Sometimes you are at the right place at the right time. That is where I found myself while browsing ebay for random electric cars. A red 1969 BMW 2002 with a mid 2000’s era brushed motor and lifep04 batteries1 is what I saw, the buy it now price was right, but it was 2000 miles away. At the time my long time fiancé Andrea and I were calling our local courthouse inquiring about marriage licenses. It became obvious what we should do.
The decision was confirmed after talking with the owner of the car the day after winning the auction. This particular 2002 has a long history, starting in the early 90s when the builder took ownership and started the conversion. The conversion started with a mild restoration involving some hood and nose parts from a donor car, likely due to an accident. The skilled and knowledgeable builder of the electrical system put together this 1st Generation EV system using acid and a 30kw DC motor. Later the system was updated to LifeP04 packs2 and a Warp 8 Motor from Netgain Motors3. With the motor change came a controller change as well to a Evnetics Soliton 14, one of the better brushed controllers available at the time. The build started in 93, was ready for electrics in 95, and started being used daily in 97. At that time it had somewhere around 60k miles on it.5
The builder is a talented man with a very storied life. He was early in computers and mainframes. In the 60’s he worked at one of the worlds top computational firms. He met his wife while working there, she is a talented computer scientist herself. My fiancé and I were treated to a dinner with the couple, which included a wonderful family and automotive history. This was not the builders first BMW, he previously drove a 1600 which was in Granada red, likely the motivation to paint the 2002 Granada Red many decades later. 6
Shortly after dealing with the Ebay details, Andrea and I made plans to set off on the trip to pickup the 2002. The builder had made provisions for this car to be flat towed including wiring harness and tow bar included with the purchase. Knowing this we acquired a vehicle with the required tow capacity and set off.
The trip out west was fairly uneventful accept for a chance meeting with a Studebaker owner at a rest area. He and his wife were road tripping the Studebaker from the East Coast back to the Southwest having already put 4000 miles on it since purchase. This would not be the first or last people we randomly met on this trip who would show extreme kindness.
On our way to Long Beach we stopped and setup basecamp at the home of longtime friend John T. in a Las Vegas Suburb. This meant we could start planning the wedding and get the paperwork rolling before heading out to see the car on Long Beach, another 5 hours + West, not counting LA traffic which would cause our eventual delay of arrival by 2 hours.
Glenwood Spring Rest Area
TVR and I8 and others spotted on route.
We did eventually arrive in Long Beach and were greeted by the Builder and his wife. We spent some time with the car introducing me to the conversion and specifications not conveyed by the listing and photos. The builder had a solid list of parts to go with the car for either further restoration or backups and spares. We kept it brief as it was late and ate a nice meal with the builder and his wife. They discussed their history with the car and how they came to be converting an EV in the 90s. They were kind hosts, and we will forever be grateful for their kindness.
The builder was so far ahead of his time he converted a Amante on VW chassis kit car.
The builder his wife and family with the original 1600 he imported into the USA when he immigrated and started his career in computation. He would meet his wife while pursuing that career.
The morning after dinner, the builder and I went about the task of prepping the car for a flat tow home. We were towing with a provided rig which was built specifically for the 2002 and bolted to the front frame rails. Before attaching the rig, we had to load the tow vehicle with the many provided parts included with the purchase, this also gave us a chance to discuss past plans, and what he thought about the cars future. We took some photos, tested the lights, and headed off.
We were not headed straight home, on the way out we made base camp at longtime friend John T’s house in a suburb of Las Vegas. His property is in a prime location and it allowed me to schedule a brief trip in the dirt on all of his electric dirtbikes. Later it would be interesting to compare how a home brew, European and Chinese moto had progressed since when the builder built the 02.
While in the Vegas area, Andrea and I had planned our wedding and some time to relax and enjoy the trip, and company. First we had to get the car home, and on our way out of Vegas we were greeted with a surprise stuck front right caliper on the 02, causing a lockup after I parked to inspect. Big thumbs up to the trucker who gave me a honk and a wave. I knew I smelt something but had no idea yet the smell was coming from my rig. So where the 405 and 605 meet, I was on the side of the road yanking the front right caliper. It was 10 minutes of horns, traffic, and mild annoyance, but we got back under way.
By early evening we were back in Vegas and after John T helped me stow the car we cleaned up and got dinner. We got to bed early because the morning of November 17th 2023 we got married. Fittingly we went out and won $160 in roulette and spent the day on the town before a nice final dinner with John T before the next day we loaded up and headed out. The wedding day was great fun.
Snow was coming for the Rockies and I wanted to beat the majority of it and get to Denver within our first stint of driving, and we were able to comfortably do that. I found myself in the midst of the Rockies with a thin layer. The motor in the tow vehicle was working heavy in some locations, at times spinning all four tires, but it kept on going on. The Toyota 1GR-FE pulling us along did a fine job getting something like 15mpg on average, 13mpg low tank, 18mpg high tank.
We arrived safely home 2 days later, nothing much eventful besides some very poor hotel reviews and the reminder that it smells on the east of Colorado, that could be the stench of resenting not seeing another another really great view for awhile. With the car home, we had Thanksgiving and waiting for brake parts before the car could be brought to a safe state. I did take the time to attach the battery and go about testing its general state.
There were complications in ordering the parts, none of them were correct. I blame amazon but it could be my problem, I notice Rockauto designates 4 piston and 2 piston caliper, rotor, and pad for the BMW 2002, and they delivered parts that fit. When the right parts finally did arrive everything went together as planned and the front brake pads, rotors and caliper seals
Thanksgiving came and went, but the car wasn’t ready because despite o
After a brake bleed the car was on the road, not necessarily enthusiastically at first. Although all cells showed voltage, not all cells would survive the first load test, 3 reported zero volts and one was clearly shorted internally but did not vent. I went through the process of testing each battery voltage and then balancing them individually with a CC/CV Power supply. I then put them back on the charger but was limited at the time to 110v and short sessions on the charger while I was present.
My next test drives were plagued with small issues, mostly learning the car and minor maintenance required. It is winter in the Midwest so my options for driving are very limited, but we have had a mild winter and rain has kept the roads fairly clean. Winter range seems to be between 30-35 miles assuming it isn’t a majority 55mph. It’s top speed is somewhere in the neighborhood of 70mph and 0-60 is eventual. This isn’t an insult, it does have its peak torque on demand but its peak torque is at least 50ftlbs shy of the hottest NA m10’s.
So now the 02 is parked for winter, comfy in the garage at roughly 80% charge with a trickle on the 12v. Between now and springtime my plans are minimal. Mostly enjoy marriage and wait for the thaw to replace worn rubber and a couple leaky shocks.
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/335103007894 ↩︎
- Voltornix 160ah 144v/40s1p OEM Cell Data ↩︎
- Netgain Warp 8 Motor Information ↩︎
- Soliton 1 Evnetics Manual https://youtu.be/-nvlq_MeAVY ↩︎
- EV Album details ↩︎
- Hemmings.com Car Culture Highlight by Daniel Strohl, photos by Greg Gjerdingen ↩︎