Cars Simplified: Everything Automotive Explained

BMW 2002 tii

The BMW 2002 was a 2 door sport sedan, built from 1968 to 1976 by . The 2002 signifies 2.0 liter engine with 2 doors, while the "tii" stood for "touring, international, injected". The 2002 greatly helped BMW enter the North American automotive market, and also became an influence for the BMW M3. The naturally aspirated models made over 30 MPG at US highway speeds.

2002 Turbo

A Taiga Metallic Green BMW 2002 Turbo

In the midst of the 1970s oil crisis, increasing the displacement of an engine to improve power numbers became much less marketable. The turbocharger was one of the more popular alternatives that emerged during this time, and BMW were one of the first auto manufacturers to see mass-produced success, thanks to their knowledge of jet engines (which are somewhat similar in design to turbochargers). The 2002 was one of the first BMWs with a turbo option.

The turbo version featured "2002 Turbo" written in reverse across the front air dam so that someone looking at it in a rear-view mirror could read it and know there was a high performance vehicle coming. The turbo added about 40 HP to the stock tii, for a total of 170 HP. Its top speed of around 130 miles per hour was very impressive for a two liter engine at the time.

However, the turbo edition consumed more fuel than anticipated, and some of the turbochargers were unreliable, so poor sales kept the total number produced under 1700, all of which were produced in the 1973 model year.