... well done Simon, thanks again for sharing your `bits` 
B3s Touring no. 104 6 sp Manual conversion completed 12/3/18
I've got to agree, excellent posts and really lets you know both what you can do but also the ins and outs of these cars.
My e46 330i is on 69k however its a 2003 car so I'm thinking of getting the oils changed this year.
My e46 330i is on 69k however its a 2003 car so I'm thinking of getting the oils changed this year.
Former BMW CC 7 register chairman
2000 e39 B10 V8 Touring
1985 e23 B10 (sold)
1995 B3 saloon switchtronic (sold)
2000 e39 B10 V8 Touring
1985 e23 B10 (sold)
1995 B3 saloon switchtronic (sold)
i thought i'd update a little on the last few months which i can say have not been too bad.
We had a whine coming from the back end which turned out to be a wheel bearing. I'm all for DIY but i don't have the tools for this job so i always pay a garage to do it! Not often i know but i supplied the bearing and the labour cost was £165 so was about a £200 repair. I can handle that.
I've not got a photo but some kind soul has hit the drivers front wing and driven off about 2 weeks ago, my missus claims to know nothing about it. Good job its rusty anyhow!
How was everyones fathers day? This was mine, a phone call telling me it wouldn't start. My thoughts were the starter had gone so i towed her home. Turns out my wife isn't able to be towed and couldn't steer the car and my tow bar is now very bent and S shaped. Breilliant. Anyhow RAC out and he came to the same conclusion, some minor violence to the starter couldn't coax it into life so a tow home. We did get to the in laws but a smidgen late
Fastforward to today and the fuck fest of changing it began, luckily i've had it off before. It still took 3 hours
Here was the working hole, horrid job. The replacement starter was a bigger unit to the one i took off but its fits and fires the engine over like a loon now. You can get to one bolt from below. and if you want to get to the top bolt holding it on then its exhaust off, prop etc and all that malarky. I was able to get to it from above
123,000 miles and we like this one alot, its due and oil change really. the engine has now covered 10,000 miles since its rebuild now
We had a whine coming from the back end which turned out to be a wheel bearing. I'm all for DIY but i don't have the tools for this job so i always pay a garage to do it! Not often i know but i supplied the bearing and the labour cost was £165 so was about a £200 repair. I can handle that.
I've not got a photo but some kind soul has hit the drivers front wing and driven off about 2 weeks ago, my missus claims to know nothing about it. Good job its rusty anyhow!
How was everyones fathers day? This was mine, a phone call telling me it wouldn't start. My thoughts were the starter had gone so i towed her home. Turns out my wife isn't able to be towed and couldn't steer the car and my tow bar is now very bent and S shaped. Breilliant. Anyhow RAC out and he came to the same conclusion, some minor violence to the starter couldn't coax it into life so a tow home. We did get to the in laws but a smidgen late
Fastforward to today and the fuck fest of changing it began, luckily i've had it off before. It still took 3 hours
Here was the working hole, horrid job. The replacement starter was a bigger unit to the one i took off but its fits and fires the engine over like a loon now. You can get to one bolt from below. and if you want to get to the top bolt holding it on then its exhaust off, prop etc and all that malarky. I was able to get to it from above
123,000 miles and we like this one alot, its due and oil change really. the engine has now covered 10,000 miles since its rebuild now
I took a look at this last night and its been toooooo long. I know this car is behind Charles on milege but its still tramping on and always something that needs doing!
So switzerland came and went earlier on in the year i did a boring thing on that in april. MOT time shortly afterwards and tbh its just been driven since the last update in 2014
Failed the MOT on an anti roll bar drop link, outer ball joint on the front and a snapped rear spring eek
So some totally mullered stuff and explaining why it drove a bit like a double bed.
New arm fitted, now bearing in mind i fitted new arms when we bought the car the arm i've replaced hadn't even covered 30,000 miles. It was a TRW item. So this arm is Lemforder this time so lets see how we get on this time. The other arm i replaced isn't alot better TBH so thats on the list also.
So £300 later an i've a nice pair of alpina rear springs. My missus grizzled a bit about this but some things have to be? Which you might queston.....
This lot was done for MOT so back on the road but not addressing all issues. Time is always at a premium but this last week i got the chance to sort some other long overdue suspension
Namely these utterly fucked rear shocks and trailing arm bushes - this is where we are going non OEM here but don't wander off
Bilsteins! not OE on an E46 as Boge/Sachs are but there was a suspension thread a while back and a kind chap whos name escapes me posted a link to the Bilstein catalogue and its a bit of a faff but it lists these as their version of a shock for this very car a touring Alpina B3S. Its a B8 sprint damper not the B6 that many on here have fitted. Anyhow they were £95 odd each direct from bilstein UK. So i though i'd give them a whirl. The front of this car is on Bilsteins already
As you can see in the picture changing the rear shocks on the tourings is a fuck fest and all the boot trim has to be removed literally. You don't want to be back here for a long long time so new top mounts, bump stops, gaskets tubes the whole shooting match is strongly advised!
All fitted so fairly horny as new under kackers always excites me!
This is a very grim trailing arm bush it looks ok but its like jelly
Drill a couple of holes in the ally part of the bush and get wacking with a knackered chisel being ideal
Said bush, such talent needed to remove it lol
Heres a new trailing arm bush from i pair i have in "stock" in the garage from my E36 stash - they fit e46's aswell. And a poly bush next to it. I'm going with the poly as it won't effect the ride and i won't have to come here again to do this sad job which can quite often involve a snapped bolt which is very sad to sort out. Like on my e36..............
