How much fun are 2002's?

[Nicad]

Lately I have been thinking of lowering my target to maybe getting a 2002 as my next specialty vehicle. I get the feeling buying an E9 is a much more difficult endeavour. The choice in 2002's seems very good. From my limited research I think you can get quite a nice one for from $10-14K.

I would assume a lot of the E9 long termers have a lot of 2002 experience and maybe one they really like still occupying garage space. If yes, do you enjoy the 02 as much as the E9 for different types of driving? Did you get bored of your 02, or does it become a natural dance partner? For me, I live in an urban environment for the most part, so the 2002 might be fun running through the gears trying to keep up with Mini Vans and SUV's.

Tia.

 

[dang]

I think there are quite a few 2002 owners on this board. I own both (about 20 2002's over the years) and can say that I have more fun driving a 2002tii than I do a coupe, although the driving experiences are completely different. Refined versus glorified go-kart!

Dan

 

[rsporsche]

Bob,

i have owned three 2002's - they are great cars. my last one was a korman highly modified car. it was incredibly fast, and handled amazingly ... but it was NOT a civilized car. i broke more exhaust systems than you can imagine, and loosened a few fillings along the way. a stock 2002 is ok, a tii is a lot more fun. a 2002 w/ an s14 engine is a rocket ship. best bang for the buck in BMW is the e30 M3.

cheers
scott ... but now, i own a coupe!

 

[Nicad]

Dan and Scott, yeah that is what I figured. Not many opportunities to test drive any of those locally.

 

[decoupe]

e9 vs e10

So different yet so similar. Either car can upgrade the engine and drivetrain with anything BMW made from around 1968-1992 in the 5, 6 or 7 series for the CS or the 3 series for the '02.

Like the others mentioned you can pretty much stuff anything into them and humiliate a lot have much younger and pricey new cars in the process. Several in the 350hp range and that is a 2300lb car.

Have a look and ask around at the centre of the '02 universe. http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50//

Here's what mine does in the summer. Very clean and stock motor.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g120/decoupe/P1040538.jpg

Doug

 

[x_atlas0]

The only car I have ever driven that is even close to the go-kart feeling of a set up 2002 is a modern supercharged Mini Cooper JCW, and that had torque steer, albeit minimal. A 1st gen Miata also comes close, but the chassis is more whippy due to the lack of a roof. The FC RX-7 was also pretty close. In general, the light weight and RWD is a tough thing to beat if you can handle it.

 

[HB Chris]

I have both but if I had to choose one it is the e9, hands down.

 

[Nicad]

So different yet so similar. Either car can upgrade the engine and drivetrain with anything BMW made from around 1968-1992 in the 5, 6 or 7 series for the CS or the 3 series for the '02.

Like the others mentioned you can pretty much stuff anything into them and humiliate a lot have much younger and pricey new cars in the process. Several in the 350hp range and that is a 2300lb car.

Have a look and ask around at the centre of the '02 universe. http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50//

Here's what mine does in the summer. Very clean and stock motor.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g120/decoupe/P1040538.jpg

Doug

Nice Kayak. Oh, nice 02 as well.

 

[JFENG]

2002 go-kart? I don't think so...

IMHO, they are in no way a go-kart unless heavily modified. A g-k is a lotus Europa/elan, Elva courier, Caterham, etc. 2002's are more akin to GTV's and lotus edition Cortinas.

The 2002's forte is being highly communicative, e.g. lots of useful feedback to the driver. More than any other car I've driven (including the new mini-Cooper's) 2002's offer predictable/intuitive/friendly handling behavior that make them very easy to drive at 9/10ths (or 10/10ths). And they do it without being high strung and nervous or impractical (huge trunk).

I've had three 2002's (including stock, tii and a stage 2 carburetor version).
LOTS of fun to drive, but not a "GT" car by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Nicad]

Well it sounds like I need two more cars now. Damn.
I also want an Elise, An E30M3 and an Alfa GTV before I hang it up. I'm hopefully going to start re-restoring a Corvair 140 I have owned for 29 years this fall. Glad my tastes are not geared towards unobtainium (except when it comes to finding a rust free E9)

 

[bjshafer]

I am with Dang: Go for the '02. I own both and live in an urban area and hands down the '02 is more fun / less precious etc. etc. You get just as many thumbs up, too!

