Restore this car. Very collectable. This was my first car when I was 18 years old in 1973. Cost my father $650.00. I was the 3rd owner, it had 60,000 miles on it and the clutch slipped. But I didnt care, i loved the car. Drove from NJ to Michigan to Texas and back again. Sold it for $650.00 when it needed an engine rebuild. What a car. Wish I still owned it.
I had a 1802 when I was stationed in Germany in 1982-84. About 25 years later a Tennant skipped rent in the middle of the night leaving a left a square taillight 2002. This one has a sunroof, it also had about $2.5 million worth of unpaid parking tickits from various cities around the San Francisco east bay. It was sold new there and lived it's life there. Almost no rust, put poorly thought our and executed racer boy modifications. 320 wheels , seats and steering wheel. Lowering by suspension butcher. It sat in my garage till last year, had to jump through hoops but I got it registered in a different state. That ended when I said " either issue me a new title and registeration, or arrest me for felony auto theft and false statements ". It came 4 days later. It runs good . The driveline is remarkably similar to the Farmall Super M I fixed up. It will never be a show car , but I will work on it as time and money allow. I hope you restore yours.
Restore the mechanical items. Leave the body alone. Treat the rust. Build a tent outside for it. Make a dozen videos. Take it to a track for some wide open throttle action. Enter a car show. Then sell it.
I would make it a long term survivor refit. As time permits, do some targeted work and over a couple of years, it's gets slowly brought back into a state of good repair. Plus, each episode could be monetized. It's a win win.
Those older cars are Way Cool I-think.. but unless you are REALLY into it.. id allow a "classic" BMW maniac to enjoy that original car and re-do it him/her self.. unless its some dmazz dreamer-kid. they wreck most things. Then keep it for sure haha.. Like you said.. "what a great "base" to start off with..". I redid a late 60s muscle car and waited until i found one like this.. and i was SO grateful that all the knobs, hand cranks, original KEYs lock cylinders, radio and knobs.. trim.. was still intact. ALL of it like this reminds me of that old car. And i loved it. Man i stuck TIME into that car.. BUT.. i would never have bought it if the guy prior to me messed with it. Let the love of a re-store go to someone who loves this model. Seems Nathan, you-like the newer stuff, or this is slightly "off" for the channel,.. maybe im wrong, or its just the vibe of this channel that makes a restore too much of a time-suck and to get to other stuff the restoration would suffer or the channel would idk. Watchers are so fickle. I think it would be cool. but too many "subs" are short-term impatient channel changers. This IS, a great find, to hand over to someone who's DYING to find it. and someone IS out there haha.. It doesn't seem like your dying to see this thing in its prime. Id love to see it done. But id love to see the sparkle in the eye of the tuber who is obsessively drooling over every repair until its done even more. Totally cool car though. Love these rare classics.
Nathan, this car deserves to be restored well and that is time and money. If you are short on either of them, hand it over to someone that will do it right on TH-cam.
Complete strip, restore and rebuild. It's simple enough, simple mechanics and body. It will be worth it. Love the channel, whole reason why I bought a E39 Sport (here in England).
Would love to see you restore this Nathan as I know you'd do a great job. Seeing that newer BMWs are relatively poor, I think that going back to some of their past cars is the way forward. Is it financially viable? Can't recall what you paid for this (if u mentioned it), coupled with the estimated restoration cost and whether you'd make money long term but I do see, generally, older BMWs being more financially attractive than newer ones. I do trust your judgement though. Thanks for the vid :-)
I’d personally love to see and definitely would watch a rebuild/restore series on this car. I’m biased but it would be a cool guide for me to follow since I basically just got exactly that same car. So please get her done!
