The BMW 2002 has become an automotive classic, but it only came about by accident.
The 2002 was part of a wider '02' range made by BMW between 1966 and 1977. The company wanted to create an affordable entry-level version of its ‘New Class Sedan’ with a shorter wheelbase and a 2-door design. This led to the 1966 launch of the 1600-02 – the name came from the 1600cc engine and the 2-door body, but was later shortened to the ‘1602’.
This 1.6-liter engine produced 84hp, which was pretty good for its day. Combined with the lighter, shorter 2-door body and fully independent front and rear suspension, this made the 1602 a nimble, sporty little car. This was a big engine in a small car, a theme developed in later versions.
A fuel-injected ‘Ti’ version of this engine arrived a year later in 1967, which pushed the power up to 110hp, but it didn’t make it to the US because it didn’t meet emissions regulations.
That could have been the end of the story, but for a chance workshop meeting, so the story goes, between BMW’s director of product planning and the designer of the original 1.6 liter M10 engine in the 1602. Both had installed 2-liter motors in their cars, independently of each other, and when they realised they’d done the same thing, the idea for the 2002 was born.
This engine went through various stages of tune. The single-carburetor 2002 produced 101hp, still a useful boost over the original 1602, but the dual-carburetor 2002 Ti took this up to 119hp and in 1971 the fuel-injected 2002 Tii arrived with 130hp – plus bigger wheels and brakes, and uprated suspension to cope with the extra performance.
That wasn’t the end. In 1973 BMW launched the 2002 Turbo with, for then, experimental turbocharging technology and a hike in power right up to 170hp. Unfortunately, this coincided with the 1973 oil crisis and only 1600 were made.
There were other variants. The 1.8 liter 1802 was introduced in 1971, and a 1502 ‘economy’ version carried on from 1975 to 1977 after the rest had been discontinued to make way for new models.
And while the 2-door sedan body is the one forever associated with the 2002, there were ‘02’ convertible models styled by Karosserie Baur. These switched to the 2 liter engine in 1971 and eventually some 4,200 were sold.
There was also a 3-door hatchback Touring model, first launched in 1971 and then discontinued in 1974. Clearly buyers preferred the classic sedan shape, because only 25,000 touring models were sold out of a total ‘02 production run of more than 860,000 cars.
The BMW 2002 has come to define the ‘02 model range, and while the 2-door’s styling is unmistakeably ‘seventies’, this has become part of its charm. It was arguably the ‘hot hatch’ of its day (even without the ‘hatch’), and really opened the eyes of the car-buying public to what could happen if you put a big, gutsy engine into a small, practical car.
View the BMW 2002 infographic.