BMW perceived a market for a smaller, more affordable, two-door version of its four-door New Class executive sedan in the mid-1960s. Corporate design director Wilhelm Hofmeister assigned the project to staffers Georg Bertram and Manfred Rennen. They produced an attractive and sporty car 5 cm (2 in) shorter in wheelbase and some 25 cm (10 in) shorter in length. The resulting 1966 production 1600-2 was lighter, faster, and better handling than the New Class. The larger displacement 2002 directly derived from it in 1968. This established a new reputation for BMW as a maker of high-quality affordable performance vehicles. Cabriolet, targa, hatchback, and economy versions of various "02" Series models were also produced.
The 2002 turbo (E20) was launched at the 1973 Frankfurt Motor Show. This was Europe's and BMW's first turbocharged production car. It produced 170 PS (125 kW; 168 hp) at 5,800 rpm, with 240 N⋅m (177 lbf⋅ft) of torque. The car had a top speed of 211 km/h (131 mph). The 2002 Turbo used the 2002 tii engine with a twin-scroll 0.55 Bar turbocharger developed together with KK&K. The cylinder head was a modified version of the '121TI' design with larger combustion chambers to give a compression ratio of 6.9:1. A version of the Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection was used with integrated boost enrichment feature and altitude compensation. The car had a larger radiator and an oil cooler as standard. Front brakes were a ventilated derivative of the tii brake and rear drums were a 250mm design that would later appear on the E21 3-series. The gearbox was either a strengthened Getrag 232 4-speed or the Getrag 235/5 close-ratio 5 speed, which was also optional on 2002 tii. This drove through a 3.36:1 limited slip differential to 5.5J13 steel wheels. The interior added an extra gauge cluster for the boost gauge & clock plus a red instrument panel with 240kmh/150 mph speedometer, sports seats & steering wheel. The steel body featured a different front-panel with additional tow-bracket and air-intake apertures. The front & rear wheel arches were cut-back to allow fitting of wider wheels. These body changes were clothed in fibreglass wheelarch extensions and a front airdam, all bolted to the body, plus a rubber rear spoiler on the trunk lid. Two standard colours were available: Chamonix (white) and Polaris (silver). Cars featured BMW motorsport colour-scheme stripes/decals on the sides & front airdam. The 2002 Turbo was introduced just before the 1973 oil crisis, therefore only 1,672 were built.
According to the Racing Sportscars database, the BMW 2002 was used in competitive motorsport from 1968 to 1986. 2002s were entered in 600 events, with 2449 entries, 1520 finishes and 707 retirements. Overall event wins totaled 50, with an additional 53 class wins, 57 2nd places and 62 3rd-place finishes. Dieter Quester and Hubert Hahne won the June 1969 European Touring Car Race (ETCC) at Brand's Hatch, Kent, UK in a BMW 2002 TiK. The BMW 2002 competed in the Trans Am Series under two liter class, garnering two race wins (Bryar and Bridgehampton in 1970). Liechtenstein engine-specialist Max Heidegger prepared a BMW 2002 TI with a F2 engine for French privateer Daniel Brillat at the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans. Schnitzer Motorsport made a Group 5 version of the 2002 from 1974-1979. Hans-Joachim Stuck and Clemens Schickentanz won the inaugural 1970 24 Hours Nürburgring driving a 2002. Achim Warnbold teamed up with Jean Todt won the 1973 Austrian Rally with a 2002 Tii. Sobiesław Zasada won the European Rally Championship in 1971 with a 2002TI. In Uruguay, the 2002 won the 1971 and 1973 Gran Premio 19 Capitales rally race and the 1972 6 Hours of El Pinar circuit race.
In 2015, BMW introduced a pair of concept cars paying tribute to the BMW 2002 turbo: the 2002 Hommage Concept and the 2002 Hommage Turbomeister Concept.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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