E39 B10 V8 advice please

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jimmy_biggles
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 8:04 pm

E39 B10 V8 advice please

Post by jimmy_biggles » Tue May 03, 2016 9:22 am

Hi all,

Firstly i have spent a great deal of time looking through the posts on this site and the wealth of information which has been fantastic and answered lots of my questions. However, there are a few which i cannot find the answer to and also wanted an opinion from you knowledgable members.

I am looking at e39 B10 V8, Dec 2000 build so facelift. Its in Berlin, Germany which is where i am going to be spending a lot of my time now. The car is in great condition but there are a few things i am worried about:

1) Head Gasket - i can't seem to find a clear answer as to whether this was built with the newer metal gasket or not. Owner has defo not changed it. I asked for the engine number (as i understand anything over 14500 would have had it from new) but he came back with a rather odd ID - 0441/6 and 1439644d - any idea what that is? So i am pretty sure that is not the engine iD. Is there a way i could get alpina to tell me if its done? or could someone advise exactly where the engine ID is? I can't find any posts showing this info.

2) The owner has had the car for over 8 years and he is the second owner. He only uses it at weekends and hence has covered a very small number of kms only 110000kms so far. However, he has stuck religiously to the inspection counter for servicing and therefore at one point in went for nearly 5 years without an oil change but only covered 10,000kms in that time. Should this concern me a lot? I would always change the oil every two years despite mileage.

3) Radio cuts out regularly and with a wiggle of the wires near the cd changer in the boot it comes back on. Is this one of the standard wiring issues? and could it be related to the ignition switch replacement which i have read about?

Appreciate any help and advice you can give me.

Cheers in advance.

James

Jameswsb
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 1:47 pm
Location: West Yorkshire

Post by Jameswsb » Tue May 03, 2016 6:17 pm

Hi there, I also have a B10 V8 built in Dec 2000 and I have been told it has the metal headgasket. The facelift production numbers are a tad confusing as they dont follow the previous format. Its my understanding that all of the facelift models had the upgraded gasket, thats what I was told anyhow.

Regards your second point, personally I would never buy a car that had to wait 5 years between oil changes. Everyone will have differing standards on this but leaving it that long is a form of neglect as far as i'm concerned. Plus these are relatively complex cars and they do not like sitting around. As soon as you start putting on the miles its pretty much guaranteed that the lack of use will cause issues. The fact you are questioning this already suggests it bothers you so this may effect your enjoyment of the car should you buy it.

Cheers
-----------------------------------------------------------
2001 Alpina B10 V8 (044)
2001 BMW M5
2005 Clio 182 FF (Second car & Track Hack)
2008 Megane R26 (Sold)
2009 Focus RS (Sold - Totally Bonkers)
2001 BMW 330CI Sport (Sold)

jimmy_biggles
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 8:04 pm

Post by jimmy_biggles » Thu May 05, 2016 9:48 am

Jameswsb wrote:Hi there, I also have a B10 V8 built in Dec 2000 and I have been told it has the metal headgasket. The facelift production numbers are a tad confusing as they dont follow the previous format. Its my understanding that all of the facelift models had the upgraded gasket, thats what I was told anyhow.

Regards your second point, personally I would never buy a car that had to wait 5 years between oil changes. Everyone will have differing standards on this but leaving it that long is a form of neglect as far as i'm concerned. Plus these are relatively complex cars and they do not like sitting around. As soon as you start putting on the miles its pretty much guaranteed that the lack of use will cause issues. The fact you are questioning this already suggests it bothers you so this may effect your enjoyment of the car should you buy it.

Cheers
Jameswsb,

Thanks very much for your reply and confirming the head gasket situation. Glad to have a clear answer finally!

Appreciate your view on the service history and i think i needed someone to say what i was thinking. It worried me as soon as i saw it. He has since said he is sure it had an oil service in that time but cant find the bill. I have to assume not done unless there is some documentation. What would be the major consequences? I ask only if i could get the car for a reasonable price would it be worth the risk? He wants £10k now and i am sure i could haggle down.

Thanks again.

BMW540
ALP
ALP
Posts: 203
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Post by BMW540 » Sat Jun 10, 2017 2:11 pm

About engine number and pictures of headgaskets, please see my posts here
http://thealpinaregister.com/forums/vie ... 543#101543
Alpina B10 V8 1999 4,6 347 HP http://www.bmw540.eu/Alpina_B10_V8.htm
BMW 540 E34 1994 4,0 286 HP - Sold
BMW 735 E32 1986 3,8 257 HP - Sold
BMW 745 E23 1981 3,2 turbo 252 HP - Sold
BMW 525 E28 1985 2,5 150 HP - Sold

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