2002 by toddness

[toddness]

This is weird for me. Skip ahead to the pictures if forum writing doesn't excite you.

Never would I have thought to think about writing this. Well at least not a project thread . Nor any of my 'build projects'. lol. They aren't builds or projects to me, they are more a part of me. "I think", in my best Carl Spangler.

I had a host of stories from my ute, including one of me living out of a 2002 to dish out, then I remembered, this is about this 2002.

I have had her for almost 15 years. She looks pretty much the same today other than being a little lower and sparkly shoes. She had something like 47K miles on her when I bought her; She's just turned 93K on what is now a sticky odometer for the last 3K or so.

I have pretty much every receipt since purchase. Shoot, I have every document from when the first owner was only thinking about buying her.

He passed away. A lucky, albeit smart teen got a gift and I dropped some decent change on her, like 8500. It was a lot then, but I knew if I didn't, someone else would and I would regret it.

She isn't a tii, but so what. Once you get done replacing the suspension and upgrading the drivetrain, the intake becomes the only difference, oh wait, that and a a clock, but hey, I wore a Tag at the time.

She dresses up really well, has her quirks, and it's all about whether I want to deal with her issues typically. She runs until something breaks. Then I take 3-6 months to deal with it, then I run her again. Or something like that.

She is Colorado on Brown. The grey carpet sort of sucks. Swapping the carpet has not been on my list until recently. She still has factory optional BMW front and rear sway bars. I'll have to go find the receipt to see if anything else shows up.

I bought her, dismantled her mechanically, scrubbed her with a toothbrush and put her back together again.

While the powertrain was out I removed all the trim and bits and gave her a nice clean and rub and then gently put her back together. I probably vacuumed her and wiped down the interior; it was pretty darn clean.

I am pretty sure I did the cooling refresh with the bath. I know I put in a new clutch and pressure plate.

I then took her to my mechanic and we went over everything I did, because I am a total meathead and have plenty of part out creating events in my past.

He then gave my his Nardi.

She got the first of at least two sets of bottlecaps and tires very early on.

Since that time I dropped a downdraft weber 32/36 and the mechanical distributor.

Another year I did the H&R Perf/Billy Sports upgrade as well other steering suspension maintenance.

Throw in a little cancer and the removal of my esophagus in 2004 and well, she didn't get attended to or driven much after that. She was out maybe 3-6 times a year for a day or two and I'd keep oil and water in it, and the occasional bath.

I paid to have her tuned up in 2009 or 2010 and for whatever reason I decided that was the last time I was going to pay for it. At least nothing that involved the turning of a wrench or driver.

Since I have owned her I have been torn. Torn by the thought of retaining the stock versus performance. It' the original paint. Why shouldn't I be running hubcaps? Well, now I am all in. Sort of. Slowly but surely.

Though 2011 saw the ZHP enter the foray and take center stage. 2012 - e30 madness. 2013 had me facing Voldermot again, the X3, and the e12 also come in to play. Never enough going on for me.

Anyway, I wasn't about to forget my 02 this year. I bought the girl some new shoes and just gave her the best tune I can remember. Took me 15-20 trips up the freeway to get it right, but she's purring, bad valve seals and all.

I picked up the bumpers for the e12 this past Friday, but I couldn't put away the 2002 without first completing the tune and giving her a nice bath.

So this brings me to this past weekend and my first project post. lol. It took me longer to write this than clean my windshield washer fluid motor.

I got obsessed with my coil as my tuning left me suspicious of electrical issues and thought I should explore my options. After further review, I read the advice as being stick with the black coil I have got. Something else was bugging me. At some point in me neglecting her, something blew grease chunk all over the coil and engine bay.

So I decided to clean up the area. Maintenance is tough when it involves wiping off grease and maybe a little steal wool or soapy water.

Now for the pics and details of this weekends acts.

First some pics before hand - I didn't have time to block the sun...lol.

Nasty coil and chunklets:
11500


Meh:
11501

Gross:
11502

Tired:
11503

WTF?
11504

I just learned of the 5pic post. limit. Good thing I was done talking. More pics in the following posts

[toddness]

I realized after pulling the coil the washer bottle and the rest of the engine bay were also nasty, so I went all in. Unfortunately I didn't snap pics of the bottle in the car. I am sure you will get the idea.

Nasty washer bracket and motor:
11505

Nasty Bottle:
11506

Motor and bracket cleaned and ready to go back together- Cool stuff:
11507

All Clean:
11508

And in place:
11509

[Hermes]

How come you're still running the stock coil? I'm running the Bosch blue.

Which 32/36 - DGEV, DGAV, or DGV? If you want I'm probably not gonna be using my 32/36 DGV anymore if you're interested. I found a set of ti Solex side drafts

Also, sweet that you have a washer bottle! I need to find one for mine but since it's an early car I need the round VDO version

[toddness]

This crap was nasty and had been in the engine bay for I believe at least 5 years. Hopefully the paint will survive the degreaser over time. I am very pleased with the results otherwise.

