My name is Pierre and I am french, so please excuse my english...
I've been reading this forum for a while, and decided to register.
I am 30 yo, I work in a big airline as an aircraft line maintenance engineer, and I am stationned now in Osaka/Japan, since 2 years.
I still have my house and car in France.
I can only drive it for a month, every 6 months or so...
Short story before introduce my car :
here is my 1st BMW, a '74 BMW2002 that I restaured ( paint, chrome bits, leather seats ) before selling it once I baught my house.
here it is before the sale, 5 years ago, still missing it :
Now here is my 1st E30 :
a '88 325i, phase 2.
After having this 325i for a year, I was contaminated, got the virus, so I went to test-drive an other E30, and I fell in love at first sight.
I was so happy, that despite its price, I baught it right away, and that was the best choice, because now the price for those cars are going higher.
Meet my car since 4 years :
ALPINA B3 2.7 !!
I baught it with 118000km ( 170000 km now or a bit more than 100000 Miles ) on the clock, and had all the maintenance bills from BMW workshops, all the maintenance history of the car is known.
Those cars are as rare in France as in the UK, there was no Sytner in here, but they were registered officially one by one from Garage du Bac, a BMW dealer near Paris.
That is not the case anymore, so it is really hard to get an Alpina with french papers now ( dealing with french administration to import an Alpina in France takes around 3 years and there is no guarantee that you can get plates... !!!! ). The UK way is better in my opinion, you can register basically whatever you want, right ??
Quick reminder on Alpina factory :
As probably most of you know, Alpina is a car "factory" registered as such in Germany and not a tuner, so every Alpina cars are dully registered as "Alpina" brand and not modified BMW. My registration certificate doesn't mention BMW anywhere. This is the case since the early 80's and doesn't apply to E21's and early E30's.
When an Alpina is built, here is the process : the car leaves the BMW factory as a 325i or whatever, then it goes to Alpina factory, where the car is stripped of everything, optionnaly re-painted, and rebuilt with Alpina modified engine, suspensions, interior, instruments and so on. This basically what Sytner was doing in the UK under Alpina agreement.
the etched BMW VIN number is then crossed out but still readable for body traceability. A new Alpina VIN number is etched on the RH strut tower. the BMW VIN plate is removed and replaced by the Alpina VIN plate. The car is now and Alpina and sold as such. Not sure about the VIN plate in the UK though.
All the BMW parts were under warranty by BMW and the Alpina parts were under warranty by Alpina. BMW has even made some special modifications for Alpina requirements ( like the E36 B8 4.6 V8 engine mounts, directly made in the BMW factory on Alpina request ).
Alpina still works closely with BMW on some developpements like Twin turbo diesel engines...
The BMW roundel badges remain in place. and the Alpina roundel padges are all fakes, as well as many so-called Alpina parts you can find on Ebay.
Ok, I see you are impatient, so here is the car :
- Alpina B3 2.7 NON-kat ( No catalyst )
serial number : 224 out of 257 B3 builts ( includes Allrad ix-based, touring Allrad, touring ix, convertible )
Here is the ALPINA VIN plate :
- year 1988.
- French original import.
- based on 325i from 1988 ( phase 2 ).
- engine displacement 2693 cc.
- 210 HP as it has a non-catalyst engine, same as the previous C2 ( B3 were all fitted with a catalyst, but for some reason my car never had it, I had that confirmed by an email from Alpina factory ).
- max speed 230km/h or 143mph.
- The exhaust is custom made stainless steel from the exit of the Alpina headers to the end.
- Engine RPM red zone at 6600rpm, Bosch Alpina modified ECU.
- Valve cover and intake manifold are anthracite painted ( original Alpina )
By the way the ALPINA engraved valve cover on M20 are not Alpina made, and all are fake then !
more details :
- Alpina offset front upper shock mounts ( more camber and caster ) see them next picture :
- 4 Progressive Alpina lowered springs ( best handling/confort ratio IMHO ).
- Original 325i 18mm front sway bar.
- Rear Alpina 3 positions Adj. 14mm sway bar.
- original 325i gearbox.
- LSD 25%, rear axle ratio 3.73.
- Additional fuel tank, total capacity is 97 liters.
- dashboard originall Alpina wood covered.
- RECARO seats ( best of the bests ) original Alpina color ( front and back seats ), door trims fabric inserts also Alpina fabric.
- Alpina cluster ( tachometer up to 260 km/h, Alpina branded, red hands all round, 95 liters guage).
-center left air outlet replaced by Alpina-VDO digital instruments ( engine oil temp, LSD oil temp, engine oil press, air intake press ).
- MOMO Alpina leather steering wheel.
Id plate below the dashboard :
- Alpina front vented brake discs dia 296mm ( see the wheel arch damaged, that was after an optimistic tight turn under the rain... need to be fixed soon for the sake of cosmetics
). discs and pads are new.
- picture of the additional fuel tank, on top of the regular tank ( total is now 97 liters).
- front and back Alpina spoilers ( front is cracked and need to be repaired ).
- rims are Alpina 7x16 front and 8x16 rear, tyres 205/50x16 & 225/45x16 respectively.
- spare wheel Alpina 7x16
Original options on my car from the factory :
- No Alpina logo or stripes.
- Alpina Black/blue metallic paint.
- Additional fuel tank.
- Air conditionning ( rare in Europe at that time ).
On this picture you can see the orginal front spoiler before I trashed it on the driveway of a friend ( some fiberglass repairs are scheduled ).
The custom made Stainless steel exhaust system
The car have been converted to run on LPG in a previous life, it cost it a cylinder head, but the system has been completely removes and the cylinder head replaced by an original Alpina ( I have the bill and it was not cheap ), the only reminder of this insane conversion is the hole in the rear below the bumper, for the LPG tank refill ( the tank replaced the spare wheel ).
This car handles great and is perfect for long, fast trips across Europe, it is confortable, and last trip took me and my wife from paris to northe Italy and the italian lakes, Milan, across the Alps, Nice, Avignon, all that with sometimes snow on the roads, in a real confort, the trip was 3000km and it performed really well, except on the snow of course
Here in the south of France last march.
Now, not everything is perfect, I have some maintenance to carry out, and some small improvement too.
I don't plan to change anything on the Alpina M20, because it works perfectly, so only the usual preventive maintenance on the engine, best way to keep it running smooth I guess. All the fluids have been replaced last year.
Now on the suspensions/handling side, several things to do.
- The car is on M-technics springs now ( I had a broken Alpina spring last year ). I have 4 new Alpina rated Bistein and 4 new Alpina springs to install, already got the parts, including the Alpina offset upper front shock mounts.
- I will replace all the bushings on the front and rear axles, so I have ordered and received the following parts :
- Powerflex offset CAB.
- Powerflex front and rear sway bars bushings.
- Powerflex rear subframe & trailing arms bushings.
- Ground Control rear shock mounts.
I will replace the control arms in the same time.
I will also replace the heavy leaking power steering rack by an E36 model ( already have the rack ) with new E36 steering tie rods.
I plan to thow in a quick shift, off course with BMW OEM part, although I disn't choose yet which one to get.
I have an Alpina and I feel I am lucky, it's only a modified 325i, with "only" an M20 engine, no M30 like a B6, but it's just a very good compromise car, powerfull, confortable, sporty, classy, not so expensive to run.
Cheers / Pierre
One last picture :
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