Dave,
yes the seats were crap. a friend who is 6'4, and this is one of the few cars he could comfortably fit in, bolted in a Volvo seat from a 140.

the bodies couldn't resist the eastcoast winter salt baths either, had to weld in plates in the trunk as the rear shock towers rusted thru. I also had a 68 1602 - basically the same car with a 1600cc engine - with a single barrel solex carb that could cruise all day at 80mph with that 4 speed and not drive you nuts with engine noise, like the then current B18 tractor engines that Volvo was running.

I always said that BMW's only failure was that it didn't build a body strong enough to last the life of the energy that car could put out.

But is was a small window imho, the later models with the square tail lights, like a fine wine that made its reputation on a few years of remarkable vintage.

the rest of the story

http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/bmws-2002-how-this-car-made-the-company-what-it-is-today.html/?a=viewall