Coil:
11510

Engine bay - I have no idea what the scar is running up the shock tower:
11511

[toddness]

I had to give her a bath and wanted to share some pics of how she looks today from the outside.

Love this angle:
11512

Latch the hood down dummy:
11513

Paint is so creamy:
11514

She's so close to being right:
11515

[toddness]

And the interior after nothing but the glass being cleaned.

Passenger entry:
11517

and:
11516

Driver entry:
11518

Wheel and Dash view:
11519

and a little headliner. the rest looks the same:11520

[Hermes]

Beautiful car, Todd! The Nardi and the Coco mats are great touches that flow well with the colors of the car. I'll keep an eye out for some tan Recaro's for you

[toddness]

So as for the blue coil. My logic is with the car sitting as much as it does, the black coil would appear to give me more punch at startup, which is probably a good thing. That and the argument for a blue coil is pretty minimal under the circumstances.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/_/technical-articles/electrical-and-ignition/ignition-coil-myths-busted-r52

Now should I decide to get a little nutty on the motor as it gets to 100K the coil may come back into play.

I'd like to think a 5spd and LSD are next in line. Unless I find some really cool Recaros.

[toddness]

I'll get some pics of the stock seats under the skins. They were flawless the last time I looked. Those sheepskins are 42 years old, like the rest of the car, lol.

Oh, and thanks JP!. No hurry on those seats. The transaction bucket for the 2002 is empty for awhile with the e12 needing more attention. Wouldn't want them to come around and not be ready.

I do have a buddy parting out an e24 up here. He has a brown interior. I know you are looking - would you plan to recover anything or you are looking for something pretty clean already in black or maybe another color? Also keeping an eye out for the handbrake console....

[Hermes]

Yeah, I agree that the benefit to the blue coil is not that much. I had no idea how old mine was (probably 43 years) so I just went with the blue since it wasn't that expensive.



Also, if you're interested in going to even hotter spark here's an option:

-Electronic distributor from 80-83 320i (spins backwards so make sure you put the wires on the right plugs)
-cap and rotor from 77-79 320i (this might be the same as the 02 version, I haven't researched it that far)
-Bosch Red coil

With that combo you have a choice of high performance wires and you can run a bigger gap plug (up to 0.050")


Edit: Your buddy with the E24, ask him which rear center armrest it is. The rear buckets I have access to down here, but everybody seems to forget to grab the armrest when they part 6er's out. There is an AC version (don't want), one with an armrest, and one that is just a leather area. I prefer the third, but will deal with the second version. I will likely get everything recovered, but I'll do that once I find Recaro's for the E21 so I can do the seats and door cards together

[derbo]

Very beautiful car Todd! Those BBS are all I would do to it too. :)

[kayger12]

Gorgeous car. Enjoyed the read. Thanks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[ELCID86]

I've always loved those. Very nice example.

[cakM3]

Todd,

Your 2002 is clean! I enjoyed the read as well as pics you had provided for all of us to see. There's not much else you need to do to your beautiful ride...:thumbsup

[brettbimmer]

:coolpic

Beautiful Colorado '02 Todd. She really looks well sorted. As JP said, Coco mats add a nice touch. Enjoy her and keep posting!

[toddness]

I think I am going to sell my 2002.

I originally bought the car when my daughter was born, with her in mind. I was a stay at home dad and wanted a hobby. My intent was to share or give perspective to all that a 2002 gave me in my life. It opened my eyes to so many things through that greenhouse glass, even more as I glanced back each time I walked away from that one that I may had at any given time in the past.

I also treated it as an investment in her college if that were the course it would go. I've been contemplating this day ever since, teetering to thoughts of new this or that in a moments notice, or the day today where I seriously contemplate putting her up.

My wonderful daughter graduated from high school yesterday, exceeding all expectations I could have and now has the world to discover and a life to create on her own, at the cost of a big bill. She has seen life from inside and outside a 2002. It may be that time.

I am loving the e12 so much, it's really not that bad. Keep telling myself this.

So all that being said....

She's not a tii, not stock, no sunroof 100K miles, paint and interior. 3rd owner, all receipts, original sticker, I could list all that is wrong with it and all that's right. She's pretty and right - not perfect. Its' got a bump here or bruise there - I guess she's like the perfect 10 footer, 20 if you have a real eye. From the inside she's great. Mechanically she's getting on but well maintained.

I've got to believe it's a good time to put her up.

[Hermes]

What? I can understand you're reasoning as for why you would sell it especially since you have the E12 now, but still it's an 02...

[Torxuvin]

That's a cool story. Beautiful car. Those seat covers though. :-p

[toddness]

So I did a thing today:
http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-bmw-2002-15/

[danewilson77]

So I did a thing today:
http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-bmw-2002-15/
Ugh!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S8+

[slater]

wow, that's some serious bidding already! how are you feeling about that?

[toddness]

Honestly, I am glad to see it getting the attention I think it and the 2002 in general deserves.