IS THERE A REASON FOR DIFFERENT COLOUR INLET MANIFOLDS 325i

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 7:23 pm

As titled, may sound like a stupid question, did inlet manifolds come from the factory in black??
I have just bought a 325i engine i had the choice of two engines, one with Black inlet and the other not painted.
The black looks factory quality.
Also what numbers should i find on 325i block??

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 7:57 pm

No, all inlet manifolds were plain silver. Many people have painted them over the years though.

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:08 pm

Cheers, whoever painted this did a real neat job.

Post Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:16 pm

ross the engine i bought has a blue block, i'm guessing it has had some work done internally.
I carnt find the engine number.
On the block i can find numbers BMW 1299575 AND 12D89 do these numbers mean anything.

Post Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:43 am

alpina had black inlet manifolds of course

Post Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:48 pm

could this be an alpina manifold?
What numbers are on alpina head? there is a lot of discussion on other forum but still no clear who was right??

Post Thu Feb 25, 2016 5:04 pm

DUBNATOR wrote:could this be an alpina manifold?
What numbers are on alpina head? there is a lot of discussion on other forum but still no clear who was right??

I don't believe the Alpina inlet manifolds were any different from stock. UK Alpina engines usually have MA stamped in a few places, I believe Mark Adkins built all the UK engine conversions.