Category Archives: BMW

The BMW 2002 Tii “Roundie”

The BMW 2002 is the first car that I can remember wanting to own. I remember the magazine advertisements from the early 70’s before I was old enough to drive, “BMW the ultimate driving machine”. Whether the ad was true then or now may still be a question, but the ad certainly worked on this future sports car enthusiast. And at the time the 2002 was the BMW to want. Although I’ve owned 325’s and 328’s I’ve never owned a 2002, but it is still on my list and I’m still looking for that ultimate driving machine.

BMW built the 2002 Tii from 1971 to 1976 and of these years the 1971 and 1973 model years had the round tail lights. The Tii version of the 2002 is fuel injected using Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection system and all Tii models were 4 speed manual transmissions. The 71-73 Tii models also weigh about 255 pounds less than the standard models, at 2310 pounds vs 2565 pounds. The M10 engine is a 1990cc SOHC inline 4-cylinder engine that produced 140 BHP@5800 RPMs for those two years; I have read 130 BHP in some publications, but either way it is very acceptable for a light, early 70’s sports coupe. That BHP is 27 more than the Solex 2bbl carbureted engines of the same years. Almost everything else on the car is the same as the standard model.

The Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection system has a bad reputation in some circles, but it seems that most of the problems that some mechanics do not understand the injection system the adjustments that need to be made. The fuel injection pump uses engine oil for lubrication making it even more important that you keep your machine in a well maintained condition. The early Tiis have intake runners made from molded plastic and the later models were made from aluminum. Although the plastic runners give better flow, the can tend to crack and split.

While looks are all a matter of taste, the smaller bumpers of the earlier Tii’s and the round tail lights make them my personal favorite.

71/72/73 2002 Tii Specifications:

Engine Type SOHC Inline 4 cylinder
Engine Displacement (CC) 1990
BPH@RPM 140@5800
Compression Ratio 9.01
Torque (lbs-ft @ RPM) 145@3000
Fuel Injection Kugelfischer Mechanical
Transmission 4 Speed Manual
Front Suspension MacPherson Strut, Lower A-Arms, Coil Springs, Tube Shocks
Rear Suspension Semi-Trailing Arms, Coil Springs, Tube Shocks
Wheelbase (inches) 98.4
Weight (pounds) 2310
Wheels 13 x 5.0
Tires 165HR-13
Brakes
Front 9.4 in Discs
Rear 7.9 in Drums
0-60 MPH (seconds) 9.8
Maximum Speed (MPH) 115
Estimated fuel economy (MPG) 22.7

 

From around the internet:

Motor Trend: (The BMW 2002) imbued the everyday car with a measure of sportiness and sophistication, demonstrated that performance means more than going fast in a straight line, and moved BMW a notch up the automaker food chain.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/c12-0612-1972-bmw-2002-tii/

 

1972 BMW 2002 Tii Value:

Below is a chart from www.hagerty.com that shows the valuation for the last three years of a 1972 Tii (note, this is one of the places that list’s the engine output as 130 BHP that I mentioned earlier). The 2002 Tii would have provided it’s owner a respectable rate of return and if you look at it over a 5 year period, a great rate of return. Please feel free to quote my post and the chart below when discussing investment and retirement options with your significant other.

HagertyInvestment

BMWSymbol

BMW logo on Inca Orange 2002

BMWTii

BMW 2002 Tii at the vintage races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, November 2015

BMW2002

BMW 2002

Another Sports Car Gathering in Peyriac De Mer

What: Vacation
Where: Peyriac de mer, France
Who: Classic Sports Cars
When:  June 22, 2014

Who would have guessed that Peyriac De Mer, France would be such a great place for sports cars?  This seemingly sleepy little town in the south of France has one pizza shop, a tabaco store, a bakery, a grocery store slightly smaller than a 7-11, and one restaurant/bar.  I stayed there 5 days and on two of those 5 days they had sports car shows; the AC Owner’s club of France and this group of beautiful cars that motored in while we were out at the Carcassonne castle doing the tourist thing.  After such a great show for us with the AC club, I jokingly told my wife that I hope they have another group of cars for us to enjoy when we got back from the castle; and wow did they.

If you have been to France you know that not everyone knows English and some of those that do won’t let on, so here again I had a language barrier and had little interaction with the owners, but I hope you enjoy the pictures anyways.