These cars can be reliable. In fact once fixed up it could be more reliable than it was when it was new due to better coolants and oils. Our neighbour had a 2000 Touring that he used as his everyday car up until about 5 years ago. It's only really the breaker points that will probably cause annoyance. It's keeping the bodywork good that's the hardest part. Back in the day, many examples of these and most other cars were looking very shabby after about 5 years. You mentioned crash damage, only a fairly minor collision could end up distorting the whole body so bade things like doors would jam or the glass will pop out. So crash damage was very hard to repair (as you said). As you and your channel. Some mechanical repairs would be interesting because the principles still apply to modern cars. But a full restoration would not be in my opinion for views.
I do like the style of the 2002 BMW, but like you say they do rot so you don't see many here in the UK . I was going to change the guibo on my E46 today, but typically its raining..
I had the same car 1970 version, same color. Loved its simplicity. That car needs someone with time on their hands. I am curious if parts are still available. I am also spoiled on my 2009 X5 3.0. Nice to drive something higher and heavier.
That's the one I would keep and never sell. I have had very little problem with the reliability of any of my old BMW's, just normal maintenance. Rust has always been the killer as you say. And rubber parts get old of course. The 2002 is my alltime favourite car.
Hi Nathan , as others have said build a tent outside.It’s a keeper , restore it as best you can try to keep it original.That means no silly seat swaps ,fancy carbs or nasty steering wheels .I wished I lived in the States,everything I require here in Scotland has a hefty Import Duty .I haven’t given up on mine a 1975,2002 Sedan in Inka Orange 🍊.
I forget the proper term for how the windshield is held into place with weather stripping. I do know they are the same way to install and remove as a transport. Simple and easy.
Can't believe I've never seen your channel before! Love seeing other youtubers make 2002 videos. Let me know if you ever want to go EFI/Turbo I'll give you tunes for free.
I had an e21. It was slower than slow. These are an interesting car but maybe a little to old to spend a lot of time on. I would watch if you do have more videos on it but I think I prefer the newer BMW, Porsche and Mercedes stuff you do.
Unfortunately, from what he said and the way he said it , it’s obvious the car will be sold... just didn’t sense any excitement towards this little gem!
If you're strapped for space I'd rather see you expand the garage first in case you want to do restorations. Then you can comfortably do anything you want and milk it for all its video content. And please only do restorations on models you really appreciate and thus don't mind the huge time investment restorations take. Otherwise you'll hate it and it'll show through on camera. Restorations are meant to be a labor of love.
With a lot of products out there, now you can convert rust back to metal, before there wasn*t any now there is a lot of new products to keep that car from deteriorating.
Hello nathan, i have a question i have a e39 540 and my dad bypassed the fuse box under the passanger seat should i be worried ? The car flooded and i dont know why he did it but car drives great everything works but the radio it turns off after 5 min of use then i have to turn it back on
For a hardcore BMW enthusiast it isn't even a question. But I don't know if Nathan is truly a BMW guy. I wish he would go all in. Get rid of the porsche and Merc and go all in on BMW. A full bmw stable and start pumpin out content like Scotty Kilmer.
This is the one car I would throw out the very last. Also it needs restoring, no expenses saved. For that I would sell off all the Porches if that's what it takes. Or put it like this, if this one does not count, you might as well take the "BMW" out of the channel's name.
Nathan, a couple of things. Firstly, I love this little 1600 BMW, please restore it. Mate, spend some money on some decent recording equipment, lighting, sound etc. Lastly, Nathan, get a personality mate! You always look constipated! Lighten up. Love the channel 👍👍👍
I'll be comfortable if you move it on to someone who can devote more singular time to restoring as well as possible. When I worked our moto: "We can fix anyrthing if the money holds up".
Hey Nathan, I'm 18 and I'm looking at an 2006 e90 330xi for sale, it's got some work done on it recently and is sitting at 170k miles, owner wants $3,000. While I know you cant provide specific advice for that car, in general what do you think about used e90? Obviously I'm a teenager so I don't have a lot of money to work with on part failures.
Clean it up and keep her...polish the chrome and power wash the engine bay .Take off the hood center molding and Ill trade you for a new one lol!! Drop front and rear suspension clean it up...pressure wash undercarriage check compression on engine tune it up and check timing valve adjustment Do some light bodywork and maintain the body creases prime then shoot single stage paint . keep it simple and have fun.... 2002faq.com is a great forum to get info and parts.
