First Sight.........

I’ve been a fan of the BMW 2002 ever since a club racer passed me in one turn 2 of willow springs during a driving event. I've always like the boxy style of 2002, Datsun 510’s and of course 88 m3’s. So in January of 2001 I decided to visit Ireland engineering to look at a fiberglass hood for my 88 ///M3. I got there early and while waiting for the employee to arrive and open up I noticed a dusty ’02 parked outside the shop. As I tried to peek inside the dusty windows and started to look more closely at it my mind started racing and getting bad ideas….

1 week later I was back and after arranging a price with the owner, Jeremy (Ireland employee) after talking to him again I remember sitting inside the car holding the steering wheel and thinking to myself…..

….do I really want to do this? Do I really want to take on the adventure of a 30+ year old car?…..like bill gates likes to tell us so often…..I asked myself the eternal question everyone asks before embarking on a project or doing something wrong within windows……ARE YOU SURE? YES – NO?

Naturally another week later I was back with a check. Purchased the car rust, dust, blown head gasket and all…….

The car last owner was BMWNA. They used it in court for evidence I guess. Something about a lawsuit about a exploding gas tank. The car had been Ireland’s test bed for products thruought the years. So it came fully loaded with more than loose change, rust and dust. It has IE coilovers, Full poly bushings, IE sway bars, 320i drivetrain, Nice wheels, built motor, and some other goodies. Of course not all was perfect, supposedly the head gasket was blown.

Click here to see ALL of the pictures of what the car looked like when I found it.