E30 Zone

Ive just been to GSF car parts, with my tech 1 and while there they took my chassis number, then while putting it in the computer he ran off to talk to someone. When he came back he told me it was infact an alpina and not just a sport. The car doesn't have a 2.7 engine, or an alpina kit. so what is he on about. has this happened to anyone else.

So it's an alpina with no alpina extras or indeed the alpina engine? I think they are called BMW's normally!

If you check your engine number, which is near the bottom of the block on the inlet side, you should be able to check exactly what engine it is, maybe its the 2.5 from the c2 2.5?

whats the last 7 digits?

it wasnt the engine number he was looking at it was the chassis the chassis number is wbaab320500859532

Alpina without the parts

no chance, no uk alpina E30 will come up on the data base as one. They are all still registered as the 325i base cars from which they were converted

Why? i don't know ask sytners

engine numbers on the block are different starts with C2 2.7 then MA followed by the last digits of the chassis number is how it works.

yeah i dont think it did come up on the system as an alpina, just an anomoly or something, because when he tried looking at the car by reg, he looked all baffled, then asked to see the chassis number, he then took it in the back, i assumed there was someone who thought he knew something. i did try to convince him it couldnt be, he said something about the letters at the start meaning it was one.

Most GSF staff wouldnt know an Alpina from an Allegro, give your chassis No to a BMW dealership parts dept and they will print you off an 'as sold' spec sheet which will tell you exactly what your car had on it when it left the showroom

DanThe wrote:Most GSF staff wouldnt know an Alpina from an Allegro, give your chassis No to a BMW dealership parts dept and they will print you off an 'as sold' spec sheet which will tell you exactly what your car had on it when it left the showroom

still won't show up if it's an alpina. I've done it and mine is just a 2 door poverty spec black 325i with opening rear windows and an obc on steel rims! They didn't even update the BMW system when they were new. Thats what makes it hard to fine a pukka one. The service book and matching numbers on the engine are a good give away for a genuine one, well a good start

Really, but they were sold from the dealerships as Alpinas right?

Indeed, thats the score on mine, the log book states 325i 2 door, the bmw chassis check states 325i and the factory options listed. Alpina's had to come with an LSD and sport seats on the base car the restr of it was how you wanted, 4 door with tech 2 kit with 14 bottletops and auto transmission if you really wanted. The scope for an individual car was massive hence no 2 C2's are generally the same. As long as you had the slipper and LSD ticked the rest was down to you.

I looked at a genuine C2 2.7 touring last summer, came from sytners with no alpina kit and on 15bbs, just the engine, brakes and suspension were fitted with the interior stuff. Proper sleeper it was just faded C2 2.7 badges front and rear on it. Had the biggest 6 inch thick history file with it too. Interesting car

The only real proof i have is the service book with it's numbers match the engine etc. Built by Mark Adkin and signed by him on the front page and it's listed there as an Alpina C2 2.7 as the model. He was one of the main technicians at the time who was putting the RHD ones together so i understand it.(he even stamped up parts of the engines with his intials, not on mine ) Fitting the engine, exhaust,suspension, wheels etc The RHD cars are now built in house in Germany. Sytners stopped building their own Alpina's in about 1993. Alpina had grown big enough to meet RHD demand, and it could then ensure it's own standards of production which it couldn't enforce when they were being built under licence! I've yet to write off to Sytners and send them photo copies of proof of ownership to find out it's genuine, as it has enough alpinaness to satisfy me! They are getting really anal now about finding out about the cars they built and you can't just phone up and enquire now. Stupid really as it just hinders people in everyway

The thing that gets me is if you bought a LHD Alpina C2 2.7 or B3 it's an alpina! as in log book, bmw dealer check etc. These cars were re-registered after the conversion. Why sytners didn't do this is a mystery to me. It's a little annoying for us UK guys as it make the job alot harder when trying to find a genuine one. Remember the touring LHD Tandino broke for spares? that had it's own chassis number etc. The original one is stamped over with a big x through it and a new one stamped elsewhere on the body, or a plauque in the E30's case

God i am rambling now and this is my longest post ever i think

Simon13 wrote:God i am rambling now and this is my longest post ever i think

Well its all BMW E30 chat

Where did you get this 'book' of yours Simon? Would be interested in a copy for myself

My book?

james taylor's BMW Alpina has alot of useful infomation in it on all things alpina right upto the current B5 monster

DanThe wrote:Most GSF staff wouldnt know an Alpina from an Allegro, give your chassis No to a BMW dealership parts dept and they will print you off an 'as sold' spec sheet which will tell you exactly what your car had on it when it left the showroom

Looks like i could be the exception..... just applied for a job with the local GSF staff discount for when i finally track down a touring i can afford......


Saying that i have no chance judging by the monkeys there who delivered us 4 plugs for a E30 320..... i may know too much

I seem to remember that at one stage you could "opt" for an alpina pack and although this didn't make your 325i an alpina,what you did get was the ecu and a cam,which i believe were alpina items.

he even stamped up parts of the engines with his intials, not on mine

Simon,i could of sworn i saw the intials stamped on your engine! (but the memorys not as good as it used to be ! )

As csl said, Check the ECU see what stickers it has on it...