I have a 69 02 in worse body condition. I'll keep pouring money in it. I'm at $7000 and it still needs bodywork and paint. I do have everything else to finish restoration. I'm $10,000 in paint from having it done. :)
IMO completely restoring the 1600 doesn't really fit with the channel. If most here are like me, we are into the e39, e60, e90... maybe some F chassis. the more late model BMWs. Maybe try to unload it for a profit?
Restore it. If you don't have time, I will restore it for you. You need to strip the rust from the body and have everything repainted. If you leave that car outside, the corrosion will lead it to the scrapper.
So the premise of your video "is this model BMW reliable?". You tell us you have a 54year old car of unknown mileage that is still running but has light rust and worn out wear items. You inform us that old cars are vulnerable to accident damage and owner neglect. Hum? Well I've seen 20year old cars in worse shape and many cars, American, European and Japanese killed completely in half the time. The fact that this severely neglected 54year old car runs tells me yes, this example at least, has been reliable. Thank you.
I don’t think epoxy existed in those days. Powder coating wasn’t even a dream. Adhesives of today are alien technology in those days. Rust proofing was basically oil leaks, tar, and wax in those days. The right way to restore that car is complete frame off disassembly, modern rust proofing the panels, powder coating the frame, bead and soda blasting, etc. you would be wrapped up for years.
Thanks for the nice video. The car is just on the verge, rust may look moderate, but once it gets driven in rainy weather a few times, it will turn into orange dust in weeks. Actually there is nothing good on that car, everything worn out, and rust death just beyond the corner. Fixing mechanics and the rust will easily exceed 10K, even if you do most of it yourself. Old BMW's do not have the quality to make it worth restoring them, unless they are rare CS coups, which are rare because they also rotted like old apples. Better get rid of that money pit, you will never recover it by resale. Investing in a classic Mercedes is probably a wiser decision.
I want to see it restored.
Restore this car. Very collectable. This was my first car when I was 18 years old in 1973. Cost my father $650.00. I was the 3rd owner, it had 60,000 miles on it and the clutch slipped. But I didnt care, i loved the car. Drove from NJ to Michigan to Texas and back again. Sold it for $650.00 when it needed an engine rebuild. What a car. Wish I still owned it.
I had a 1802 when I was stationed in Germany in 1982-84. About 25 years later a Tennant skipped rent in the middle of the night leaving a left a square taillight 2002. This one has a sunroof, it also had about $2.5 million worth of unpaid parking tickits from various cities around the San Francisco east bay. It was sold new there and lived it's life there. Almost no rust, put poorly thought our and executed racer boy modifications. 320 wheels , seats and steering wheel. Lowering by suspension butcher. It sat in my garage till last year, had to jump through hoops but I got it registered in a different state. That ended when I said " either issue me a new title and registeration, or arrest me for felony auto theft and false statements ". It came 4 days later. It runs good . The driveline is remarkably similar to the Farmall Super M I fixed up. It will never be a show car , but I will work on it as time and money allow. I hope you restore yours.
Someone needs to restore this beauty. If you decide to sell, list it as a project on BaT. These bring crazy dollars.
Restore the mechanical items. Leave the body alone. Treat the rust. Build a tent outside for it. Make a dozen videos. Take it to a track for some wide open throttle action. Enter a car show.
Then sell it.
Awesome piece of history and pretty much irreplaceable. Hope you restore her.
Nathan, you must restore it, as the predecessor to the 2002 series, a great car itself, it's a keeper!!
I agee with you 100%
I would make it a long term survivor refit. As time permits, do some targeted work and over a couple of years, it's gets slowly brought back into a state of good repair. Plus, each episode could be monetized. It's a win win.
Drove a few of these when i was stationed in germany. Really swèet ride. I'll take it off your hands if you no longer want it
Those older cars are Way Cool I-think.. but unless you are REALLY into it.. id allow a "classic" BMW maniac to enjoy that original car and re-do it him/her self.. unless its some dmazz dreamer-kid. they wreck most things. Then keep it for sure haha..
Like you said.. "what a great "base" to start off with..". I redid a late 60s muscle car and waited until i found one like this.. and i was SO grateful that all the knobs, hand cranks, original KEYs lock cylinders, radio and knobs.. trim.. was still intact.
ALL of it like this reminds me of that old car. And i loved it. Man i stuck TIME into that car..
BUT.. i would never have bought it if the guy prior to me messed with it. Let the love of a re-store go to someone who loves this model. Seems Nathan, you-like the newer stuff, or this is slightly "off" for the channel,.. maybe im wrong, or its just the vibe of this channel that makes a restore too much of a time-suck and to get to other stuff the restoration would suffer or the channel would idk. Watchers are so fickle. I think it would be cool. but too many "subs" are short-term impatient channel changers.
This IS, a great find, to hand over to someone who's DYING to find it. and someone IS out there haha.. It doesn't seem like your dying to see this thing in its prime. Id love to see it done. But id love to see the sparkle in the eye of the tuber who is obsessively drooling over every repair until its done even more. Totally cool car though. Love these rare classics.
I think you should do some restoration on the 1600. It would be nice to see some videos on how you deal with the surface rust.
Nathan, this car deserves to be restored well and that is time and money. If you are short on either of them, hand it over to someone that will do it right on TH-cam.
A full restoration would be very interesting and entertaining -let’s get started Nathan
Complete strip, restore and rebuild. It's simple enough, simple mechanics and body.
It will be worth it.
Love the channel, whole reason why I bought a E39 Sport (here in England).
yep
You should restore it
Sweet ride my favorite out of all of them - Restore if you can...
This is a cool video, just got my own Sahara 1600-2 that’s pretty clean rust wise and very excited to start on it.
Would love to see you restore this Nathan as I know you'd do a great job. Seeing that newer BMWs are relatively poor, I think that going back to some of their past cars is the way forward. Is it financially viable? Can't recall what you paid for this (if u mentioned it), coupled with the estimated restoration cost and whether you'd make money long term but I do see, generally, older BMWs being more financially attractive than newer ones. I do trust your judgement though. Thanks for the vid :-)
I’d personally love to see and definitely would watch a rebuild/restore series on this car. I’m biased but it would be a cool guide for me to follow since I basically just got exactly that same car. So please get her done!
Very few remain. The experts on restoration are in the BMW CCA.
If you have to ask, sell it to a restored.
I just commented on other video that this car reminds me of a 67 Toyota corona i had years back that i regret letting go
These cars can be reliable. In fact once fixed up it could be more reliable than it was when it was new due to better coolants and oils. Our neighbour had a 2000 Touring that he used as his everyday car up until about 5 years ago. It's only really the breaker points that will probably cause annoyance. It's keeping the bodywork good that's the hardest part. Back in the day, many examples of these and most other cars were looking very shabby after about 5 years. You mentioned crash damage, only a fairly minor collision could end up distorting the whole body so bade things like doors would jam or the glass will pop out. So crash damage was very hard to repair (as you said).
As you and your channel. Some mechanical repairs would be interesting because the principles still apply to modern cars. But a full restoration would not be in my opinion for views.
I do like the style of the 2002 BMW, but like you say they do rot so you don't see many here in the UK . I was going to change the guibo on my E46 today, but typically its raining..
Pleased to see this BMW in the spotlights again. Nathan, I have a scratch on my alloy wheel, can I fix that, any idea??
‘Nathan’s German Car Workshop’ you’re screwing yourself with the two channels; combine them
I had the same car 1970 version, same color. Loved its simplicity. That car needs someone with time on their hands. I am curious if parts are still available. I am also spoiled on my 2009 X5 3.0. Nice to drive something higher and heavier.
Fully restore it.
