1975 BMW 2002 Tii Lux

First registered here in the UK on the 1st of November 1975, the BMW spent seven years down under in New Zealand. The car’s previous owner moved there with his job in 2008 and took his beloved BMW with him – and loved it enough to bring it back again afterwards!

Restored while it was there, it’s had a lot of money spent with marque experts Jaymic then and more recently. The vendor is a huge fan of the marque and couldn’t resist the chance to add a 2002 Tii to his garage when he saw this one up for sale.

He says that he has really enjoyed his time with the car and had sufficient confidence to drive it 100 miles to us here – and his faith was repaid, because it did it without fault.

Only for sale because he’s just taken on another two project BMWs including a 2002 Turbo, he’s got sufficient faith in you lot to offer it without reserve, so it’s going to sell from the very first bid no matter how derisory that might be…

Jaymic, the well-known independent classic BMW experts, supplied a load of parts a decade ago including some for the body such as lower rear wing quarters and various gaskets, clips, and seals. The bodywork was carried out in New Zealand and must have been done to a good standard as it still looks pretty smart, even a decade later.

Decent shutlines reinforce the straight panels, and the metallic red paint is an unusual - and an unusually attractive – colour that’s in good condition for its age.

The chromework is decent but a little dented, scratched and pitted in places, and the badges are faded; it sounds worse than it looks and in reality it just looks like a lightly patinated car that’s been enjoyed as the engineers intended.

Fitted with 13-inch steel wheels FTW, they’re in great shape and fitted with a mixture of Hankook Optimo and Kenda Kruiser tyres, all of which have good tread.

Aside from the usual stonechips, the BMW does have some other, more significant blemishes, most notably on the nearside front and rear wings and the boot lid. Please see the photographs for details.

Oh, and the driver’s door mirror wobbles.

The interior harks back to a time when luxury was less about bolting wood and leather into an otherwise mediocre car and more about clever, intelligent design. So, while you will find slim strips of wood trim on the door cards and dashboard, it’s there as an accent to the aesthetic rather than a lazy cliché because the designer ran out of ideas.

The gear knob, for example, is an unusual but an attractive shape that is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the hand. A tactile car, the seats are cloth, which is a much better choice for a hard-charging sporting saloon than slippery leather. They’re in great shape too, being firm and supportive and free of rips, holes and other damage.

The headlining is also good, as are the door cards and carpets. The boot floor is solid too, which is always a good thing when you’re looking at a car that’s knocking on the door of its 50th birthday.

There’s a hidden alarm/immobiliser button plus what looks to be the original BMW Bavaria twin-spindle radio.

Faults? Well, the plastic trim on the pull handle on the passenger’s door is loose, as is the trim on the driver’s side sill, although the clips are in the post to fix the latter.

Jaymic carried out a lot of work in 2018. This comprised sorting out some wiring issues, fettling the fuel injection system, adjusting the valves, stopping a water leak, and fixing a vibrating propshaft. The work was typically thorough and the bill came to just shy of £3,000.

It returned a year later for more work, this time to fit an electronic ignition system and to mend the door locks; this led to another four-figure bill. Worthy of mention is that we have struggled to lock the driver's door since the car arrived.

Aside from the 100-mile journey to us, a trip the vendor tells us it performed without fault, he tells us that he has “never had any problems starting it” and that it drives well. A former Porsche racing driver, he admits that the power of the engine can overwhelm the rear drum brakes but we think lesser mortals might not find that as much of an issue as he does.

We’ve test-driven it and can confirm that it drives as it should.

The engine bay is decent but a little grubby, so we can see that the new owner will almost certainly want to detail it to bring it up to the same standard as the rest of the car.

The underside is strong and solid and looks to need nothing other than continued care and vigilance.

The BMW’s MOT certificate expires in December 2020. It has a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

And please be reassured, we’ve undertaken a full COVID-assessment and put into place strict control measure to enable us to safely facilitate a no-contact, socially distanced viewing that includes disinfection of the vehicle before and after your viewing.

However, if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Or, even better, why not contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call? You get to direct us in real-time, giving you a virtual personal viewing experience while maintaining the lockdown. We like to call it ‘The Market’s 2020 Vision’…

The BMW 2002 Tii is a very highly regarded car with good reason; with a perfectly balanced rear-wheel-drive chassis and a peppy 130bhp engine it reminds us that very few of the very best drivers’ cars rely on sheer grunt for their dynamic kicks.

Lightweight, lithe and continually fettled, this is a good example of the breed that’s being offered without reserve.

That said, we think the virtual hammer will fall somewhere between £13,000 and £18,000, at which point it will offer good value and, almost certainly, a safe place to stash your money while the world continues to evolve.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.