The BMW 2002: Rediscovering the Magic that Made It an Icon
From the December 2017 issue of Car and Driver.
It started with “Turn Your Hymnals to 2002.” That invocation, penned by the late David E. Davis Jr. in his paean to the 1968 BMW 2002 in our April 1968 issue, marked the beginning of the sports-sedan era. The 2002 wasn’t the only car of the time that synthesized the agility of a European sports car and the practicality of a compact sedan, but we instantly recognized it as the best and heralded the news to our readers.
Back then, of course, no one could know that the 2002 would give rise to the enthusiast-oriented vehicles that flourish to this day. We certainly didn’t know that the 2002 and the 3-series it begat would win 23 10Best awards. Or that the 2002’s popularity would lead BMW to cultivate, own, and then walk slowly away from the Ultimate Driving Machine ethos. We only knew that it was a breakthrough—and that it was our job to tell car lovers about it.
The 2002, shown here in tii form, became not just the blueprint for future sports coupes and sedans but the segment’s Platonic ideal.
MARC URBANO, RICH CEPPOS
The Original C/D Review of the Icon
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From the Archive: 1968 BMW 2002 Inspires David E.
Though the 2002 was as Germanic as sauerbraten, it actually had something in common with ’60s American muscle cars: It followed the same big-engine-in-a-small-car formula. The difference was a matter of scale. The car that BMW started with, the 1600, was a diminutive, boxy two-door rear-driver that weighed 2010 pounds. It was powered by a spunky 96-hp 1.6-liter inline-four, and it could run about 100 mph flat-out on the autobahn.
To create the 2002—the name stands for “two-liter, two-door sedan”—BMW stuffed its 113-hp 2.0-liter inline-four under the 1600’s clamshell hood. That was still a minuscule amount of power in 1968 America. But what the little Bimmer lacked in tire-smoking acceleration—it hit 60 mph in 9.6 seconds in C/D testing—it made up for elsewhere.
MARC URBANO, RICH CEPPOS
The 2002 educated a generation of enthusiasts about the sublime calculus of Teutonic ride and handling. Supple, long-travel suspension (independent at the rear), communicative manual steering, and grippy radial tires made it a revelation on two-lane roads. David E. wrote that he quickly learned “not to tangle with the kids in their big hot Mothers with the 500-hp engines, unless I can get them into a tight place demanding agility, brakes, and the raw courage that is built into the BMW driver’s seat as a no-cost extra.” The 2002 was priced right, too—about as much as a Chevy Impala—and beautifully assembled.
And when C/D anointed the 2002 as The One, enthusiasts responded. I know because I was one of them. Four years after our original 2002 story ran, I found myself behind the wheel of my own—the high-performance, 140-hp fuel-injected tii version—harassing sports cars such as Triumph TR3s, MGBs, and Alfa Spiders on the roads of Massachusetts. My 2002 was everything C/D said it would be and more.
MARC URBANO, RICH CEPPOS
At a time when four-cylinder engines sounded as if they were grinding meat, the 2002’s overhead-cam four was sewing-machine smooth. My tii, similar to the one we drove and photographed for this story, flowed over lumpy western Massachusetts two-lanes at speeds that would have bucked my old Pontiac GTO into the trees. Interstate blasts were a pleasure, tracking true at 90 mph with 25 mph in reserve. The German magazine Auto Bild reportedly nicknamed the 2002 the Flüstern Bombe, which meant whispering bomb, and it was easy to see why.
In those days, 2002 ownership granted you instant membership into an automotive cult of informed insiders who reveled in the car’s autobahn-bred driving experience. We flashed our high-beams at one another. We shared our experiences at BMW Car Club of America meetings. Early 2002 adopters became the core of the growing BMW brand, singing the praises of their little rockets and encouraging others to give them a try.
Ceppos from the era when a man’s hair and his wheels were nearly the same size.
MARC URBANO, RICH CEPPOS
The 2002’s legacy is alive in the sports sedans that followed in its tracks, including the 17 current competitors to the BMW 3-series sedan and 4-series coupe, direct descendants of the 2002. Beyond that are all the hot hatchbacks, sedans, and even SUVs and crossovers inspired by the little BMW’s breakthrough blueprint.
Back in 1968, though, there was nothing quite like the plain, slab-sided coupe with the heart of a sports car. The 2002 was the first of its kind.
Now if you will, please turn your hymnals, once again, to 2002.
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Specifications
SPECIFICATIONS
1972 BMW 2002tii*
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE AS TESTED
N/A (base price: $4286)
ENGINE TYPE
SOHC 8-valve inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 121 in3, 1990 cm3
Power: 140 hp @ 5800 rpm**
Torque: 130 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm**
TRANSMISSION
4-speed manual
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 98.4 in
Length: 166.5 in
Width: 62.6 in
Height: 55.5 in
Trunk volume: 10 ft3
Curb weight: 2290 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
Zero to 60 mph: 9.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.8 sec @ 81 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 115 mph
Braking, 80-0 mph: 285 ft
Roadholding, 200-ft-dia skidpad: 0.76 g
FUEL ECONOMY
C/D observed: 20-23 mpg
*Specs and results, February 1972.
**SAE gross.
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
Rich Ceppos
Director, Buyer’s Guide
Rich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 19 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and, somehow, it’s worked out. In between his two C/D postings he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM’s product-development area; and became publisher of Autoweek. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata and a 1965 Corvette convertible and appreciates that none of his younger colleagues have yet uttered “Okay, Boomer” when he tells one of his stories about the crazy old days at C/D.
