Alpina B10 3.5

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 4:40 pm

Right ive just been offered the follwing engine and box from my mate to put in my 325i. do you think its worth the Ãƒ”šÃ‚£500 he wants lol................

Genuine Alpina B10 3.5 engine, needs new head gasket (with paperwork to prove authenticity of engine)
Dog leg box
Air flow meter

sadly no loom or ECU though

if im correct these engines are 263bhp.

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 4:54 pm

get it! Ãƒ”šÃ‚£500 is a giveaway price. 260 odd bhp, cant remember what Alpina quote but it will make a bloody fast E30.

Dont worry about loom and ECU, just use one from a 535i. Unfortunately you wont have the Alpina Map in there but seeing as your getting it so cheap just get a MAF conversion done and it will be even more torquey and powerful.

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 4:58 pm

i'd say get it.
but i like bigger engines :lol:

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:00 pm

worth it if 'only' the head gasket is gone...

id wanna remove head and inspect bores and head for cracks

id also wanna remove the sump and use a plastigauge to measure shell wear....

otherwise its not worth it, cos if it needs rebuild it will cost u about 1.5kin all after uve rebuilt the bottom end, and thats not taking into account the fact the head may be cracked.....

and for this price u could have the much better e36 m3 evo engine or maybe an e34 m5 engine... both with in excess of 300hp.... and these are ///M engines

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:01 pm

GET IT!!!

Performance figures are something like, 0-60 in 6.5secs and tops speed of 165mph IRC

Just missed out on one of these myself which was even cheaper and had everything, proper gutted

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:02 pm

Ai deal is near on done, the chap bought the engine and box about a year ago to put in his sport but has never bothered.

Who offers the best price on engine mounts for this engine in an E30? ive seen various names/sources bounced around on here

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:05 pm

pauldeacs wrote:Ai deal is near on done, the chap bought the engine and box about a year ago to put in his sport but has never bothered.

Who offers the best price on engine mounts for this engine in an E30? ive seen various names/sources bounced around on here

assuming the engine is from an e34 5 series.... i can make u a set for Ãƒ”šÃ‚£130 in 10mm steel for positions 2 or 3.... i have had them copied from mounts from germany,,,(Ãƒ”šÃ‚£170)

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:06 pm

Karan wrote:worth it if 'only' the head gasket is gone...

id wanna remove head and inspect bores and head for cracks

id also wanna remove the sump and use a plastigauge to measure shell wear....

otherwise its not worth it, cos if it needs rebuild it will cost u about 1.5kin all after uve rebuilt the bottom end, and thats not taking into account the fact the head may be cracked.....

and for this price u could have the much better e36 m3 evo engine or maybe an e34 m5 engine... both with in excess of 300hp.... and these are ///M engines

yeah right i would check it over first. I have a mate with a B10 Bi turbo and hes just blown a piston on it, looking at a wait until december just to be able to get a new piston from Mahle. nightmare i could do without.

Buying any second hand engine is a gamble i guess

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:07 pm

pauldeacs wrote:
Karan wrote:worth it if 'only' the head gasket is gone...

id wanna remove head and inspect bores and head for cracks

id also wanna remove the sump and use a plastigauge to measure shell wear....

otherwise its not worth it, cos if it needs rebuild it will cost u about 1.5kin all after uve rebuilt the bottom end, and thats not taking into account the fact the head may be cracked.....

and for this price u could have the much better e36 m3 evo engine or maybe an e34 m5 engine... both with in excess of 300hp.... and these are ///M engines
yeah right i would check it over first. I have a mate with a B10 Bi turbo and hes just blown a piston on it, looking at a wait until december just to be able to get a new piston from Mahle. nightmare i could do without.

Buying any second hand engine is a gamble i guess

unless u buy it running in a car, or heard it run

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 5:12 pm

Karan wrote:
pauldeacs wrote:
Karan wrote:worth it if 'only' the head gasket is gone...

id wanna remove head and inspect bores and head for cracks

id also wanna remove the sump and use a plastigauge to measure shell wear....

otherwise its not worth it, cos if it needs rebuild it will cost u about 1.5kin all after uve rebuilt the bottom end, and thats not taking into account the fact the head may be cracked.....

and for this price u could have the much better e36 m3 evo engine or maybe an e34 m5 engine... both with in excess of 300hp.... and these are ///M engines
yeah right i would check it over first. I have a mate with a B10 Bi turbo and hes just blown a piston on it, looking at a wait until december just to be able to get a new piston from Mahle. nightmare i could do without.

Buying any second hand engine is a gamble i guess
unless u buy it running in a car, or heard it run

still a gamble even then. I know 2 people who did hear/see it running before removal but like you said il have to have a good look at it first

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:15 pm

If its got a dog leg box won't that make it an e28 engine ?

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:21 pm

Andy335Touring wrote:If its got a dog leg box won't that make it an e28 engine ?

does an e28 engine not fit?

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:26 pm

An E28 engine wioll make it a B8 then, as opposed to a B10...

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:26 pm

And if it's an alpina engine and the head is knackered, and you want to replace the head with a proper alpina head, good luck!! New one is on the near side of 1.5k.

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:29 pm

Geeman wrote:An E28 engine wioll make it a B8 then, as opposed to a B10...

nooo

you can get an e28 b9 and a b10, the b9 is 245 and b10 around 260 i think

and a b7s and other crazy turbo versions

dunno what version a b8 is though

e28 will fit with a few bolt-on mods

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:33 pm

Toby_Unna wrote:
Geeman wrote:An E28 engine wioll make it a B8 then, as opposed to a B10...

e28 will fit with a few bolt-on mods

Bolt on mods in term of what? Im rapidly going off this idea

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:38 pm

pauldeacs wrote:
Toby_Unna wrote:
Geeman wrote:An E28 engine wioll make it a B8 then, as opposed to a B10...

e28 will fit with a few bolt-on mods
Bolt on mods in term of what? Im rapidly going off this idea

I think E34 M30 sump and oil pump pick up, Toby will confirm if this is correct as he started off with an E28 M30.

Toby, hows the new dif going, does it feel good !?

Post Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:48 pm

fcuking great! won't quite do 60 in 2nd (very nearly) but will sort that out!

firstly the sport box ratios are going in the current box
secondly i will get that chip sorted and working properly, and that takes limiter up to 6500

but yeah generally the diff is great!

re the e28 engine:

firstly you're stuck with an e28 manual gearbox because the engine uses sensors on it, so if the dogleg breaks/is already worn (common) you're in trouble.

the e28 engine also has a water cooling pipe on the back of the head unlike the e34, not major but does demand more bulkhead hammering

exhaust manifold less well suited to e30 (yours might be tubular though, but that won't fit easily either)

electrics less well suited (have to cut off engine plug and solder e30 one on, whereas e34 engine essentially plugs straight in with no soldering.

need e34 sump and pickup as Andy said.

hard one to call but for an e30 conversion i think i'd lean towards a really good, guaranteed e34 535i engine/box for that sort of money, unless you're prepared to pour a lot more in later!