Alpina B3 3.0 Coupe and Questions (long again!)
Discussion
After much ado I ended up buying this Alpina B3 as my daily driver instead of the E30 325i Touring which I've now sold.
www.thee32register.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/topic_show.pl?tid=11608&pid=81014&msg=PstAttach
I decided to keep my E30 M3 and E32 735i.
The decision was made on this basis: I test drove a new(ish)330i Sport Coupe which I really liked and an E46 M3 which I felt was probably a bit "too much of a car" for me as a daily driver. However, what swung it in the end was I couldn't face the prospect of both cars current rate of depreciation!
I decided I maybe get something in the interim for say 2 years thus allowing the new shape 3 series to establish itself and then for the E46 prices to start coming down. I narrowed the field down to an E38 728i or an E36 Touring but was leaning more towards the Touring as I reckoned that in 2 years time that would be by far the easier car to sell. Suddenly I wake up and find I've bought an Alpina Coupe!!!
Anyway, the car is in lovely condition and I've only had it for a couple of days but I'm really enjoying driving it. However, I've got a few questions as I'm new to E36's and Alpinas:
1) This B3 3.0 litre is based on the BMW 2.8 litre unit as I understand it? That being the case isn't there a Nikasil issue surrounding that unit? This car has done 76K miles and I don't seem to feel anything is wrong in terms of bore wear eg. lumpy idle or anything. Anything else I should look for? The car has the Alpina extra dash guages one of which is Oil Pressure...what should that read? (seems to vary!)
Assuming it does have Nikasil liners but doesn't have any problems at present is there anything I can do to prevent anything developing?
2)This car has single VANOS...there's a little noise when it's cold but this goes once warm. Certainly no worse than on my wife's E34 525i Touring (which shares the same basic engine and has 105K miles on it). Looking back in the service records it was noted at one service way back at about 30K miles but never mentioned again. Am I right in thinking "They all do that" as I've read this on the 'Roadfly Messageboards'? Is this a problem worth worrying about? As I said the car goes very well!
3)The headlamps have condensation behind the front cover lenses. Someone on Roadfly said this was normal and just leave it...How come I don't see any other E36's with condensation behind their lenses?!
Thanks for any help
>>> Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 13th July 11:40
>>> Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 13th July 11:47
www.thee32register.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/topic_show.pl?tid=11608&pid=81014&msg=PstAttach
I decided to keep my E30 M3 and E32 735i.
The decision was made on this basis: I test drove a new(ish)330i Sport Coupe which I really liked and an E46 M3 which I felt was probably a bit "too much of a car" for me as a daily driver. However, what swung it in the end was I couldn't face the prospect of both cars current rate of depreciation!
I decided I maybe get something in the interim for say 2 years thus allowing the new shape 3 series to establish itself and then for the E46 prices to start coming down. I narrowed the field down to an E38 728i or an E36 Touring but was leaning more towards the Touring as I reckoned that in 2 years time that would be by far the easier car to sell. Suddenly I wake up and find I've bought an Alpina Coupe!!!
Anyway, the car is in lovely condition and I've only had it for a couple of days but I'm really enjoying driving it. However, I've got a few questions as I'm new to E36's and Alpinas:
1) This B3 3.0 litre is based on the BMW 2.8 litre unit as I understand it? That being the case isn't there a Nikasil issue surrounding that unit? This car has done 76K miles and I don't seem to feel anything is wrong in terms of bore wear eg. lumpy idle or anything. Anything else I should look for? The car has the Alpina extra dash guages one of which is Oil Pressure...what should that read? (seems to vary!)
Assuming it does have Nikasil liners but doesn't have any problems at present is there anything I can do to prevent anything developing?
2)This car has single VANOS...there's a little noise when it's cold but this goes once warm. Certainly no worse than on my wife's E34 525i Touring (which shares the same basic engine and has 105K miles on it). Looking back in the service records it was noted at one service way back at about 30K miles but never mentioned again. Am I right in thinking "They all do that" as I've read this on the 'Roadfly Messageboards'? Is this a problem worth worrying about? As I said the car goes very well!
3)The headlamps have condensation behind the front cover lenses. Someone on Roadfly said this was normal and just leave it...How come I don't see any other E36's with condensation behind their lenses?!
Thanks for any help
>>> Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 13th July 11:40
>>> Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 13th July 11:47
Can't really help with the questions, but nice motor 
My old man has had a 96 B3 3.0 Switchtronic for the past 6 years and every once in while he thinks about changing it but can't think of any car that will fit his needs better
He's had a few little problems (most sorted under warrenty) but nothing that bad, his most expensive running cost is rear tyres as they are a dodgy size only made by Michelin in a nice soft compound
My old man has had a 96 B3 3.0 Switchtronic for the past 6 years and every once in while he thinks about changing it but can't think of any car that will fit his needs better
He's had a few little problems (most sorted under warrenty) but nothing that bad, his most expensive running cost is rear tyres as they are a dodgy size only made by Michelin in a nice soft compound
How is the extra capacity gained on this engine. If its bored then it will be recoated I assume. It does look the same as my 328 block. The Alpina Z4 used a derivation of the old E36 M3 block.
Does it have a full BMW SH, if so you should be okay as I understand that they are still coughing up for failed engines.
Does it have a full BMW SH, if so you should be okay as I understand that they are still coughing up for failed engines.
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