Another Alpina 3.5 Conversion!...Alpina Wheels collected

[realboss7669]

See Lee Parkes thread I picked up the Ebay B10

Am knackered but happy. Hired a heavy duty trailer transporter yesterday but couldnt get away from work as early as I wanted to. Then I got home to pick up the missus but even then we couldnt leave straight away...why?...the missus decided to do her hair (an hour long job) 15mins before we were supposed to leave, and once she'd started it was a pointless and hopeless dream to even consider trying to stop her.

Having said this she is a tomboy so would not have liked me going without her So, what did I do?..got the kettle on and started trawling the web about B10 Alpinas

4:45pm we hit the road right into rush hour traffic run, but thankfully trip wasnt too badly delayed and we got there at 7:20pm. I was impressed as the car has a great body, engine sounds sweet, and car is packed with spares. I checked for the Alpina items and all is present and correct.

Chap was a diamond, really helpful and honest. Car was actually slightly better than described IMO although may be beyond reasonable cost to get back on the road as may need brake discs and pads but will check properly when I get home.

Managed to get her on the transporter after a lot of jiggery pockery with wooden blocks due to the low level front Alpina spoiler/skuttle. Chap said battery was shot and would be flat by the time I got home though

Hit the road at 9pm, had an aweful Chinese, and then spent 25mins driving with stomach cramps and nausea. Got to the services and legged it to the mens...wont give you the full details but sufficient to say the sole other person in the toilets (the cleaner) stopped whistling a tune not long after I closed my cubicle door...yes it was that bad.

Thankfully it wasnt long lasting and I felt right as rain after I'd fired a coffee and some chips down my neck. The missus had some cramps but managed them in a more ladylike fashion.

Arrived home 12am and can you believe the unloading of the car couldnt have gone smoother. Believe it or not the battery held enough of a charge for her to start and she is now on my drive

Now, more importantly the following considerations are being made in respect of a possible e30 transfer:

1) Dogleg gearbox? (and if so what ratio LSD?)
2) Alpina engine to be given full service and checked out for wear (do the Alpina's need to have the oil spray bar modification?)

Thanks guys for all the help, advice and tips, and feel free to give advice on gearbox / lsd options. An lsd came with the B10 but I need to check what ratio as the B10 has an auto box

[leeparkes]

Hell yeah

If you use the dogleg box iirc they have a direct 5th gear (i might be wrong) you need to double check. If it is a direct 5th you will need a diff ratio of around 2.9ish if its an overdrive box a 3.64 will be fine

Yes do the spraybar mod on all M30's

The LSD will be a large case diff and it wont fit an E30, not that valuable either i got £120 for mine off my breaker

I noticed in one of your pics that it looks like you have a fly by wire for the throttle body, im not sure how you get rid of that to use a cable

Sooo... is it a fragger or a keeper?

[realboss7669]

Hell yeah

!!B10 Power!!

If you use the dogleg box iirc they have a direct 5th gear (i might be wrong) you need to double check. If it is a direct 5th you will need a diff ratio of around 2.9ish if its an overdrive box a 3.64 will be fine

Cool. Might go for the dogleg then. Have been offered one for £500 spondolees which sounds reasonable

Yes do the spraybar mod on all M30's

Will get on to this then

The LSD will be a large case diff and it wont fit an E30, not that valuable either i got £120 for mine off my breaker

I noticed in one of your pics that it looks like you have a fly by wire for the throttle body, im not sure how you get rid of that to use a cable

Will have to bow to the knowledge of the chap who is helping me on this one. He's coming round tomorrow for an oggle and we'll have a chat then about it.

Sooo... is it a fragger or a keeper?

I'm kind of thinking I would like to get it on the road, but if I did I would need to convert her to a manual as just couldnt stand a 3.5 Alpina with an auto box. Its probably good though as chances are the engine has had less stress than a manual. In reality I think I will have to break, much as that goes against a lot of my instincts being a classic car dude. But, she will make a fabulous motor of the e30, and I will use the Alpina badges in homage to the donor car

[shedrool83]

Nice lump.Get it in an e30 it will be awesome

[realboss7669]

I noticed in one of your pics that it looks like you have a fly by wire for the throttle body, im not sure how you get rid of that to use a cable

Apparently my mechanic mate had to mod the throttle body for the 3.5 he chucked in the e30 last time anyway, so we can just re-use this and put the fly by wire on the engine we remove from my e30.

Looks like we are going to break it as I would want to convert it to manual if I got it back on the road plus the interior isnt original anyway (its from an M5) and there is a fair bit of work needed we think on bushes perhaps. This will amount to a lot of £ and I would then end up with yet another car and my e30 still needing finishing.

Plan is to sell the bits seperately to recoup some money and then sell the shell with the Alpina plaque last of all. At least someone who has an Alpina might find the shell handy. I will also be flogging the 3.5 engine that's currently in my e30 which came from a 100,000 mile 5 series.

