“BMW Cars have always been sporty. But we regard sportiness as just another word for accelaration, speed, roadability, and agility. Another word for Performance and safety. As traffic becomes denser others too will be forced to realize how necessary these attributes are. And so they are forced to realize how right the BMW concept is.”
(statement from the original sales brochure)

The BMW 2002, the car that was the origin of the 3 series. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s BMW released a compact, sporty and stylish coupe. It was small and lightweight, powerful and agile. Enthusiatic drivers lapped it up and the car entered many competitions with great success. It was a very elegant car and it remains a beautifully executed design till today. Truely one of the great classics.

Autoart makes a few variations of the BMW 2002 series, in fact, even Kyosho makes a few variations as well (including a number of dealer-only editions). But this 2002L is an Autoart-only car. Another classic car scaled down to perfection? let’s find out.

Paint

The 2002L comes in 2 colours, black or red. I chose the black one for it suits this car very well. The elegant black paint matching the bodywork perfectly. The paintwork on this model is quite simply, perfect. Autoart cars have always had very good paintjobs and this is no exception, the paintwork is so smooth and deep. All we need now is a 1:18th bottle of Meguiar’s wax to finish it up. There are those who say that black often hides the details of a car but personally, i’ve always felt that classic cars look good in black, and this BMW is no exception. The only downside? Fingerprints and dust. Best to keep black cars in a dust-free environment.

Exterior

The elegant lines of this car is very well replicated in 1:18, the stance is perfect. Really, i do not see anything wrong here at all. This car is not one of Autoart’s newer models but, the amount of effort put into this car is pretty darn good. The chrome parts are very convincing. Front and rear lights are very well made with no sign of any visible attachment stubs. (only the side indicators have a hint of the attachment stubs…) And the additional spot-lights up front on this 2002L are a superb feature here. Again, no attachment stubs on the spot-lights as well. BMW badges are all seperate pieces and are all properly printed, properly made. The thin pillars of the cockpit are all replicated with precision and they’ve even added the antennae to the left A-pillar. Door handles, mirrors and window trim are all finished in chrome and do not have a plasticky look to them. Fabulous detailing work on Autoart’s part.

The engine is another work of art itself, the bonnet opens on delicate little hinges which mimic the real car and the engine is very well made. Engine is fully plumbed and wired with seperate painted parts for various sections of the engine. Close the engine and move on to the back, open the boot and here’s where Kyosho’s 2002s one-up the Autoarts. The Kyoshos have a removable boot floormat and a spare wheel underneath, very cool. The Autoart cars on the other hand make do with just a carpeted boot. Honestly, nothing to complain about here, but Kyosho’s addition of the spare wheel gives it some extra points.

Interior

As we open the little side doors (which could do with some windows maybe?), we are treated to a wonderful cream interior, the cream color of the interior contrast wonderfully with the black exterior. Seats here are made of plastic but look rather convincing and they have wonderful little details like the seat adjustment handles along the sides. The seat belts are also individual pieces with little seat buckles attached to them. Interior detailing here is stunning. The steering wheel is a favourite piece of mine and the wooden little gear knob just adds to the wonderful classic feel of this car. The floor is carpeted as most Autoart’s are and i see nothing here to complain about, even the roof lining has a felt like material on it.

Wheels & Brakes

This is something that i never quite understood, whilst this car was only released by Autoart, there are actually 2 slightly different versions of this car. One of them comes with the BBS-style/Basket-weave rims as we can see here, another one comes with a more simple, hubcap-ish looking rim design. It’s not distinct to either colors too, i’ve seen black cars with the 2 different designed rims myself. So i guess, it’s pretty much up to the buyer to decide for him/herself, which rims they prefer (a cool idea anyway). I bought mine with the basket-weaves basically because, i found a good deal on it (seems almost like buying a real car). Although on either car with either rims, the detail on them are pretty good. BMW badges on the rims seem to be made of seperate pieces and have a nice glossy shine to them and the basket-weaves on my car are nicely made and well modeled. Up front, we can see the calipers and brake disc which spin with the wheel and round the back, we can see the drum brakes, not that there’s much to see anyway even on a real car. Tyres are sadly, not branded again.

Summary

To sum this up, this car is among one of Autoart’s best cars and the fact that this car can be sometimes found at discount prices is just icing on the cake. The finishing on this model is superb and really, there’s nothing here to complain about. It might be a small model but the details here are really beautiful and delicate. It feels right and i wish i had a 1:1 in the exact specification, along with a 2002 Turbo of course, but that’s for another day. The 2002 is a car rich with history with one of the cleanest, most elegant designs ever to grace a BMW. If your a BMW fan, this model is a must. If your not a BMW fan, get one if you can find it at a good price. (Modellisimo is having a great sale on a number of classic Autoart BMW’s, i’m not affiliated with them but i DO recommend them. Flat shipping rate for any number of cars) Kyosho’s car might have a spare tyre, but we’ve got them Spot-lights up front. Which would you rather look at? A spare wheel? Or a nice set of Spot-lights? (Those spot-lights were the #1 reason this car came up on my “To-buy” list.)

Overall 8.5/10
(A model that recieves this score is flawless in so many ways that its relative drawbacks are not very important if at all. Improving upon this model will take very very very little effort)

*Rating system and review was written with reference to DiecastXchange’s review guidelines*

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 2nd, 2005 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Updates, 1:18 Reviews, BMW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.