Being able to buy a BMW 2002 well below the market value sounds fantastic. Sure, it may have a lot of issues, but that doesn’t matter when you’re a professional car detailer who also makes YouTube content.
AMMO NYC was able to get two classic German cars for just $3,000 from an owner who wanted to free up room in the shop. This 1973 BMW 2002 may look worse for wear, but at $2,000 you’re talking about a major bargain here, particularly when you can make an interesting detailing video out of it as well.
The 2002 is basically the beginning of the modern BMW brand. It cemented the reputation of the Bavarian automaker in America and defined what it means to make a small sports sedan, a formula which later transformed into the 3 Series.
Although 400,000 of these were made until 1976, only about 87,000 of them were sold in the United States. Sure, a tii model is a hot commodity, but a regular old shell like this one is a hot commodity too.
The 1973 sports sedan hasn’t been used for 20 years, splitting that time between exposure to the sun and dusty indoor storage. But despite the layers of grime, the faded paint and the visible rust spots, you can’t help but fall in love with this 2002 and hope it can be saved.
The detailing expert starts this process with a power wash to remove all the major dirt particles. Every nook has its specific demands, from the oil stains under the hood to the nooks of the old multi-spoke wheels and caked-on debris underneath. Of course, it wouldn’t be an AMMO NYC video without mouse nests and weird debris inside the car.
A fair amount of time is spent on the interior, which ends up looking better than the rusty metal shell. Because of this corrosion, AMMO is using a Cyclo Polisher which has a smaller chance of tearing off the delicate old paint. The point here is not to polish it to perfection, just to get the old BMW to a state where somebody will see its potential.
Speaking of value and potential, we get to see that the engine is still running towards the end of the video. The 2002 comes with a very simple 2.0-liter (121 cubic-inch) advertised at 98 horsepower, as well as a manual 4-speed gearbox. You have to wiggle the key and really work it into gear, nothing like the digital cars BMW builds today. But it’s all somehow connected. In 1973, the year this car was sold, BMW of North America hired the Ammirati Puris advertising agency which came up with “The Ultimate Driving Machine” tagline that’s still in use today.
