College Park East - BMW 2002
Circa 1975. This is the very first car I could call my own. It was 2 years old when I bought it in 1973. It really taught me a lot about working on cars. It had a points+condenser ignition, so I learned how to keep it tuned. It had mechanical valve lifters, so I learned how to gap the clearance correctly. Occasionally it would get into a bad idling situation, so I learned how to clean the idle jet in the carburetor and eventually figured out that the aftermarket accessory fuel filter that came with the car was passing what looked like little paint chips into the carb. I also had a part-time job while at college so that I could pay for upkeep parts among several things.
Back then, a BMW was not on the short list of dream cars for a typical teen as seems to be the case today. This one was certainly cheaper than buying a brand-new Mustang with a V8 engine, as the car my sister drove. I let her try it out once at which time we found out that as a 20-year old, she didn't quite have the upper body strength to steer the thing as it did not have power steering to which she was accustomed. I had to quickly reach over and help turn the steering wheel lest we plow over the curb of an oncoming curve.
I hope to acquire another 2002 some day. There's definitely a following for this model today, so they are no longer priced as a used car would be.
College Park East - BMW 2002
Circa 1975. This is the very first car I could call my own. It was 2 years old when I bought it in 1973. It really taught me a lot about working on cars. It had a points+condenser ignition, so I learned how to keep it tuned. It had mechanical valve lifters, so I learned how to gap the clearance correctly. Occasionally it would get into a bad idling situation, so I learned how to clean the idle jet in the carburetor and eventually figured out that the aftermarket accessory fuel filter that came with the car was passing what looked like little paint chips into the carb. I also had a part-time job while at college so that I could pay for upkeep parts among several things.
Back then, a BMW was not on the short list of dream cars for a typical teen as seems to be the case today. This one was certainly cheaper than buying a brand-new Mustang with a V8 engine, as the car my sister drove. I let her try it out once at which time we found out that as a 20-year old, she didn't quite have the upper body strength to steer the thing as it did not have power steering to which she was accustomed. I had to quickly reach over and help turn the steering wheel lest we plow over the curb of an oncoming curve.
I hope to acquire another 2002 some day. There's definitely a following for this model today, so they are no longer priced as a used car would be.