Having owned two BMW cars(E21 and E30), please check for rust. Bad rust around the radiator support or front spring towers renders the car unsafe to drive.

Parts are $$$ and hard to find.

The front end components wear out every 50k miles.

I can say the motors are pretty stout, if not run hot.

At one time I thought BMW's were almost as good as a Mercedes.... wrong. Just because it's made in Germany doesn't mean it's a heap of overpriced teutonic crap.

Over the years I have owned many 2002s, a couple tii, a Bavaria and a 530i, all purchased new. My '73 tii was the best car I have ever owned including the Benzes. Truly Freude am Fahren. Nothing like that exists any longer. Great power to weight ratio, extremely nimble, and just plain fun to drive. I wish there were something on the market today that's comparable. If I could find an exceptional restored tii I'd be sorely tempted.

Nowadays even econo-boxes are loaded to the gills with useless electronic gee-gaws and other dreck. With the 2002s, when you opened the hood you could look down and see.......... ...the ground!

Ahhhh..........nostalgia is not what it used to be.

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62 220sb
67 250S
72 280SE 4.5
74 280C
77 300D
82 240D
85 190E 2.3
86 300E RIP 12/28/09
85 300SD
92 300D 2.5
00 E320 Current
Over 1,000,000 miles in Benzes, Since66

....and a whole passel of BMW 2002 and Tii

Kind of like my '60 220S Fintail. I not only can see the ground, I can reach down under the hood, through an uncluttered engine compartment, with a wrench to remove the oil-drain plug. And can anyone imagine an S-class Mercedes today with manual windows, gearshift and steering. It's now pretty-much impossible to even find a Corolla so spartan.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW