The Roundie - 1973 BMW 2002

[Fruttolo]

That rear seat looks like it was made for a 2002

[DawsonLiri]

Haha, I feel your pain. I wasn't going to do the ITBs this time around originally. But a guy on R3vlimited started talking about selling his ITB setup and I kept bugging him to sell to me. Ultimately he changed his mind, but I just wanted a set at that point, so I bit the bullet and bought the kit new. There was a group buy going on, I can put you in touch with the guy who helped me out. Saved a bit on shipping.

Yes please, if you don't mind DM me some info, even if now there are just curiosity since I just bought another set of wheels

[duct-tape]

ITB EVERYTHING.
love every part of what youre doing.


On a side note, if you want to be the coolest guy in a 2k2, you should get a matching set of those rear seats and make a bench for the front.

[bwwaaaa]

I'm so jealous right now!

Now I just need to sell one of my kidney for putting those in mine

Haha, I feel your pain. I wasn't going to do the ITBs this time around originally. But a guy on R3vlimited started talking about selling his ITB setup and I kept bugging him to sell to me. Ultimately he changed his mind, but I just wanted a set at that point, so I bit the bullet and bought the kit new. There was a group buy going on, I can put you in touch with the guy who helped me out. Saved a bit on shipping.

Rear Seats/Valve Cover

I can't leave well enough alone. But when the opportunity arises to get something on my bucket list, I'm not going to say no. Short background story, my friend bought an E24 last year. It sat on the back burner for a while because he was too deep in with other projects, and eventually he dropped it off at a friend's shop to just get it sorted so he could drive it. While parked there, the girlfriend of one of the techs backed a trunk into the quarter panel, and completely totaled the car.

Downside, a minty 635csi died. Upside, I scored some sweet rear seats before it went off to auction. A few 2002 guys have done this in the past, and the swap is fairly straight forward. Width wise, the seats with the center console fits fine. However the fiberglass shell runs into the wheel well. As a result, to fit the seats you have to do some creative cutting so it sits back flush.

For shits and giggles I through them in the car while cleaning yesterday. Keep in mind this is with 0 cutting, so they stick forward about a mile. But hey, they look pretty cool with the Car Make Corn's bucket seats up front. The tentative plan is to dye these black as well, get them cut and fitted, and enjoy.

I also had a new valve cover done up. One thing that bugs me with a lot of M20 ITB setups is the valve cover. There is a bracket built in that supports the intake manifold. When you go the the ITBs it becomes useless. I had it shaved off, which apparently isn't the easiest process. The casting is super dirty, and pinholed quite a bit when the two holes were filled. As a result, the final powder coat shows where those holes used to be. It's minor, and I may redo this again later. But for now it's better than having the bracket, in my opinion.

Before


Side by side


After. Powder coated wrinkle black, the letters will be polished later.

It's just one more side project I've added to my list, but it's whatever at this point. The car takes as long as it takes. Theoretically today I'll finally be getting the rear end back together, I'm hoping to have the chassis as a roller again this weekend. You guys will be the first to know if I succeed.

[DawsonLiri]

I'm so jealous right now!

Now I just need to sell one of my kidney for putting those in mine

[bwwaaaa]

Do you need a heater? I removed mine and have had no problems ever, I only drive the junkbox in good weather tho

Realistically, probably not. The 2002 heater is pretty ineffective with my minimal dash. Plus, in Arizona, the worst it gets is ~40F. However being able to defrost the cabin is nice, and if I can retain it I think I'd like to. I'm a wimp when it comes to cold, so it's a nice addition to have haha. Also, for what it's worth that heater has basically kept me from overheating. Having the second heat exchange was just enough to keep the M20 cool. It'd be nice to have that insurance as well, even if my cooling system is getting redone.

[Fruttolo]

Do you need a heater? I removed mine and have had no problems ever, I only drive the junkbox in good weather tho

[bwwaaaa]

Those look nice. And suuuper long. 150mm?

I believe the runner is 80mm, but I have to double check. The inlet is 40mm, I opted for that over the larger bore since my M20 is stock. It's worth noting that the trumpets are barely wedged in, and actually need to be seated in the top of the runner. That'll sink them all down about 10mm.

YES
Sexiest thing ever! If they don't clear the firewall just bang it with a ball hammer until they do

That's the plan!
Frankly it would probably work without modification, but I just want to give it a little room to move about. I also need to relocate the heater hoses as they are completely in the way of everything. So it'll be a big process to make this work properly.

[Fruttolo]

YES
Sexiest thing ever! If they don't clear the firewall just bang it with a ball hammer until they do

[Buick40]

Those look nice. And suuuper long. 150mm?

[bwwaaaa]

They're Here

The parts I have been waiting for? They came in.

RHD M20 ITB kit. Note, the on engine pictures are absolutely the bare minimum to mock the whole thing up. I have a long way to go before they're actually on and functional, but I wanted to see how they fit in this chassis. The kit was designed for an E30, so I may have some challenges clearing the firewall. Though it fits mocked up, it's a very tight fit.

As if rewiring, replumbing and doing a full interior wasn't enough of a pain. I have other updates, but I'll catch up on those later. I'm just excited to share this bit.

[bwwaaaa]

I **** wiring

This weekend I spent some time mapping out wiring. Below is a comparison picture of how it sat as I got the car, versus how it looked with the harness out of the bay. I think we can all agree it's a lot cleaner. After some discussion, mainly with myself, I figured I should go the extra mile and tuck the harness. The goal is to route the engine harness under the dash, and exit mid-firewall to allow it to reach all the necessary sensors. The headlight harness (you can see it spans the missing core support in the top picture, will be lengthened, run under the fender and then under the radiator. Same for the fan harness.

The engine harness is out of the car now, and ready to be sent off for modifcation. I'm stuck waiting on parts so I can measure and test fit a few things before I take that step though.

Also I realize that I've mentioned this a few times, but I just can't stress enough how frustrating finding things like this is. This wiring mess pictured below? I removed that from my engine bay, the two modules were screwed into the firewall and looked original to the car. Their function? Choke and idle control for an M10. Which this car doesn't have. It was just left in! It took four screws and about 45 additional seconds of untangling to remove it from the car. Why leave it in?

Like I said, I'm stuck waiting on one thing right now. It has to be test fit to ensure everything else around it clears, and then I can move on. In the mean time, I can't finish putting the suspension back together until my diff flanges arrive in the mail. I also need to powder coat the sway bars. My Ireland Engineering drop center sway bars came in, and they are bright blue. While I'm not going for full restoration with powder coated perfection under the car, I can't stand to have bright blue bars sticking out my otherwise pretty mellow looking car.

To be clear, I'm not going for show car perfection here, but rather something that isn't offensive to look at. I need to be able to work on it relatively easily, and in it's current setup that simply isn't possible. My 2002 is far from perfect, it's full of character that I have learned to appreciate. It'll never be a Pebble Beach contender, but it also doesn't have to be a complete hack job.

[Jokester]

Excited to see where this car goes, all the wheel action at the beginning of the thread makes me jealous lol.

[bwwaaaa]

Boy, am I glad to see you do it right! It will be frustrating, from what can be seen in the pictures, but in the end you will be so happy you took the time to get rid of the mess. Hack jobs by mental self-proclaimed mechanics are the worst.

Thanks! What's a bummer, is the shop has put out some quality work in the past. Whether it was budget, or a lack of attention to detail, they really just slapped this poor 2002 together. But this car is worth the effort, I want to make it right.

I think I know what the surprise is LOL
You're going down the right path IMO, do it once and do it right

You do know what it is

Now here's hoping it goes smoothly, I'm in uncharted territory here haha.

[Fruttolo]

I think I know what the surprise is LOL
You're going down the right path IMO, do it once and do it right