[quote="csl"]I seem to remember that at one stage you could "opt" for an alpina pack and although this didn't make your 325i an alpina,what you did get was the ecu and a cam,which i believe were alpina items.


I think that made a C2.5 which both Sytners and a garage in Aberdeen did.
Try this
http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi

I'm sure I got this from a thread on here but it just gives an M20 325i. But as Simon says it would wouldn't it as even the C2.7s do.

csl wrote:I seem to remember that at one stage you could "opt" for an alpina pack and although this didn't make your 325i an alpina,what you did get was the ecu and a cam,which i believe were alpina items.

he even stamped up parts of the engines with his intials, not on mine

Simon,i could of sworn i saw the intials stamped on your engine! (but the memorys not as good as it used to be ! )

When have you seen it?!

there were 2 sytners only options one was the sports pack as stated and the other was just the bodykit and wheels on their own. There's a few cars around with the cam,ecu and exhaust but i've never seen the just the bodykit fitted

DavidL wrote:

csl wrote:I seem to remember that at one stage you could "opt" for an alpina pack and although this didn't make your 325i an alpina,what you did get was the ecu and a cam,which i believe were alpina items.


I think that made a C2.5 which both Sytners and a garage in Aberdeen did.
Try this
http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi

I'm sure I got this from a thread on here but it just gives an M20 325i. But as Simon says it would wouldn't it as even the C2.7s do.

I disagree there mate! I think the c2.5 's were diffrent,in that they had the alpina suspension etc . I remember from somewhere that there was an option and yes ,now simon has mentioned it,i think it was from Frank Sytners and was what amounted to a power upgrade (similar power to c2.5 thou.) but suspension was not in this kit.

When have you seen it?!

Cast your mind back some months and you may remember our discussion on here,where prior to your goodself buying it,i'd been for a road test at WLN

oh yes how could i forget!

did you rag it like me and demlot did!

Simon13 wrote:My book?

james taylor's BMW Alpina has alot of useful infomation in it on all things alpina right upto the current B5 monster

Just ordered this from amazon

An interesting read by the looks....

it's an awsome book if your a bit gay about alpina's like i am! I must of read the whole book about 10 times!

Simon13 wrote:it's an awsome book if your a bit gay about alpina's like i am! I must of read the whole book about 10 times!

Well ive bought it so ill know what to look for in anticipation of another tourer coming up for sale

i wouldn't hold your breath! joking, 12 or so rolled out of sytners, but a good few are known or have appeared on the forum over the years

off topic here but ?

it's an awsome book if your a bit gay about alpina's like i am! I must of read the whole book about 10 times!

Does this book have info on individual alpina's ?? namely B10 E34 ??

Yeah I wish I owned an Alpina. 1 Day I will. I just hope it ant a ringer. Good story tho guy about the Alpina. my answer is maybe they couldnt register some of them cars as Alpinas ? For what reason is unknown to me. Surely at the time an Alpina was worth more Cash then a standard Beemer ! The story continues, its a Mistery to me tho, its deep.

E30cabrioman
Your video clip is funny. I Love it ! U made me crack up ! Nice 1 ! yeah B10. Its Big out there. I got a E34 525iSE with 535i Sport leather. Im selling it £1500ono. 07931455866.

Simon13 wrote:oh yes how could i forget!

did you rag it like me and demlot did!

A gentleman never tells,but as i'm not...................................yes

the book covers every alpina upto the current shape models

All the info you could want is there pretty much, apart from the build numbers of RHD C2 2.7's as sytners won't tell!

Simon13 wrote:All the info you could want is there pretty much, apart from the build numbers of RHD C2 2.7's as sytners won't tell!

Won't tell or can't? More likely, noone thought to make a record of what they did. Would have thought that Sytners could have worked it out by going through all their invoices if they'd wanted to.

Maybe Alpina themselves could hazard a guess, they must know how much kit they supplied Sytners with.

the book covers every alpina upto the current shape models

All the info you could want is there pretty much, apart from the build numbers of RHD C2 2.7's as sytners won't tell!

Cheers for that Si, I know where theres a B10 and wanted to find out if was genuine,it seems to be ,just a couple things dont add up to me..

and in your post earlier it says about the tech who built them,well in service book has same techs name........so jury is still out ??????????????

So if you can help out ...you can pm me........

sounds like a good start to me if you have the service book with Marks name in it!

Sytners do have the records but will not allow anyone access to it, from what i am told someone within the alpina register had access to all the records and was making a list of all sytner built cars. Purely because no one really knows the proper numbers for how many they built of each model.

Well apparently they logged all the models and when they were going to start the E30 records, sytners changed their minds and said no more access! Why i don't know. but.......so i have been told by a good source they built 160 C2 2.7's at sytners. I personally think it's alot less as only 420 were built by alpina in lhd for the rest of the world!

I wonder how many are left, the only way to find out is to get onto these records. Then find out how many are still going from the dvla from their 325i records.

Simon, how would you be able to find out from the dvla records though, as mine is just registered as a 325i sport, as you said before, Sytners didn't bother to re-register them as C2 2.7's

because from the sytner records you could trace them all through the chassis numbers

Check your service book chassis number aauser and the chassis number on the log book, you will know what i mean then!

The guy to speak to is Simon Alcorn, as he is the only C2 owner i know who has actually seen the records

We could find out a rough figure if we could get our hands on those records!