Any info on this E21 (BOL98T)
Discussion
Hello Everyone ! Looking into buying my first classic car around march this year I stumble upon this E21 with some alpina bits. It first appeared on my radar when it was sold by a chap that has a dealer called Dolan Classics (March 2021). The car seems to be a swiss import. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CMSBORJhPmb/)
The car seems to be in quite good nick and was sold for about 7K if my memory serves me well. I lost my chance and it got sold before I saw it.
Later that year (July 2021) I saw the car was arguably sold in collecting cars for 2.6K !! (https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1978-bmw-e21-316i) Lots of pictures here.
And around a month if was posted for sale again on classic cars for 6.5K, now it has been reduced to 5K. Just having a look a the pictures it seems that between dolan classics and collecting cars the car lost its strut bar, and has different seats. Very odd
Do someone from here knows the car by any chance? I presume there must be something wrong or weird going on as its been changing hands quite a lot in the recent months, but would be nice to know if someone from this forum has owned the car previously. I am somewhat tempted to buy it but when I saw the detailed pictures on collecting cars it seems to have a very poor paintjob and rust in some areas. It just seem like a good option as it is MOT/Tax exempt and I live in London and need to clear the dreaded ULEZ.
Many thanks for the help or more info on this car that you can provide me
Kind Regards
Alex
The car seems to be in quite good nick and was sold for about 7K if my memory serves me well. I lost my chance and it got sold before I saw it.
Later that year (July 2021) I saw the car was arguably sold in collecting cars for 2.6K !! (https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1978-bmw-e21-316i) Lots of pictures here.
And around a month if was posted for sale again on classic cars for 6.5K, now it has been reduced to 5K. Just having a look a the pictures it seems that between dolan classics and collecting cars the car lost its strut bar, and has different seats. Very odd
Do someone from here knows the car by any chance? I presume there must be something wrong or weird going on as its been changing hands quite a lot in the recent months, but would be nice to know if someone from this forum has owned the car previously. I am somewhat tempted to buy it but when I saw the detailed pictures on collecting cars it seems to have a very poor paintjob and rust in some areas. It just seem like a good option as it is MOT/Tax exempt and I live in London and need to clear the dreaded ULEZ.
Many thanks for the help or more info on this car that you can provide me
Kind Regards
Alex
Used prices are on the up and have attracted speculators. That has caused some cars to change hands and the asking prices are strong. The fact the price has been reduced indicates there are no buyers. It sold in March for 2600 so for it value to have doubled in 6 months sounds fishy.
I have seen the same car advertised for about 6 months now but I have no seen it.
It's a 316i and it could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. The alpina decal are extremely kitch and its no alpina. Those suppress the price. If the body work is sound I.e no rust then it's worth something otherwise it's a money pit. I am all for money pits but they need to start of cheap.
I have seen the same car advertised for about 6 months now but I have no seen it.
It's a 316i and it could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. The alpina decal are extremely kitch and its no alpina. Those suppress the price. If the body work is sound I.e no rust then it's worth something otherwise it's a money pit. I am all for money pits but they need to start of cheap.
Edited by Agarange on Sunday 10th October 17:02
Agarange said:
...
It's a 316i and it could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. The alpina decal are extremely kitch and its no alpina....
^This.It's a 316i and it could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. The alpina decal are extremely kitch and its no alpina....
I would say it's quite disappointing to drive.
If it was a bog standard 316 with no Alpina bits, your expectations would be completely different and it would probably be a lovely little car.
Olivergt said:
Agarange said:
...
It's a 316i and it could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. The alpina decal are extremely kitch and its no alpina....
^This.It's a 316i and it could not pull the skin of a rice pudding. The alpina decal are extremely kitch and its no alpina....
I would say it's quite disappointing to drive.
If it was a bog standard 316 with no Alpina bits, your expectations would be completely different and it would probably be a lovely little car.
I ended up buying this and I am over the moon. It's quite fun to drive, but have to sort out some minor details...
Agarange said:
Oh that's a nice one. What model? I do lust after an e21. It also just goes to show kitch has its appeal to some. I think you bought a nicer one though.
Thanks mate ! It is a 316, unfortunately 323 are out of my budget and I wanted to experience a classic and this one sounds nice and drives well so I am not bothered about driving it a bit slower, I have an E92 330i manual if I want to go a bit quicker. I agree this one is a bit nicer than the other one with the alpina stickers, it was a bit more expensive but I think it was worth it. I started with this 316...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
A great mod to do is replace the OE steering rack with a quick rack. It goes from 4 turns to just 2.5 and transforms the drive. I had them developed a few years back and they're a) still available and b) not hugely expensive.
https://steering-racks.co.uk/bmw-e21-manual-high-r...
ETA - If I can offer any help/advice please just ask as would be happy to help. There's another chap on here (Wizor / Rob) who knows his E21 and has a lovely E23.
