Show Me Your BMW!!!!!!!!!
Discussion
Burnham said:
Loving that Alpina E24man. Did they make a few of those?
I'm not sure which one one you mean but neither are very common.The E38 B12 5.7 Limousine is the long wheelbase version rather than the short wheelbase Saloon, and in lwb there were just 59 cars made with 3 known to be right hand drive, two delivered to the UK and one delivered to Japan. In the UK in 1997 a 750iL started at £75,000 and a B12 5.7 L started at £107,000 with the eventual price of my car coming out at c £140,000.
The second UK car is apparently a near identical specification to mine except it has a glass sun-roof rather than my steel one. The last I heard it had covered over 260,000 miles but had suffered some bodywork damage.
There were also 143 E38 B12 5.7 Saloons made with eight delivered in right hand drive to the UK.
I found out about the E34 Alpina B10 4.6 cars when someone started a thread years ago asking if they exist at all, as being made in such very small numbers even by Alpina standards meant they were very rarely seen or spoken of. Eventually someone counted up the chassis numbers and discovered 46 cars made, with 27 being saloons and 19 Tourings, with one solitary right hand drive amongst them all. The right hand drive car had never been seen, spotted or spoken of on any forums or magazines since it was delivered in 1995 and I secretly vowed if it ever surfaced (it might have already been scrapped?) I would try and buy it.
In mid 2011 it was briefly spotted but no photo's could be snapped before it disappeared again, before being spotted again later in the year and the owner giving permission for an enthusiast to take a few photographs for the forum, as well as saying he was considering selling it.
I placed myself at the front of the queue and a few days later took a one way ticket to buy it unseen. It was, after 16 years as his daily driver, a little tired but all complete and I was of course delighted. After a few months investment and fettling it was looking good and I decided to adorn it with the full Alpina stripes and badges that it had never worn before - one reason it had never been spotted was that it was unbadged with no striped for all those 16 years.
The E34 B10 4.6 was Alpina's second solution to what to do after the last of the M30 engine blocks had been used up for the E34 Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo. The first was the B10 4.0 which was a same engine size version of the E34 286bhp 540i which used an ECU, camshafts, polished porting and exhaust system to get to 315bhp. Realising this wasn't enough Alpina decided to cast their own brand new larger V8 block based on the M60B40 to create the 4619cc B10 4.6 which after tuning was just 20bhp and 30lb/ft down on the mighty B10 BiTurbo which was often used in comparison test to the Lotus Carlton and Mercedes 500E.
The new Alpina M60B46 engine was also dropped into the E36 to create the mighty B8 4.6, with the story being told that it was done purely to prove BMW wrong after they told Alpina a V8 wouldn't fit in the E36 chassis.
With none of the left hand drive only Alpina B10 BiTurbo's made in Touring form, as well as no right hand drive E34 M5 Tourings made by either Buchloe or Garching respectively, the B10 4.6 Touring was the solution to a very rapid right hand drive E34 Touring... but at a price. In 1995 a 540i Touring started at pennies under £40k, and an M5 Touring was just shy of £55k; sadly the Alpina B10 4.6 Touring was listed at £65k with my car totalling just over £70k with a few choice extras. This was still short of the £75k it would have cost for a B10 BiTurbo but it did mean just one car was ever ordered in the UK.
The engine was the jewel of the car and it was further dveloped into the M62B46 and used in the hundreds of E39 B10 V8 cars as well being adopted by BMW for the E53 X5 4.6iS, with the final development being the M62B48 used in the B10 V8S cars and the Morgan Aero 8 I believe.
I suppose that is the very lengthy answer to the question of how many there are but in short, there is just one hand drive car and this is it.
Edited by E24man on Monday 7th May 10:18
Alpina B6 3.5 and B6 3.5S cars are very thin on the ground and have risen in price alongside the E30 M3's the 3.5S is based upon.
You'd be better off making your own; I'm thinking along similar lines for my old 635CSi as E24 Alpina's are also very rare and very expensive now so I might just make a B9 3.5 replica as a genuine one is way beyond the reach of my wallet.