I think I may stick with the manual 5 speed box already in my e30 (which came from the original 535 donor car) rather than go dogleg. Advice welcomed but it seems from a few people I have spoken with that the dogleg isnt as strong a box as the standard 5 speed manual one...? I have owned a few Porsche 924 Turbos over the years and they use a dogleg which I bet is the same one as the synchromesh on 1st always wears out.

Lee are you doing anything to your engine other than servicing it? I was just going to give it a clean up and a lick of paint once it's out, then change the sump gasket, do the oil spray bar mod, change the cam cover gasket, spark plugs, oil & filter, air filter and possibly water pump.

Just trying to locate a local workshop for a 4 week short term let so we can do the work as my garage although big enough, and fitted with an rsj isnt that accessible as I have builders on site

Loads to do, and targetting completion by end of Jan hopefully, but the e30 will be a beast once its finished Can wait to test drive it in the snow

[leeparkes]

The dogleg box probably has a bit of value to it, id sell it and stick with what you got.

Im basically doing what you are with the engine, just a light spruce up, i did think about taking the head off and re lap the valves, skim it etc... but i doubt if i will.

My E30 will be off the road by 1st Dec to start the swap along with the engine swap i got a whole heap of other jobs to do on it though, like sort the rear arches out

Where's the pics of the E30 its going in

[realboss7669]

Nice. I am getting a garage on my street rented so I can break the Alpina. Engine will be out first and in my garage with the e30 quick as I can. Then I will sell off the Alpina bits and once she's gone I will finish with the rented garage, take the 3.5 lump out of my e30 and drop in the Alpina.

Piccies of the e30...

Looking a bit sad and dusty from building work and on old TSW alloys...thats my Porsche 924 Carrera GT behind her


Front seats removed for restorative work on leather - temporary cloth seat in there.


Rear leather seats which will also get some treatment and repairs although they are ok


The current beast


With the Asevs; and with 2 motorbikes fighting to get in on the action


Next jobs are to track down an MTech 2 kits ideally and then get Alpina engine in her before heading off to the MOT station!

[Cypriotgeeza]

Very cool!!

[realboss7669]

Cheers dude, been reading your posts with interest about the work on your motor , and wished I was a bit more mechanically savvy, but unfortunately at the moment, I aint!

[Cypriotgeeza]

It seems the longer you own an E30 the more mechanically savvy you become! l0l

thanx for the interest btw! a big part of it was due to the help from this site! i guess i will be following your posts now aswell! Looks like a cool project!

[realboss7669]

Thanks mate, will keep the piccies coming! Looks like I am going to be getting more up to speed mechanically too!

[Cypriotgeeza]

Thanks mate, will keep the piccies coming! Looks like I am going to be getting more up to speed mechanically too!

Looking forward to it mate! the azevs look good on it!

[jonb]

Hi james.

I havent been on here for a while, but remembered you saying you came on here. Thanks for the cuppa the other night!

I forgot to mention the panels you bought are zinnobar red so they dont match the brilliant red of your car.

Should go well with the b10 engine in there though.

James is also the owner of a carrera GT 924(rhd), its a car which makes the e30 m3 seem mass produced and he bought it for about a 1/4 of what it is worth thanks to a bit of luck.

[realboss7669]

Hey Jon, nice to have you on here!

Yep, I knew panels were zinnobar red but I need one replacement wing and the doors may come in handy but we will see! May get a paint job on the car next year but we'll see!

B10 will be cool. Am looking for a garage and think I may have found one. If so perhaps the best plan would be to get the B10 engine out, and trailer it to my garage with the e30, then break and sell the e34. Could then remove the existing m30 engine from the e30 and do that swap in my garage.

Carrera GT was like the holy grail. I'd been looking for years so for one to come up and be at the right price for me was awesome.

[leeparkes]

I switched my E30 off for the last time yesterday ready for the swap, Shall we have a race to see who can get up and running first







Only joking ive got a heap of stuff to do while mines out, sort of mini resto....

Are you fitting an E36 rack?

[realboss7669]

He he he! A race would be fun, except I cant get a flipping garage right now, and you kind of have a head start seeing as you have the engine there ready!!!! It will be interesting though and I cant wait to see who gets there first and what the results are like. I may even have to arrange to come see what you have done if you beat us to it...Black Country not too far away from me.

When you say e36 rack, are you considering this due to space or for strength? If its for space, then without checking this out I am not 100% but I believe that the benefit of the LHD is that there is slightly more room where its needed, where as if its for strength then please fill me in as I am the rookie here...'jonb' is the chap doing the engine transplant and I will be passing him spanners, cups of tea and biscuits and generally be getting in his way on my steep learning curve...

Going to use the B10 Alpina decals on the e30 as well; I know it isnt an 'original' B6 but it will certainly shift. Debating whether to fit my Mtech steering wheel or go Alpina all out and go for an Alpina steering wheel and gear knob. Want this to be a tasteful dip of the hat to Alpina rather than a plain old 'lift and shift' of an engine. What about you Lee? - although your motor looks pretty awesome already

At one point was contemplating hunting for an M3 chassis, but that would be megabucks I reckon and I am nearly skint now with all of my projects. Is the M3 chassis significantly different to the standard e30 does anyone know? I know the B6 3.5s used an M3 chassis. It would also be a fantastic, beautiful and mad scheme that would see me issuing a million IOU's to my wife and buying her flowers every day for 5 years. Right now she's content with them once or twice a year and in between for me to call her 'my flower' and remind her that it's the thought that counts.

She's a tomboy at heart though and I usually get in to find her with the footie on the box demanding a can of beer from the fridge. Year before last her birthday present was a new exhaust for her motorbike, and she held her own as the sole female on one of the BMW offroad skills 2 day courses last year; one bloke broke his wrist, another ended up half way up a tree with his bike, and another chap was almost in tears at the end of day 1 because he was so tired...I figure I have nothing to complain about at all

I'm starting an essay here!

[ImysE30]

Nice project, look forward to the updates I had my eye on the donor car but was too expensive in the end for me.

I'm going M30 turbo but would have loved to have a B10 in my M3 rep cab shell and make a B6S replica

[realboss7669]

Nice. I saw your motor on a few other posts, looks like you have been busy.

I paid a bit more than I really wanted to for the B10 but am glad I got it. Spend a long time weighing up whether to break her or not as in 10 or 15 years I dont want to be looking back feeling guilty!

Turbo'd m30 will be interesting; I saw the post about the You Tube one kicking out over 500bhp!

[ImysE30]

Will be worth it once it's in the lighter E30 shell

That's on standard internals as well That's just silly power IMO for a cabby, cruiser not bruiser, 350 will be plenty for me

[realboss7669]

I agree there, the quest for BHP involves diminshing returns. Eventually you end up forking out shed loads of cash for just a few extra horses. The happy medium is best I reckon, most bang for the buck.

Will be looking to get Eibach strut braces for mine though, front and rear...when I can afford to!

[ImysE30]

Bang for buck is 350 hopefully for me, anymore then i'd rather put it in a 2 door shell

Cab's don't have any mountings for a rear strut brace but I would recommend a front one

Good luck, looks a nice one

[realboss7669]

Thanks mate. I bought her for £150 from a yard a few years ago where she was sat forlornly. Body was actually very good nick, but engine was shot, which sparked this whole conversion idea and subsequent B10 thing! Its taken time, but am determined for her to be on the road in the next 2-3mths now!

[Rav335uk]

Very very , another Alpina B10 ready to have it's soul stripped

[realboss7669]

I hope I can keep the soul intact, just transfer it into another eager, young, and agile body!

[leeparkes]

Ah, just noticed yours is a left hooker, E36 rack gives less turns lock to lock but not sure how you would get on finding a LHD one or if its the same fitment..

I prefer the de badged look, it keeps em guessing and the "what the fookin hells in that" comments

[realboss7669]

Ok, so basically sharpens up the steering by using different steering ratio. I tend to do searches on the German Ebay given my motor is a LHD so will try and find the german for 'steering rack' and check out prices.

[leeparkes]

Not just E36 rack you can use, iirc Z3 is the shortest lock to lock at 2.7 turns

E30 is 4 turns
E36 is 3.4 turns

[realboss7669]

Ah ok. I might do the same thing then...and it might be worth doing while the engine is out. Z3 sounds interesting at 2.7 turns although dont want it to be too extreme. Thanks for all the info, this is a really helpful forum compared to many out there

[ImysE30]

Or if you can find a LHD one, an E46 Club Sport rack is around 3 turns and is said to be very good

[adit]

If you use the dogleg box iirc they have a direct 5th gear (i might be wrong) you need to double check. If it is a direct 5th you will need a diff ratio of around 2.9ish if its an overdrive box a 3.64 will be fine

Cool. Might go for the dogleg then. Have been offered one for £500 spondolees which sounds reasonable

i've got one available if you're interested



sorry, wrong pic :



good luck with the B10. i've got a B10 reg. but haven't got the car to put it on yet

[realboss7669]

i've got one available if you're interested

I knew that was coming!

Will drop you a PM about dogleg (the 2nd pic) and maybe reg...

[adit]

(yes ok, the first one's not available)

[realboss7669]

Finally started stripping the E34 today. Bumper and Alpine front spoiler are off and rear spoiler too. Dismantling of the connections to the engine are underway and then will get an engine hoist to remove it. Started her yesterday and she sounded mighty fine.

Chap popped round earlier regarding something else and of all things he owns an E30 with an e36 3.6 M3 engine! He is big into these e30's and actually knows someone who has a 3.5 Alpina engine in an e30 from a 7 series! What an unbelievably small world, I mean, what are the chances of that?!! Will try and find out some more info on the guy and keep you posted as might prove interesting...a kind of 'sub-M30' club!

[realboss7669]

My friend and mechanic jonb may be having the B10 shell. Seems he has a cunning plan to chuck a 3.5 engine into it and turbo it...nice

[ImysE30]

Just imagine what a B10 turbo would be like

M30 Turbo FTW