We found this post in the 2002FAQ forum today. So far this is all we know, but we will keep you posted as we learn more.

James 'jammah's" post in 2002FAQ on 12/2/2013, titled:

2002 Cabriolet Project Ignition Problems?

Hello all,

I’m new to this forum but there seems to be some very knowledgeable people on here, a wealth of info.

I have been working on my first BMW over the past three weeks and thanks in a big part to information on here so far I have completed a decent list of items on my 74 2002 cabriolet

Ireland big brake kit, front and rear bush kits, ball joints, tyre rods, shocks, springs, sparkplugs and leads, distributor cap, starter motor, and a new weber 32/36

The car was my fathers and has been off the road for 14 years It has done very few miles and is very dear to me. I am really keen to get it back on the road to enjoy!

All of the suspension and steering went fairly well and I moved onto the engine bay and although I understand the basics and if I know what is wrong I can normally fix it, as far as diagnosing problems I am hopeless so here I am.

The car will very reluctantly start with throttle full on but shakes badly, barely runs and dies straight away when gas is let off.

I can’t get it to idle by itself at all.

I started by checking spark and have a strong blue spark on all plugs

I then pulled the valve cover, raised one rear wheel and turned it to get it so the tdc mark on the cam shaft at the sprocket end lined up at the top,

I turned the distributor until the mark on the casing, the rotor and #1 plug cable lined up

put everything back together but I still can’t get it to idle or really even run at all.

If i open the gas right up I can see fuel puddles through the carb, I am assuming its fairly heavily flooded my normal fix to this is foot flat to the floor and crank but this gets me nowhere.

Are the weber's fairly tuned out of the box? or do I need to adjust it?

this is all so frustrating I feel so close but so far away,

any help with things for me to check would be really appreciated

thanks in advance

James