Ran When Parked: How I Resurrected a Decade-Dead 1972 BMW 2002tii and Road-Tripped it a Thousand Miles Back Home, and How You Can, Too

by Rob Siegel

The author buys a long-dead vintage BMW sight-unseen, travels a thousand miles to where it sits, gets it running, and drives it home. During the twelve-day trip, he finds that what began as a story of man-versus-machine turns into something else entirely--a story of the kindness of strangers, and how doors sometimes open exactly when you need them to. "Rob Siegel is a writer with the mind of a mechanic and a mechanic with the mind of a writer. He’s also an old-school romantic of the best kind, and one of the few people who understands what car culture really means to the people invested in it—free of stereotype, cliché, or pat sentiments you’ve read a thousand times before. Like all of his writing, Ran When Parked focuses heavily on the why behind the hobby. It’s a mix of casual, long-form blog entry; detailed how-to; and emotive confessional; most of all, he seems to believe the world would be a better place if everyone else followed on his crazy path and devoted their free time to resurrecting old iron. He’s right." —Sam Smith Editor at Large, Road & Track

Genres: Cars

202 pages, Paperback

Published May 5, 2017

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In February 2017, Rob bought a BMW 2002 sight unseen and drove it home 1000 miles. In March of 2017, I had just bought a BMW 2002 sight unseen and was driving it home 1300 miles from Portland to Denver. Funny timing.

Rob’s level of knowledge and preparedness does make me feel a bit naive, but I started with the knowledge that my car was currently running, a luxury Rob didn’t have. My approach was to pack up 35 lbs of tools, get on a plane, and drive an untested 45 year old car 1300 miles. Sounds stupid when I say it like that. Also, it’s worth mentioning that I had no experience working on this car, had never owned one, and most of my meager understanding of motorized vehicles came from restoring a Moto Guzzi motorcycle. What can I say, trips like these aren’t logical. I trusted my ingenuity, old friend internet, and made sure to pack a service manual.

My friend Doug flew in from Minneapolis to do the drive with me and, after a night of tacos and margaritas, we took off at first light hungover in pouring rain with one working wiper. The tach and gas gauge were the only ones working, so we never knew how fast we were going or how hot the engine was. Physical review said it wasn’t overheating, so we pushed on. At the first gas stop, the ignition wiring failed, so a fellow customer helped us jump the starter to get on our way again. Nearly ran out of gas, then in Pocatello Idaho we solved the starter problem with the help of some friendly RVers, repaired a snapped alternator tensioner, and tried to solve a nagging throttle linkage issue without much luck. Slept in Lava Hot Springs and had a soak before we were on our way again. Immediately the exhaust fell off and needed to be repaired, and the continued throttle issues found us rebuilding the entire throttle body in Wyoming. Locktite, duct tape and JB Weld kept us moving. The next time the exhaust fell off, we stopped to fix it and adjusted the kickdown on the auto tranny. By the time we rolled into Denver, we had solved most of the major issues and it was running great. Most of those gas station fixes remain to this day. Thankfully the brake lines didn’t explode...until a few months later just before a hairpin turn along a cliff. A story for another day.

Fun book to read and remember my own trip. I’m glad we all made it home safe with our cars in one piece. And Doug, shall we take the Audi or the Bimmer?

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.
Combines the adventure of a crazy trip with insight that will help every enthusiast to better handle their vintage car.

The author captures the essence of being an 02 Bimmerfile.

-Second Generation 02 Fanatic.