Modifications Over the Years
During his 30 years of ownership, Dan has made a few "conservative upgrades," as he called them. "I had the engine rebuilt in the '70s just before the smog laws required smog checks, and my mechanic removed all the smog equipment. For many years, The Bee (as she is known) sat in the backyard entertaining mice and spiders while I tried to figure out a way to get around smog inspections. Then, last year, the state of California exempted my car! I had the car tuned up, and without much ado, it took to the road like the proverbial duck to water." Last year, Dan replaced the Koni shocks with Bilsteins and also put in a pair of reupholstered Recaro seats.

Others made similarly light modifications. For instance, William installed electric ignition, a tii distributor and a Weber 32/36 carburetor, while Kathy repainted it in 1987 and installed a Blaupunkt system and a gas cut-off switch. "That's about it," she said. "The car has only 53,000 miles. It sat under a tree for nearly 10 years. I had it overhauled last fall -- new valves and brakes mostly."

Kris made more extensive modifications: a MOMO steering wheel, a Weber carburetor, BBS wheels, Konis, Metric Mechanic HD transmission, 320i radiator and Recaro seats ("with leather dyed to match the interior. They were worth as much as the car, but they are great").

David Roach and "Molly" Photo: Trail Head Photography / Christopher C. Leeper

And David wins the prize for the most modifications:

• 185/70 tires on 5.5" Borrani rims
• 19mm sway bars
• shorter, stiffer springs and Koni shocks
• downdraft Weber carburetor
• tii components on the front brakes ("I got a deal on struts, calipers, hubs, etc. off a wrecked car")
• rebuilt motor with higher-compression tii pistons
• Serra 302 cam that was later replaced by the stock cam
• a Stahl header
• Hanerhaus close-ratio 5-speed transmission
• MOMO Jacky Icxx steering wheel
• Recaro drivers seat
• 300-degree factory cam out of an improved touring race car
• 45mm Weber sidedrafts ("which made a lot of noise, used a lot of gas and performed very well but only under full throttle at high revs. They eventually contributed to a galled rod bearing, which meant the motor had to be rebuilt again.")

He took the car in for a complete restoration in July 1994 and got it back in December 1996. The car received a new hood, nose, fenders, inner and outer rockers, quarter panels, inner and outer wheel arches, and trunk floor. It also was patched and painted -- making it a brand-new 1973 2002, David said.

"I put in the fresh motor (now sporting 40mm Webers), new carpet, new dash and a whole lot of other new stuff, converted to a 320 radiator and a 325 alternator, added an oil cooler and remote filter and so on. The whole job, which was estimated at about $5,000, wound up costing $24,000.

"Since then, I've gone back to a downdraft Weber, gone to H&R springs over Bilstein Sport shocks, and replaced the front brakes with 320i vented rotors and 530i calipers," David said. "I'd like to convert the fuel delivery to injection, and I've thought about replacing the motor with an E-30 M3 motor."

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