1974 BMW 2002 Turbo - Rare Factory Turbo - $12k Paint Job

Number 594 of 1,672 ever produced.

I'm the third owner. The odometer currently shows 28,130 Kms but I cannot confirm the actual mileage. The car was originally imported to Japan and I was told was owned by an Japanese ex-formula one racer. The car was then brought over to California in the Bay Area by the second owner around mid-2000. I purchased the car in July 2007. The original owner had the car painted black while he had it. Being a traditionalist, I brought the car back to its original Polaris color. Everything was removed and the car was stripped down to bare metal. Amazingly, it was 99.99% rust free. Any minor rust were on the surface. The car was sprayed with Glasurit paint and then multiple Spies Hecker clear coats were applied. The result was a beautiful, show quality paint job that will last for a very long time. I paid $12K for the paint job...

Cosmetically, $4K was spent to source all OEM parts such as the trunk spoiler, door panels, trims, weatherstripping, engine decals, turbo decals, etc. etc. Thankfully, I was able to find Walloth & Nesch GbR in Germany. These folks had great prices and coupled with the weak dollar against the euro at the time, I was able to save a lot of $$$. I have the receipt of all the parts purchased from Walloth & Nesch if you want to know what was replaced.

Mechanically, the car went to renowned Bill Holmes at Bavarian Rennsport in Southern California to sort out. Close to $18K was spent to get the car to run as it should, which is beautifully, as well as piece it all back once the paint job was completed. I have the work order for all the parts and labor that were performed by Bill if you want to know the details.

As for the interior. Overall, it's in very good condition. The front and rear seats are in outstanding shape. The headliner was replaced. The clock works. The not-so-good: carpet is original so it shows wear but not enough to detract from the overall look; I decided not to reinstall the radio and antenna (holes filled up prior to paint job), but there are still speakers in the kick panels and the panel by the rear window; there is a crack in the dash (I couldn't swallow spending $1,800 to replace it); there are no three-point front seat belts or rear belts (the fronts belts are lap belts that were part of racing harness belts).

Other things about the car....

- It's got the rare close-ration, dogleg 5-speed transmission installed by the factory

- Battery was relocated to the trunk (the trunk arms will need to be sourced and installed). The battery tray was kept in the engine bay if the new owner wants originality.

- I have the full set of engine bay stickers that I'll leave for the next owner

- There is a box of parts that include mini wipers for the headlights, period-correct Bosch foglight.

- The radiator is a larger capacity one so there is no fan blade installed, instead the cooling is regulated by a knob by the radiator

- The cold start is set up with the knob below the headlight knob - The rear chrome bumper does not have any pitting and shines real nice. The right part of the bumper though has a small dent

- 6x13 Panasports and tires are in good shape

- Exhaust pipe was relocated to the center

Specs & Details:

Auction Date: 24 Nov 2009
No Sale: $52,000
# Bids: -0-
VIN: 4290594
Engine: 4
Transmission: manual
Exterior Color: silver
Interior Color: black
eBay Auction ID: 270486916276