Mississippi, for Cruisin The Coast, 04.

The interior is original except for Recaro seats which I take in and out, depending on the drive.  The original AM/FM radio has a tape player and even the clock in the radio works.  Two Sony X-plod speakers are in the rear shelf.

The following items were added new to the car:

black carpet

leather shift knob with BMW emblem

chrome beltline trim

"b" pillar rubber trim 

front and rear roundels

license plate lights

passenger mirror 

  mirror gaskets

windshield gasket

  windshield

rear window gasket

passenger and drivers window squeegee 

chrome inserts for both front and rear windshields 

trunk gasket

electric trunk release

door handle gaskets  

washer bottle

wipers and wiper arm gaskets

hood insulation

all new decals under the hood

sunroof crank spring

 sunroof drains to the rear wheel wells

sunroof gaskets

  sunroof cables

metric mechanics shift mechanism

 stainless steel brake lines

blue cloth brake fluid hoses 

 318i radiator

 drains under hood

 hood gaskets

 front lower control arms and ball joints

 center steering link

rear axle bearings and seals

 slave cylinder

 clutch master cylinder

poly bushings in the front and rear sway bars  

The car either runs on 14" bottlecaps with 185x60 Michelin Warrior tires, fitted with BMW valve stem caps, or 13" Michelins on turbine style wheels, and has an extra set of 13" stock steel wheels with new wheel cover emblems on good full-size wheel covers.  See the different wheels here.

Additions to the car include:

Metric Mechanics 4-speed

Sport steering wheel

Red-tip radio antenna

XM satellite radio docking station 

under-dash courtesy lights

trunk carpet 

Bilstein sport shocks on the rear

H4 headlights

euro front turn signals with tap-a-light bulbs 

tii front bumperettes, crafted to fit the all-chrome bumper

third brake light with electronic flasher 

VDO clock and 12 volt accessory plug behind the console 

removal of lower black trim and front side and rear reflectors

removal of the single speaker in the console

stock exhaust and muffler 

heater box rebuild with new control valve

rebuilt front calipers and new rear master cylinders

intermittent wiper switch

 recaro seats are used at times 

door storage pockets on both sides

Because it is a late '71, I replaced the rear bumper with the all re-chromed short sided rear bumper, and left the bumperettes off for the EURO look.  The front bumper is now all chrome .