 

[CSteve]

Round taillights only!! And injected. I bought a 1971 1600 in Spring '71 for $3,000.
Sold it years later with 208,000 miles for $2,000.

The day I sold it, it drove just like the day I bought it. Never lacked for horsepower but driving in a tii always reminded me you can never have too much.

Steve

 

[pamp]

2002

I think it is safe to say that the 02 is where most coupe owners got started with the addiction...for me anyway. Owned several in my youth and it wasn't until later in life that I could afford to buy a coupe, the to die for BMW when I was young and broke. My first was a 1970, amazing that the car was just 5 years old when I got it and was quite the rust bucket...$800 plus the cost of a gallon of "bondo". Nothin' but fun until I broke a half shaft at speed and an oak tree got in my way...lived to tell the tale obviously...

 

[thehackmechanic]

Have owned both for many years. '02s are wonderful cars. Driving them is a very simple, direct experience. They're very toss-able around ramps. The E9 is the better car for long highway drives. The "cruiser versus tosser" stereotype is an old one but has a lot of validity to it.

The '02 body issues are much easier to deal with than an E9 due to the bolt-on fenders and the lack of those big-ass rocker panel covers.

tiis not only have substantially more power, the sound and feel of the mechanically-injected engine as it winds out is very different from that of a carbureted '02.

 

[Nicad]

Would a carbed 2002 (Say Webers) have the same pull as a Tii?

 

[tmason]

I like most have had a few 02 and I wish I didn't have give up a 73tii to get my 74e9 but the wife wouldn't let me put a stacked rack it garage so I could keep both! As far as Webers via tii I think the tii out pulled the carb version at least that would be my option.(having both) There is a 74 02 on CL in Reno for 3K and the owner saying it has 43K original miles for what it worth.

 

[Nicad]

I like most have had a few 02 and I wish I didn't have give up a 73tii to get my 74e9 but the wife wouldn't let me put a stacked rack it garage so I could keep both! As far as Webers via tii I think the tii out pulled the carb version at least that would be my option.(having both) There is a 74 02 on CL in Reno for 3K and the owner saying it has 43K original miles for what it worth.

That sounds like a deal. Appears to be gone.

 

[rsporsche]

one of the nice things about yer basic '02 compared to tweaked versions is there nice low end torque for a 4 banger. the more you tweak them, the more they lose their lower end torque. the tii has everything the carb version has and more. note - i found with a 4 speed, there is a wide gap between 3rd + 4th gears that is hard for the lower hp carb version to power thru. that being said, most '02s have a 364 rear end - except the '76 which had a 390, so the acceleration curves approve significantly to compensate for the increased pollution equipment.

as you start tweaking the motor, the curves start changing. when you get to a stage 3 motor, or like my last one - a stage 3+, Korman produced 185 hp +/- w/ a schrick 316 cam, 10.5:1 mahle pistons, a lot of head work, dual 45 dcoe's, 5 speed, LSD, vented disks and their sport suspension setup ... not a lot of low end torque, quite a bit of idle lope - but really sweet on the top end.

if i had it to do over again, i would either do a slightly modified tii, a stage 2 engine ... or a S14 transplant.

 

[thehackmechanic]

tii versus dual sidedraft webers

Having had bone-stock tiis and highly-modified 02s with dual Weber 40DCOEs and hot cams, I vastly prefer the tii. You can certainly get hot throttle response out of a Weber'd and cam'd car, but the wind-out of a properly-adjusted tii when the fuel injection and ignition are both spot-on is one of those greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts experiences. It's not that it's blindingly fast as compared to modern BMWs; it's just that it feels so right and wholistic.

 

[JFENG]

tii's had more usable power and torque than a

stage 1 side-draft motor. A really good 150hp stage 2 motor is probably slightly quicker in absolute acceleration, but less livable than the tii. The way to get a carb'd 2002 to out do a tii is to do a 2.3liter stroker with 300 degree cam, headers, 9.5:1 and 45DCOE's.

John