It's easy enough to drop an M20/2.5 in should you ever want to recreate a 323i experience, albeit with a bit more power and better injection. I ran an M52/2.8 with around 240 brake and it was quite sprightly.
e21Mark said:
Before....
After.....
Build thread here...After.....
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
A great mod to do is replace the OE steering rack with a quick rack. It goes from 4 turns to just 2.5 and transforms the drive. I had them developed a few years back and they're a) still available and b) not hugely expensive.
https://steering-racks.co.uk/bmw-e21-manual-high-r...
ETA - If I can offer any help/advice please just ask as would be happy to help. There's another chap on here (Wizor / Rob) who knows his E21 and has a lovely E23.
It's easy enough to drop an M20/2.5 in should you ever want to recreate a 323i experience, albeit with a bit more power and better injection. I ran an M52/2.8 with around 240 brake and it was quite sprightly.
Edited by Mark-E34-535 on Saturday 16th October 09:59
If you putting an m20 why not an m50 or an m52b28.....
Or go all alpina on it and drop in an m30. My m30b30 out of my e34 will be available soonish once the m30b35 is ready to go in.
Or in have the money tune the m10. That m10 can be bored out and a crank from a 2.0l fitted. With high compression custom pistons (jp racing and cp caprillo do them) and a 280 degree camshaft with about 10.5mm of lift should give a fair bit of hp.
The bore can be as much as 92.5mm and that's a 2150cc engine.
Given the m10 is so similar to the m30 I would expect if done right you would see 150 to 160hp.
Or enjoy it as it is.
Or go all alpina on it and drop in an m30. My m30b30 out of my e34 will be available soonish once the m30b35 is ready to go in.
Or in have the money tune the m10. That m10 can be bored out and a crank from a 2.0l fitted. With high compression custom pistons (jp racing and cp caprillo do them) and a 280 degree camshaft with about 10.5mm of lift should give a fair bit of hp.
The bore can be as much as 92.5mm and that's a 2150cc engine.
Given the m10 is so similar to the m30 I would expect if done right you would see 150 to 160hp.
Or enjoy it as it is.
It’s a lot simpler mimicking a 323i and dropping an M20 in than fitting an M50/52 although neither are cheap anymore. An M44/1.9 is probably the best budget swap and 140+ bhp is nigh on 323 power.
You could tune the M10 but that’s not cheap either. Especially a 2.0 block and s14 crank to stroke out to a 2.3.
An M30 swap would be a nice old school conversion but the stock diff and driveshafts would be the weak point.
I’d just put a Weber 28/36 on the stock m10 and enjoy it as it is. I’d fit the quick rack and an LSD though.
You could tune the M10 but that’s not cheap either. Especially a 2.0 block and s14 crank to stroke out to a 2.3.
An M30 swap would be a nice old school conversion but the stock diff and driveshafts would be the weak point.
I’d just put a Weber 28/36 on the stock m10 and enjoy it as it is. I’d fit the quick rack and an LSD though.
Mark-E34-535 said:
Build thread here...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
A great mod to do is replace the OE steering rack with a quick rack. It goes from 4 turns to just 2.5 and transforms the drive. I had them developed a few years back and they're a) still available and b) not hugely expensive.
https://steering-racks.co.uk/bmw-e21-manual-high-r...
ETA - If I can offer any help/advice please just ask as would be happy to help. There's another chap on here (Wizor / Rob) who knows his E21 and has a lovely E23.
It's easy enough to drop an M20/2.5 in should you ever want to recreate a 323i experience, albeit with a bit more power and better injection. I ran an M52/2.8 with around 240 brake and it was quite sprightly.
Hi Mark, thanks a lot for all the tips, and congrats on your E21 looks amazing and I am sure its so fun to drive with all that power. I will have a look at the steering rack mod looks quite interesting. Now I am trying to get all the servicing done on the car to be safe (fluids, sparkplugs, etc. ) But for sure later I will give you a shout. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
A great mod to do is replace the OE steering rack with a quick rack. It goes from 4 turns to just 2.5 and transforms the drive. I had them developed a few years back and they're a) still available and b) not hugely expensive.
https://steering-racks.co.uk/bmw-e21-manual-high-r...
ETA - If I can offer any help/advice please just ask as would be happy to help. There's another chap on here (Wizor / Rob) who knows his E21 and has a lovely E23.
It's easy enough to drop an M20/2.5 in should you ever want to recreate a 323i experience, albeit with a bit more power and better injection. I ran an M52/2.8 with around 240 brake and it was quite sprightly.
Edited by Mark-E34-535 on Saturday 16th October 09:59
One thing I wanted to ask you, do you know a garage where I could take it to sort the rich carburettor? I am in west london but willing to drive a bit for the right garage.
Many thanks for your comments and I will keep in touch !
Mark-E34-535 said:
It’s a lot simpler mimicking a 323i and dropping an M20 in than fitting an M50/52 although neither are cheap anymore. An M44/1.9 is probably the best budget swap and 140+ bhp is nigh on 323 power.
