RE: Alpina B10 (E34) 3.5 | Spotted
Discussion
bob1179 said:
Some excellent Alpina info there McGee!
Your car is absolutely stunning by the way, the closest I got to something like that was my 1994 540i Touring, which I loved. I would love a proper Alpina someday.
The E34 Alpina is my third E34 Touring; I started with a 540i six speed...Your car is absolutely stunning by the way, the closest I got to something like that was my 1994 540i Touring, which I loved. I would love a proper Alpina someday.
...it was minty mc minty and I would have it now had it not been written off by a sleepy taxi driver. It was featured in two magazine articles it was that good, so after it was declared dead I replaced it with an M5 Touring...
...which wasn't a great example - it lasted a couple of years in my hands but the engine let go and the Cornish coast from whence I'd bought it had taken its toll on the shell so off it went for parts and salvage. I replaced it with an E39 B10 V8 Touring but during my E34 ownership I had learned through an obscure thread on a little used forum that B10 4.6's existed at all and that one car, in my preferred Touring shape, had been made in right hand drive for the UK. I vowed to try and buy it if it ever came up for sale and then years later it was spotted, albeit in poor shape, but I bought it unseen on a one way train journey and have just about held on to it ever since.
McGee_22 said:
The E34 Alpina is my third E34 Touring; I started with a 540i six speed...
...it was minty mc minty and I would have it now had it not been written off by a sleepy taxi driver. It was featured in two magazine articles it was that good, so after it was declared dead I replaced it with an M5 Touring...
...which wasn't a great example - it lasted a couple of years in my hands but the engine let go and the Cornish coast from whence I'd bought it had taken its toll on the shell so off it went for parts and salvage. I replaced it with an E39 B10 V8 Touring but during my E34 ownership I had learned through an obscure thread on a little used forum that B10 4.6's existed at all and that one car, in my preferred Touring shape, had been made in right hand drive for the UK. I vowed to try and buy it if it ever came up for sale and then years later it was spotted, albeit in poor shape, but I bought it unseen on a one way train journey and have just about held on to it ever since.
They look fantastic. The design of the E34 and E39 is definitely a BMW high point. ...it was minty mc minty and I would have it now had it not been written off by a sleepy taxi driver. It was featured in two magazine articles it was that good, so after it was declared dead I replaced it with an M5 Touring...
...which wasn't a great example - it lasted a couple of years in my hands but the engine let go and the Cornish coast from whence I'd bought it had taken its toll on the shell so off it went for parts and salvage. I replaced it with an E39 B10 V8 Touring but during my E34 ownership I had learned through an obscure thread on a little used forum that B10 4.6's existed at all and that one car, in my preferred Touring shape, had been made in right hand drive for the UK. I vowed to try and buy it if it ever came up for sale and then years later it was spotted, albeit in poor shape, but I bought it unseen on a one way train journey and have just about held on to it ever since.
I had a 1991 E34 525 touring back in the late 90s bought for £150!
It had done almost 300k miles and had a month MOT left. 1 owner from new and full BMWSH. It was a company director who had a business in SWales but lived in London so pretty much every mile was done on the M4. Apart from stone chips was in amazing condition and still drove very nicely.
Bought it with a couple of mates to go on a European tour as it was cheaper than flights or rail fairs.
It performed brilliantly including some spirited drives through the Stelvio pass and flat out along the autobahns.
Was going to sell it to the hotel manager in Prague but again much cheaper to drive it back. Made it back to London in a day very comfortably and quickly.
Tried getting another MOT but needed about £1500 of work so sold it to the garage owner for £250 who broke it for spares. Shame as apart from the mileage it was a good car.
Draxindustries1 said:
ChrisCh86 said:
Now that is cool.
Needs a steering wheel refurbishment, but otherwise looks in great shape.
First thing I noticed too.Needs a steering wheel refurbishment, but otherwise looks in great shape.
Lovely car but should be advertised after the steering wheel had been attended to.
Lovely looking thing though.
This particular generation of the 5 series were brilliant around 93-94 a mate of mine who's a mechanic with his own business bought a 1 owner 530i G plate with almost 300,000 miles on it at 5 or 6 years old the previous owner bought it brand new from Scott hall BMW Leeds when it got to around 160,000 miles he started bringing it to my mate at about the time of its first Mot so knew the car for well over the next 100,000 miles the owner had is own business so was up and down the motorway in it every day , it had been so well looked after in the 5 years of my mate having it people we know use to lend it if ever a wedding was on with anyone we knew due to it being white , my mate got rid of it at around 10 years old with 350,000ish miles on and I've driven it plenty of times and it was still as tight as a drum ,
Shame the 3 several different generations of 3 series I've had weren't as good.
Shame the 3 several different generations of 3 series I've had weren't as good.
pSyCoSiS said:
One of the prettiest BMWs ever made. This looks brutish but stylish.
Great car, not sure if it's worth the outlay - but, find another, I suppose?
According to the Alpina Archive there were around 80 made in right hand drive so actually common as muck in UK Alpina terms but with some scrapped, some exported to Australia and NZ, some locked up and lost then who knows how many are actually left...Great car, not sure if it's worth the outlay - but, find another, I suppose?
McGee_22 said:
pSyCoSiS said:
One of the prettiest BMWs ever made. This looks brutish but stylish.
Great car, not sure if it's worth the outlay - but, find another, I suppose?
According to the Alpina Archive there were around 80 made in right hand drive so actually common as muck in UK Alpina terms but with some scrapped, some exported to Australia and NZ, some locked up and lost then who knows how many are actually left...Great car, not sure if it's worth the outlay - but, find another, I suppose?
[quote=McGee_22]
The B10 3.0 AllRad was a 4x4 based on the 192bhp 525ix but now with 231bhp - there were 64 lhd saloons, 70 lhd estates, 2 rhd saloons and 1 rhd estate (which was only uncovered/discovered about 18 months ago).
^^^^ That is awesome to hear that 1 RHD B10 Allrad Touring exists!!! Do you know what colour it is?
I have had a few E34s & E39s and I was fortunate to own a nice K plate in calypso 525ix SE Touring auto which had quite a reasonable spec too. But if I could have a time machine, then I would have went back in time and ordered a fully loaded B10 Allrad in RHD from Sytner's
in calypso as well. I think they look superb and with the bit of extra power would make the IX what it should be. Never seen a B10 Allrad in the wild. lol
The B10 3.0 AllRad was a 4x4 based on the 192bhp 525ix but now with 231bhp - there were 64 lhd saloons, 70 lhd estates, 2 rhd saloons and 1 rhd estate (which was only uncovered/discovered about 18 months ago).
^^^^ That is awesome to hear that 1 RHD B10 Allrad Touring exists!!! Do you know what colour it is?
I have had a few E34s & E39s and I was fortunate to own a nice K plate in calypso 525ix SE Touring auto which had quite a reasonable spec too. But if I could have a time machine, then I would have went back in time and ordered a fully loaded B10 Allrad in RHD from Sytner's
in calypso as well. I think they look superb and with the bit of extra power would make the IX what it should be. Never seen a B10 Allrad in the wild. lol gmackay2 said:
^^^^ That is awesome to hear that 1 RHD B10 Allrad Touring exists!!! Do you know what colour it is?
I have had a few E34s & E39s and I was fortunate to own a nice K plate in calypso 525ix SE Touring auto which had quite a reasonable spec too. But if I could have a time machine, then I would have went back in time and ordered a fully loaded B10 Allrad in RHD from Sytner's in calypso as well. I think they look superb and with the bit of extra power would make the IX what it should be. Never seen a B10 Allrad in the wild. lol
Sorry, I cant remember the colour but if you look through the General discussion section of the Alpina Register you might find the thread there. I have had a few E34s & E39s and I was fortunate to own a nice K plate in calypso 525ix SE Touring auto which had quite a reasonable spec too. But if I could have a time machine, then I would have went back in time and ordered a fully loaded B10 Allrad in RHD from Sytner's
in calypso as well. I think they look superb and with the bit of extra power would make the IX what it should be. Never seen a B10 Allrad in the wild. lol They're not particularly rapid, think about 535i pace, and a huge number of those made by Buchloe were sold in Switzerland but they are a rare and sought after thing on the continent.
The first owner of my car told me he first went looking for a 525ix Touring but on realising how underpowered they were a salesman remembered the Alpina catalogue with some B10 AllRad details - he started looking at the catalogue but turned the page and saw there was a 4.6 litre E34 Touring - he was hooked and placed his order soon after.
problem with BMWs of this era is the wonky steering box steering (instead of a rack). If you had the 3 series it would have a proper steering rack but these 5s, 6s and 7s all had the steering box setup. The problem being that it never feels that well composed, a bit vague. In a car with a steering rack you can hammer it down a b-road no sweat. Not so much with a steering box car. So for all the power and rear-drive traditional sports setup you can enjoy yourself a lot more in a nondescript hatchback with a more modern front end.
That's very easy to adjust-out, after which you have a very composed and hustle-able chassis.
Much more common in fact usually the vagueness is the 32mm nut near the foot-pedals that tensions the steering column reach adjustment - check that is nipped up, otherwise you get an inch of play at sreering wheel readily. Free, and only takes a moment.
Much more common in fact usually the vagueness is the 32mm nut near the foot-pedals that tensions the steering column reach adjustment - check that is nipped up, otherwise you get an inch of play at sreering wheel readily. Free, and only takes a moment.
Huff said:
That's very easy to adjust-out, after which you have a very composed and hustle-able chassis.
Much more common in fact usually the vagueness is the 32mm nut near the foot-pedals that tensions the steering column reach adjustment - check that is nipped up, otherwise you get an inch of play at sreering wheel readily. Free, and only takes a moment.
I used to have the 635 and remember meddling with that nut. It worked for a few miles but then went back to normal. All the chat said get a new steering box. But the car only had 60,000 miles on it so just accepted it for what it was. Much more common in fact usually the vagueness is the 32mm nut near the foot-pedals that tensions the steering column reach adjustment - check that is nipped up, otherwise you get an inch of play at sreering wheel readily. Free, and only takes a moment.
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