E30 Zone

On my wanders and drives this week I have come across these two lovelies. Not such a common sight around my parts, its mostly chavved up corsas and knackered old fords.




Whats the b3? I've heard of it, and I assume its a 3.0 as it says so... but what engine/extras did it come with? Did they do a b8 e36 too that had a v8 or was that a dream I had?




Never heard of a 744... the 740 has a 4.4 v8 so whats the difference between that and this? Or is this a fake?

I think the second one may be a fake. but i'm probably wrong

thats what I thought too... I thought the only alpina 7 series was the mighty b12.

The e36 is genuine, they did do a v8 alpina e36 and the e38 7 is not an alpina.

it doesnt look quite right either. A bit too high and I thought those were standard wheels. Is the grill colour coded?

The seven is mickey mouse, however the first one is a good un. B3 was based on the 325 and stroked to 3.0l IIRC along with cam manifold exhaust, remap and suspension. Mostly autos with switchtronic gear change. Later models were based on the 328 and capacity increased to 3.3 litres. Simon13, that's right is it not? (you know he'll be here in a minute!). The B8 does exist, but only in left hand drive, 4.6 litre V8 tuned by Alpina and an absolute weapon. The ultimate sleeper!

Yup the grill's coded.

The wheels do look fairly normal.

Shame, I like 7's and it looks nice, but I just dont understand why people feel the need to slap an alpina badge on their non alpina bmws

The B3 is based on an M52 engine, very similar to the US S52, they came in 3.0, 3.2 and 3.3 litre variety afaik.

I know an E30 lover who has one of these 3.2 engines for a project

Same reason that kiddies stick ///M badges on their 318's

i've seen an alpina 7 series e38 for sale before b12 6.0l?

yep 6.0 litre V12 430bhp and slighlty more imperial torque with just over 180mph.

snoops wrote:yep 6.0 litre V12 430bhp and slighlty more imperial torque with just over 180mph.

There was an estoril one at gaydon was foooking gorgeous!

Would love a B8! A car that steers me away from E30 M3!

DanThe wrote:The B3 is based on an M52 engine, very similar to the US S52, they came in 3.0, 3.2 and 3.3 litre variety afaik.

I know an E30 lover who has one of these 3.2 engines for a project

B3 engine is actually based mainly on the US M3 engine not an M54 so i've read. Also in 3.4 flavours also

Simon13 wrote:

DanThe wrote:The B3 is based on an M52 engine, very similar to the US S52, they came in 3.0, 3.2 and 3.3 litre variety afaik.

I know an E30 lover who has one of these 3.2 engines for a project

B3 engine is actually based mainly on the US M3 engine not an M54 so i've read. Also in 3.4 flavours also

he said m52?

B3 3.2 is a torquey beast! Much nicer to drive than an M3 in the real world but not quite as quick when nailing it.

Was there an E36 B3 3.3?

I'd love a B8 4.6

Evo-S

Yep the 7 series is a fake. but they are lovely cars had a velvet blue individual not long ago looked gorgous.

snoops wrote:yep 6.0 litre V12 430bhp and slighlty more imperial torque with just over 180mph.

One of my all time favourite cars. I've always liked e38 7's (prefer the pre facelift ones though) and the b12 is the ultimate 7.

Hence my confusion about an alpina 744

I'll probably have to settle for a 740 or 50 until I win the lottery but they're still great looking cars and I cant imagine they're particularly slow considering their size.

M5pilot wrote:B3 3.2 is a torquey beast! Much nicer to drive than an M3 in the real world but not quite as quick when nailing it.

Was there an E36 B3 3.3?

I'd love a B8 4.6

Evo-S

E36's were B2.5 (Sytners?) B6 2.8, B3.0 and B3.2 and the awesome B8
The E46's are B3.3 & B3.3s

I had the honour of getting a ride in a B8 a few weeks ago and it is a life changing experience!

i have the b3 3.2

we have a 740 in, the plastic runner for timing chain is in about 50 pieces, (luckily i wasnt the one who had to strip it down ) have hear the V8's arent too good, but the V12's are mint,

Hap wrote:i have the b3 3.2

nice 'pina, Hap

munky- nice spots!

those e38 are grand big cruisers and yours for a couple of grand- go sideways nice too

Yup a good 740 seems to fetch around 2k. 750's are still a bit higher but a hell of a lot of car for the money.

My car isnt exactly an ideal family cruiser so the wife wants a cheap runabout... for some reason she disagrees with me that a 7 would be a good cheap runabout... cant imagine why

Just seen a lovely 4 door B3.0, the owner thought i was weird the way looked at it as she drove by

She probably saw you and thought you were going to car jack her!!

Silly bird probably thinks the badge is the girly name for the car!

snoops wrote:

Simon13 wrote:

DanThe wrote:The B3 is based on an M52 engine, very similar to the US S52, they came in 3.0, 3.2 and 3.3 litre variety afaik.

I know an E30 lover who has one of these 3.2 engines for a project

B3 engine is actually based mainly on the US M3 engine not an M54 so i've read. Also in 3.4 flavours also

he said m52?

Which is what the US M3 engine is based on, but with iron block, overbored cylinders and higher crank.

B3 is near enough an S52 but I doubt it would have started life as one.

Any idea what crank these lumps use Simon?

right buttplugs.

3.0 250PS/320Nm pina lump was based on a bored and stroked 2.5 M50 single vanos

3.2 265PS/330Nm is based on the US M3 engine the bottom end was the same as such but the top end was all alpina's design. It's not based on the 2.8 M52 like many believe

3.3 280PS/335/Nm Lump is a rework of the 3.2 engine with a bespoke longer throw crank, revised inlet and exhaust too. is more free revving than the 3.2

3.4 300PS/362Nm. Again revised off the 3.4, the capacity increase this time is from a bigger bore, but same stroke as a 3.3. Revs better than a 3.3. tis all i know about this 1

i don't know the power ratings which make sense, PS is very close to HP anyway!

And the E39 versions use the iron E39 block used in US versions as the E36 iron blocks and E39 alloy blocks have different mount points. Proper engines have iron blocks, alloy is horrible shite.

Simon13 wrote:3.0 250PS/320Nm pina lump was based on a bored and stroked 2.5 M50 single vanos

WOOHOO! At least I was almost right!

maxfield was the B3 in a magenta red colour/ bet it was , with female driving

Hap wrote:maxfield was the B3 in a magenta red colour/ bet it was , with female driving

Nope was blue.

i bet it was black with a bloke driving?

Hap wrote:magenta

reminds me of work

what i want to know about these e36 alpinas is are they affected by the nikasil issue?

No because they use 'proper' blocks

(iron)

Simon13 wrote:i bet it was black with a bloke driving?

If it was a bloke then he's had very good surgery