You'd be better off making your own; I'm thinking along similar lines for my old 635CSi as E24 Alpina's are also very rare and very expensive now so I might just make a B9 3.5 replica as a genuine one is way beyond the reach of my wallet.
E24man said:
Alpina B6 3.5 and B6 3.5S cars are very thin on the ground and have risen in price alongside the E30 M3's the 3.5S is based upon.
You'd be better off making your own; I'm thinking along similar lines for my old 635CSi as E24 Alpina's are also very rare and very expensive now so I might just make a B9 3.5 replica as a genuine one is way beyond the reach of my wallet.
Funny you are suggesting this as my thought was to use an e30 2.5 ix and make it look like a B6. ix e30 was a superb car on snow!You'd be better off making your own; I'm thinking along similar lines for my old 635CSi as E24 Alpina's are also very rare and very expensive now so I might just make a B9 3.5 replica as a genuine one is way beyond the reach of my wallet.
E34-3.2 said:
E24man said:
Alpina B6 3.5 and B6 3.5S cars are very thin on the ground and have risen in price alongside the E30 M3's the 3.5S is based upon.
You'd be better off making your own; I'm thinking along similar lines for my old 635CSi as E24 Alpina's are also very rare and very expensive now so I might just make a B9 3.5 replica as a genuine one is way beyond the reach of my wallet.
Funny you are suggesting this as my thought was to use an e30 2.5 ix and make it look like a B6. ix e30 was a superb car on snow!You'd be better off making your own; I'm thinking along similar lines for my old 635CSi as E24 Alpina's are also very rare and very expensive now so I might just make a B9 3.5 replica as a genuine one is way beyond the reach of my wallet.
I had the opportunity to buy a right hand drive 635CSi turbo last year and my devious mind had already got me putting wheels, spoiler and steering wheel as well as B7Turbo badges.
E24man said:
I always wanted to turn an E34 525ix Touring into an Alpina B10 3.0 AllRad - loads were made in Saloon and Touring but not a single one in right hand drive.
I had the opportunity to buy a right hand drive 635CSi turbo last year and my devious mind had already got me putting wheels, spoiler and steering wheel as well as B7Turbo badges.
Well, If you decide on such project, I'll be the first one to follow!!! all wheel drive beast!!I had the opportunity to buy a right hand drive 635CSi turbo last year and my devious mind had already got me putting wheels, spoiler and steering wheel as well as B7Turbo badges.
I just moved abroad and can't bring myself of selling my M5. I think that I will register it as it is and keep it for the special journeys. shame the E30s are already expensive over here. will have been fun to build a sleeper.
Fitted some msport springs on the convertible today. Someone had previously put aftermarket springs on the rear that where wrong, meant it was too low at the back, and the front looked odd.
Rear is now raised slightly, but the front is a lot lower. Also rides is much stiffer and feels more stable.
Wanted to keep it OEM and think it looks great now.
Before:
After:
Rear is now raised slightly, but the front is a lot lower. Also rides is much stiffer and feels more stable.
Wanted to keep it OEM and think it looks great now.
Before:
After:
Challo said:
2 GKC said:
Nice but those wheels don't look right to me
They are staggered style 32’s which where available on E38 and E39’s. I quite like them, as they are something different to the normal MV1 or MV2.They need a refurb though and some are badly corroded.
They are also pretty rare, so are well worth keeping!
Mr Tidy said:
Style 32s are great wheels and were an option on E46s, but E39 ones are different sizes IIRC.
They are also pretty rare, so are well worth keeping!
Yes, they seem to be hard to find now. They are also pretty rare, so are well worth keeping!
I have a set for my Z4 with winter tyres, but they have been finished in black! Maybe time for a refurb.
Mr Tidy said:
Mr Tidy said:
Style 32s are great wheels and were an option on E46s, but E39 ones are different sizes IIRC.
They are also pretty rare, so are well worth keeping!
Yes, they seem to be hard to find now. They are also pretty rare, so are well worth keeping!
I have a set for my Z4 with winter tyres, but they have been finished in black! Maybe time for a refurb.
They do badly need a refurb but refurb at the same time will be pricey.
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