Nathan...you are putting that much beef on mate you won't have room for any cars soon nevermind the BMW.
Just do the 1600 project long term. Restore the damned thing. Either that, or engine swap it, etc. THAT is how you build TH-cam traction.
That's the one I would keep and never sell.
I have had very little problem with the reliability of any of my old BMW's, just normal maintenance. Rust has always been the killer as you say. And rubber parts get old of course.
The 2002 is my alltime favourite car.
Hi Nathan ,
as others have said build a tent outside.It’s a keeper , restore it as best you can try to keep it original.That means no silly seat swaps ,fancy carbs or nasty steering wheels .I wished I lived in the States,everything I require here in Scotland has a hefty Import Duty .I haven’t given up on mine a 1975,2002 Sedan in Inka Orange 🍊.
You should put 10k in that car.
Forget performance, this car has a special feeling.
If you don’t want it I’ll take it.
I forget the proper term for how the windshield is held into place with weather stripping. I do know they are the same way to install and remove as a transport. Simple and easy.
I think you should restore it. Rescuing a piece of history is always good.
Cool Car and survivor.
Personally, I would restore the car.
Wtf I just had to subscribe. That happened with a couple other channels as well 🤔 I’d list this for the “I don’t want to sell it” price.
Welcome to youtube where they will only show you the content youtube wants not the content you want lol
@@NathansBMWWorkshop I’ve been subscribed for years. I actually typed in your channel since I haven’t seen any uploads lately.
When are you restoring this thing man?!
I’d be interested to see it restored. Should make some good videos
Nathan - what is the red Porsche taking up pride of the in the garage?
Can't believe I've never seen your channel before! Love seeing other youtubers make 2002 videos. Let me know if you ever want to go EFI/Turbo I'll give you tunes for free.
Ooooh, you have the decorative trim on the front. Nice.
I had an e21. It was slower than slow. These are an interesting car but maybe a little to old to spend a lot of time on. I would watch if you do have more videos on it but I think I prefer the newer BMW, Porsche and Mercedes stuff you do.
Restore! Also. Is the engine # same as the chassis serial?
I think you should restore it ,but I am doubtful you will
I hope he surpises me
Unfortunately, from what he said and the way he said it , it’s obvious the car will be sold... just didn’t sense any excitement towards this little gem!
If you're strapped for space I'd rather see you expand the garage first in case you want to do restorations. Then you can comfortably do anything you want and milk it for all its video content.
And please only do restorations on models you really appreciate and thus don't mind the huge time investment restorations take. Otherwise you'll hate it and it'll show through on camera. Restorations are meant to be a labor of love.
With a lot of products out there, now you can convert rust back to metal, before there wasn*t any now there is a lot of new products to keep that car from deteriorating.
Hello nathan, i have a question i have a e39 540 and my dad bypassed the fuse box under the passanger seat should i be worried ? The car flooded and i dont know why he did it but car drives great everything works but the radio it turns off after 5 min of use then i have to turn it back on
And to answer the question, YES. Mine's been coast to coast 3 times, has 200K+ miles and that's before I put a fat spooly boy on it haha
That car should be restored as it is the precursor to the 2002 , but what would even be more interesting is lfthat was the 4 door model.
For a hardcore BMW enthusiast it isn't even a question. But I don't know if Nathan is truly a BMW guy. I wish he would go all in. Get rid of the porsche and Merc and go all in on BMW. A full bmw stable and start pumpin out content like Scotty Kilmer.
I did that for 5 years , that only gets you so far and gets you high blood pressure apparently
That's just diet and exercise. Get a clean Z3 or post 09 z4 to replace the porsche and an X5 to replace the g wagon.
Restore it mate .
It NEEDS to be restored.
don't restore it unless you can finish in a couple months. Probably not worth it unless you plan to auction it at Barrett-Jackson.
This is the one car I would throw out the very last. Also it needs restoring, no expenses saved. For that I would sell off all the Porches if that's what it takes.