You could tune the M10 but that’s not cheap either. Especially a 2.0 block and s14 crank to stroke out to a 2.3.
An M30 swap would be a nice old school conversion but the stock diff and driveshafts would be the weak point.
I’d just put a Weber 28/36 on the stock m10 and enjoy it as it is. I’d fit the quick rack and an LSD though.
That sounds like my plan for the future, Weber carb, quick rack, LSD and it should be good to go. If I feel the ache for more power I'll look into an engine swap but because I lack the space to do the job and don't have the right tools/experience for such a big project I will probably stay away for it for a while. You could tune the M10 but that’s not cheap either. Especially a 2.0 block and s14 crank to stroke out to a 2.3.
An M30 swap would be a nice old school conversion but the stock diff and driveshafts would be the weak point.
I’d just put a Weber 28/36 on the stock m10 and enjoy it as it is. I’d fit the quick rack and an LSD though.
g3org3y said:
Congrats with the purchase OP. 
M539Restorations on YouTube is in the process of getting an E21 323i back on the road, his videos are well worth a watch.
Thanks Mate ! I just started watching his youtube videos today, thanks for sharing, I do tend to struggle to find content regarding M10 E21, I guess they are not as popular as E30 or E21 323i which is fair enough. M539Restorations on YouTube is in the process of getting an E21 323i back on the road, his videos are well worth a watch.
alex075 said:
One thing I wanted to ask you, do you know a garage where I could take it to sort the rich carburettor? I am in west london but willing to drive a bit for the right garage.
Assuming your car has the original Solex or Pierburg carb, they are ofter troublesome and very hard to get running right without a thorough strip down and rebuild. Even then though they have their issues and you'd be better off replacing it with a Weber. They give much better running, improved MPG and a bit more performance.https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151851747047?epid=20722...
I appreciate the one in the link isn't the cheapest but it'll make your m10 feel like new compared to the Solex.
Here's a video on adjusting the mixture and idle on a Solex and there are videos for the Weber also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6ix8CEs4hA
You could also join the UK BMW 2002 forum, as they also had the m10 engine, so you might find a used Weber for sale.
ETA - Have a look and let us know exactly what carb you have at the moment.
Edited by Mark-E34-535 on Tuesday 19th October 05:58
Mark-E34-535 said:
Assuming your car has the original Solex or Pierburg carb, they are ofter troublesome and very hard to get running right without a thorough strip down and rebuild. Even then though they have their issues and you'd be better off replacing it with a Weber. They give much better running, improved MPG and a bit more performance.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151851747047?epid=20722...
I appreciate the one in the link isn't the cheapest but it'll make your m10 feel like new compared to the Solex.
Here's a video on adjusting the mixture and idle on a Solex and there are videos for the Weber also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6ix8CEs4hA
You could also join the UK BMW 2002 forum, as they also had the m10 engine, so you might find a used Weber for sale.
ETA - Have a look and let us know exactly what carb you have at the moment.
Hi Mark thanks for your reply. Yes you are right it is running the original Solex DIDTA 32/32 with the water temperature choke, I will try to get a photo later, but yes the car is running quite rich, the original owner did said about a weber, is the one you sent me on the ebay link a direct replacement for this solex carb? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151851747047?epid=20722...
I appreciate the one in the link isn't the cheapest but it'll make your m10 feel like new compared to the Solex.
Here's a video on adjusting the mixture and idle on a Solex and there are videos for the Weber also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6ix8CEs4hA
You could also join the UK BMW 2002 forum, as they also had the m10 engine, so you might find a used Weber for sale.
ETA - Have a look and let us know exactly what carb you have at the moment.
Edited by Mark-E34-535 on Tuesday 19th October 05:58
The throttle seems to be getting stuck and I have to manually bring it back when I'm driving otherwise it will idle at around 1.5K/2K rpms, if I grab the throttle pedal and wind it down it will idle at around 800/900 rpm which I assume is normal.
On Thursday the car is going to the garage to sort out the following:
- New Oil/Filter (Bought 4.5L of Castrol Classic XL20W-50 Oil and a Mann tall filter)
- New fuel filter (Bought a Mann fuel filter as the car seems to have just a plastic housing with nothing inside?)
- New sparkplugs
- It seems to have water on the radiator unfortunately (so I will replace with anti-freeze)
- Check what is going on with the throttle pedal. I guess maybe some lubrication hopefully
- Check and fix exhaust leak
The guy on the local garage that always service my E92 330i said his dad used to have a lot of olds BMW and did a lot of engine swaps so that gave me more confidence, I'll take it to them and see what they say. I think the weber/carb tune is definitely the next step, but I just want to get the regular maintenance out of the way and stat saving towards a weber. If you could point me on the right direction in which weber carb is a direct replacement of the solex didta 32/32 I would highly appreciate it.
I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
Edited by alex075 on Tuesday 19th October 14:08
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff