Rusty But Trusty

Update, 1/28/10: Looks like this car has resurfaced here. No conclusive evidence, but the likelihood of two clean gold 2000 sedans in the Pacific Northwest even existing, much less being for sale one after the next, is pretty slim!

To prove it’s also possible to feature interesting cars from a mainstream brand (from a US perspective), I dug up a couple of old BMWs that were the foundation of their success story, if not the runaway hit the E10 ’02 BMWs were. The E09 sedans came with the common M10 engine that was also found in 2002s, so drivetrain parts should not be the hardest to get. These cars were outfitted a bit more luxuriously than their 2-door siblings, particularly the 2000tilux, which had a fancy walnut dashboard among other things. They were also commonly fitted with an automatic transmission for the US market. If you can get your hands on one of these, it’s always seemed these were a bargain alternative to an E10 – trade a bit of style while still getting the same handling and sportiness. Similar tradeoffs are available with, say, a E3 Bavaria vs. a E9 coupe, or an Alfa GTV vs. a Berlina.

Anyway, let’s get on to the first of this 2-car set. As usual with many of the lower-end craigslist offerings, there’s not a lot of detail and the photography is kind of shabby. However, you can still glean something from reading carefully and looking closely at the pictures. From the brief description, which says it’s nice but not perfect, and it’s a straight car that runs, let’s assume it’s a decent driver, possibly a rolling project. You can find it on craigslist in Bend, OR fitted with the cold weather package including the super-rare optional icicles, for $3000 all told.

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