ive fell in love with a Bavarian

By no means an '02 expert.....

But the engine base block is good for SERIOUS bhp (see also BMW F1 cars in the 80's, Lola sports racers...) AFAIK, there's a fair degree of interchangability with early e21's.

First port of call would be to speak to the guys at JAYMIC. They know their '02 onions!!!

02's like rot. a lot. haha, the m10 bottom end as Nick senior says is good for serious bhp. but you can have a nice 2.0 N/a M10 engine fast road/mild race spec with 170bhp. erm one of the issues of retro cars (the one with chevette and escort rally cars on front) had an m10 tuning guide(ive lost that issue so cant dig it out).....basically theres not a lot that hasnt been done to 02's and luckily theres a fair whack of spares available. either here the father land or in yankee land.

could always drop an s14(e30 m3) engine in....thats quite popular aswell. ive got a video of a m10turbo 02 with some silly bhp and an 02 with an s14turbo with 500+bhp ....

i would have one in a heartbeat if i was good enough at welding and stuff to allow me to buy a shitter and build it to my own spec.

<02 Owner's hat on>

Wicked cars, cannot reccomend them highly enough.

However, they can rust if badly looked after (as can any 70s machine), but all the parts are available FROM BMW. Do not bother with Jamic, as all they do is buy them from BMW Mobile Tradition and then add their mark up - you can walk into ANY BMW dealer and ask for parts (how about a brand new 02 Tii engine complete with all the injection kit on it, crated for £1500?).

There are also some very good specialists in Europe who will ship to the UK and the prices are very keen. As with all BMWs it is pointless buying pattern stuff as 1) its lower quality and 2) its often not much cheaper, if cheaper at all!

That black one is lovely - there is an interesting one also on the bay:


cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31357&item=4564879932&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

This one already has the E21 5-speed conversion (more work than just a straight drop in - need shortened prop etc) and I love that frog green paint!

I must get mine back on the road, but sadly the front panel has rusted and it is 150miles away from home on my mother in law's driveway

No - well, yours maybe

Calm it there Racer (notice the smileys). I seriously wanted some information on BMW 2002s thats why I brought your car into this. Afterall - why should I try and rush when I can cruise? I don't recall claiming that my Chevette was faster than your red one... it's probably faster than your blue one though

Edit... Oi, no changing your signature. Just for general info it said: 'Slow and Low - why rush when you can cruise?'

I saw an orange one with wide arches speed past my place today, didn't have time to get a pic but it was lovely