Or put it like this, if this one does not count, you might as well take the "BMW" out of the channel's name.
Nathan, a couple of things. Firstly, I love this little 1600 BMW, please restore it.
Mate, spend some money on some decent recording equipment, lighting, sound etc.
Lastly, Nathan, get a personality mate! You always look constipated! Lighten up.
Love the channel 👍👍👍
SAVE IT
I'll be comfortable if you move it on to someone who can devote more singular time to restoring as well as possible. When I worked our moto: "We can fix anyrthing if the money holds up".
Hey Nathan, I'm 18 and I'm looking at an 2006 e90 330xi for sale, it's got some work done on it recently and is sitting at 170k miles, owner wants $3,000. While I know you cant provide specific advice for that car, in general what do you think about used e90? Obviously I'm a teenager so I don't have a lot of money to work with on part failures.
Keep the patina...
Sell it to a luver of those rare as it is car.
Start on an early X6M.
We all gotta dream.
Who is we. Just asking.
I hired a full time camera man , maybe i should introduce him to the viewers
@@NathansBMWWorkshop good move, video flowed much better than usual
@@NathansBMWWorkshop But lighting is still a problem on your videos... hope the camera guy can fix that issue !
Clean it up and keep her...polish the chrome and power wash the engine bay .Take off the hood center molding and Ill trade you for a new one lol!! Drop front and rear suspension clean it up...pressure wash undercarriage check compression on engine tune it up and check timing valve adjustment Do some light bodywork and maintain the body creases prime then shoot single stage paint . keep it simple and have fun.... 2002faq.com is a great forum to get info and parts.
I have a 69 02 in worse body condition. I'll keep pouring money in it. I'm at $7000 and it still needs bodywork and paint. I do have everything else to finish restoration. I'm $10,000 in paint from having it done. :)
IMO completely restoring the 1600 doesn't really fit with the channel. If most here are like me, we are into the e39, e60, e90... maybe some F chassis. the more late model BMWs. Maybe try to unload it for a profit?
Nathan, under my comment there is a new scammer !!
i will get them now
@@NathansBMWWorkshop Superman :)
Restore it. If you don't have time, I will restore it for you. You need to strip the rust from the body and have everything repainted. If you leave that car outside, the corrosion will lead it to the scrapper.
So the premise of your video "is this model BMW reliable?". You tell us you have a 54year old car of unknown mileage that is still running but has light rust and worn out wear items. You inform us that old cars are vulnerable to accident damage and owner neglect. Hum? Well I've seen 20year old cars in worse shape and many cars, American, European and Japanese killed completely in half the time. The fact that this severely neglected 54year old car runs tells me yes, this example at least, has been reliable.
Thank you.
Restore it please
Restore it
Labs labs
@@sandrajuicy3772 Paldies par informaciju
@@sandrajuicy3772 Paldies
@@sandrajuicy3772 Paldies par informaciju
build another garage!!!!
Its in the plan but the rona, and extreme lumber prices are delaying that
Restore!
Woow!!
Restore the car Nathan.
I don’t think epoxy existed in those days. Powder coating wasn’t even a dream. Adhesives of today are alien technology in those days. Rust proofing was basically oil leaks, tar, and wax in those days. The right way to restore that car is complete frame off disassembly, modern rust proofing the panels, powder coating the frame, bead and soda blasting, etc. you would be wrapped up for years.
Thanks for the nice video. The car is just on the verge, rust may look moderate, but once it gets driven in rainy weather a few times, it will turn into orange dust in weeks. Actually there is nothing good on that car, everything worn out, and rust death just beyond the corner. Fixing mechanics and the rust will easily exceed 10K, even if you do most of it yourself. Old BMW's do not have the quality to make it worth restoring them, unless they are rare CS coups, which are rare because they also rotted like old apples. Better get rid of that money pit, you will never recover it by resale. Investing in a classic Mercedes is probably a wiser decision.
..I defo would restore it..a lovely car😎
Drive one mile and talking bs. Ridiculous!