Alfa GTV
Alfa GTV
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Alfa Romeo Giulietta convertible
Burton
An interesting Burton based on a Citrion
BMW 2002
A BMW 2002 Roundie
Citroen C2V
Citroen 2CV
Lancia Fulvia
Lancia Fulvia
MGB, TR6 and a Lotus Clone
MGB, TR6 and a Lotus Clone
Renault R 4CV
1950’s Renault R 4CV
SIMCA
Simca Aronde P60
TR6
A nicely presented Triumph TR6

Three Invesment Cars – Part One

What: Three picks for investment cars
Where: USA
Who: Anyone with the money
When:  Now 

We’ve all done it, we’ve all said it.  If I had bought that car when I was looking I would have tripled my money by now.  I’m sure I’ve said it multiple times a week for a long time.  I bought my 1978 Lotus Esprit Series 2 for a song a couple of decades ago; it was low mileage and in pristine condition.  When I was ready to sell it I took it to Barrett-Jackson when they were at West World and after commission I made $9k in profit.  The sale earned a Sports Car Marketplace magazine  comment “well sold” and they said that it set the Esprit price going forward.  Well, the prices have gone up, but I think my buyer was someone wondering why they got such a cheap Ferrari and not any great insight of mine.  But, please don’t repeat that because I use that example every time I want a new ride.

So with this post and the following two I will choose three cars using my “special investment intuition”.  In this post I’ll pick my three car, one $5k or under, one $10k or under, and one $20k or under.  I’ll give you my thoughts on why I like them without additional research.  My next post will be what I have found out from researching these cars as actual investments.  Then my third post on the subject will be where I decide to head to the bank and make a withdrawal for the big buy or where I eat my words and stick with my ’78 Lotus story.

Okay, my first car will be a sound 1973 SAAB Sonett III.  First, there are not a lot of sports cars under my $5k limit, but I think I can pick up a Sonett in that range,

SAAB Sonett III
SAAB Sonett III

I could be wrong and I’ll find that out in the research.  Swedish cars are an acquired taste, not everyone will go for a front wheel drive fiberglass car, but don’t they look cool.  This pick may be a little biased in that I owned one and taught my wife to drive in it.  They have a little 1.7 liter Ford V4 engine in them and there are over 200 specialty tools to work on them.  The headlights are manual, so they always work, the car always runs, it’s fun to drive, and you can always count on it being fairly unique outside of a SAAB rally.   Five thousand dollars is almost pocket change for a car these days, so how could you go wrong?

SAAB Sonett III
SAAB Sonett III

Other cars I considered: an early Mazda Miata, a later MG Midget,

For $10k there are a lot more cars to pick from and since I’m not using any outside resources yet I hope I stay within budget.  I’m going to go out on another limb with this pick as well… a presentable 1969 Datsun Fairlady 1600.

Datsun Fairlady 1600
Datsun Fairlady 1600

The Datsun 1600 has dual Hitachi carburetors and a 1595cc engine from what I remember.  The top flops back with a single hand, much like a British MG, but when you turn the key it usually starts, not necessarily like a British MG.  This is a more proper sports car than my SAAB Sonett pick for under $5k with a front engine and rear wheel drive.  They drive nice on the curves and can keep up with traffic on the freeways.  They turn my head every time I see them, at first you think British then you see there are no oil leaks under it.  They are solid, well-engineered cars.  Other cars I considered: a nice Austin Healey Sprite MKIII, a presentable Triumph GT6, Porsche 914 1.7 liter, Fiat 850 Spider.

For under $20k the field really opens up, so let me say up front my pick will be 75% emotion and 25% everything else.  I’ll turn those numbers around in the next post when I do the real research.  My under $20k pick is 1969 BMW 2002 roundie.  This is the car that turned BMW around and gave them the real image of the ultimate driving machine, the 3 series before there was a 3 series.  Don’t be tricked into buying an automatic, a real classic sports car is a manual.  These cars have clean lines, the engines are bullet proof, and great performance for the era of the car and a 2.0 liter engine.  The round tail lights and the all chrome bumpers give it such a classic look.  The later 2002 Tii has much better performance, but not the classic look.  Other cars I considered are: Porsche 914 2.0 liter, Lotus Europa, early MG B, Lancia Fulvia, BMW Z3 M

This post reminds me that I am a bit short on my scaled car collection as well…. no BMW 2002.