Fitting the poly bushes is childs play and also a tip is when removing the the three 18mm bolts which hold the arm to the car mark the bolt heads with a pencil so you are close to the original alignment when refitting up.
You should get the alginment done checked if you change these anyhow as rear tyres are expensive. Also marking with a pencil mean if your talented like me the rear was still in spec!
So after all that as you can imagine she drives lovely. A quick wash hoover tonight as we are off to France friday again
Luckily the camera lies! As she is a scruff bag these days, wheels are very scruffy, front wings rusty and scabs on the rear arches. Wife says its money better spent elsewhere but i will win this one at some point!
I was worried about the bilsteins as i've driven an E46 with B6 shocks fitted and they ride too hard imo, these B8 Sprint dampers are lovely, no hard ride on the back, nice and supple no crashing and feel just the ticket. The trailing arm bushes will help no doubt also. I'd love to comment on how these compare to Alpina shocks but i'd need to drive Charles' car!
Interior is holding up very well, luckily my missus isn't a fat barstard so the outer bolster is still ok!
I gave her an inspection service plus pollen filter so shes ready for our trip to Bordeux Friday 143,000 miles on it now and we still love it. What we might not love is our two kids along the way!
So switzerland came and went earlier on in the year i did a boring thing on that in april. MOT time shortly afterwards and tbh its just been driven since the last update in 2014
Failed the MOT on an anti roll bar drop link, outer ball joint on the front and a snapped rear spring eek
So some totally mullered stuff and explaining why it drove a bit like a double bed.
New arm fitted, now bearing in mind i fitted new arms when we bought the car the arm i've replaced hadn't even covered 30,000 miles. It was a TRW item. So this arm is Lemforder this time so lets see how we get on this time. The other arm i replaced isn't alot better TBH so thats on the list also.
So £300 later an i've a nice pair of alpina rear springs. My missus grizzled a bit about this but some things have to be? Which you might queston.....
This lot was done for MOT so back on the road but not addressing all issues. Time is always at a premium but this last week i got the chance to sort some other long overdue suspension
Namely these utterly fucked rear shocks and trailing arm bushes - this is where we are going non OEM here but don't wander off
Bilsteins! not OE on an E46 as Boge/Sachs are but there was a suspension thread a while back and a kind chap whos name escapes me posted a link to the Bilstein catalogue and its a bit of a faff but it lists these as their version of a shock for this very car a touring Alpina B3S. Its a B8 sprint damper not the B6 that many on here have fitted. Anyhow they were £95 odd each direct from bilstein UK. So i though i'd give them a whirl. The front of this car is on Bilsteins already
As you can see in the picture changing the rear shocks on the tourings is a fuck fest and all the boot trim has to be removed literally. You don't want to be back here for a long long time so new top mounts, bump stops, gaskets tubes the whole shooting match is strongly advised!
All fitted so fairly horny as new under kackers always excites me!
This is a very grim trailing arm bush it looks ok but its like jelly
Drill a couple of holes in the ally part of the bush and get wacking with a knackered chisel being ideal
Said bush, such talent needed to remove it lol
Heres a new trailing arm bush from i pair i have in "stock" in the garage from my E36 stash - they fit e46's aswell. And a poly bush next to it. I'm going with the poly as it won't effect the ride and i won't have to come here again to do this sad job which can quite often involve a snapped bolt which is very sad to sort out. Like on my e36..............
Fitting the poly bushes is childs play and also a tip is when removing the the three 18mm bolts which hold the arm to the car mark the bolt heads with a pencil so you are close to the original alignment when refitting up.
You should get the alginment done checked if you change these anyhow as rear tyres are expensive. Also marking with a pencil mean if your talented like me the rear was still in spec!
So after all that as you can imagine she drives lovely. A quick wash hoover tonight as we are off to France friday again
Luckily the camera lies! As she is a scruff bag these days, wheels are very scruffy, front wings rusty and scabs on the rear arches. Wife says its money better spent elsewhere but i will win this one at some point!
I was worried about the bilsteins as i've driven an E46 with B6 shocks fitted and they ride too hard imo, these B8 Sprint dampers are lovely, no hard ride on the back, nice and supple no crashing and feel just the ticket. The trailing arm bushes will help no doubt also. I'd love to comment on how these compare to Alpina shocks but i'd need to drive Charles' car!
Interior is holding up very well, luckily my missus isn't a fat barstard so the outer bolster is still ok!
I gave her an inspection service plus pollen filter so shes ready for our trip to Bordeux Friday 143,000 miles on it now and we still love it. What we might not love is our two kids along the way!
-
greenelekta
- ALPINA
- Posts: 1233
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:36 am
Easily arranged - just drop me a PM when you are back from Francesimon13 wrote:I was worried about the bilsteins as i've driven an E46 with B6 shocks fitted and they ride too hard imo, these B8 Sprint dampers are lovely, no hard ride on the back, nice and supple no crashing and feel just the ticket. The trailing arm bushes will help no doubt also. I'd love to comment on how these compare to Alpina shocks but i'd need to drive Charles' car!
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Cheers chaps, like a dohnut i forgot to pick up the bmw twin cup holder/coin bin i'd ordered from BMW for the centre consol. Wally as ours has a cradle for an I phone 3!! which is totally useless
We're all packed and i've only packed some jump leads, few hoses, coolant pipe tape (seals with heat wind it round a spit) oil, water, hi vis, fan belt plus tools to change, jubiless, cable ties, bulbs, and a load of shit that keeps my mind at rest!
Sadly i'm missing Gaydon as we travel back a week sunday, much to my annoyance as i missed it last year and have the hunger back this year!
We're all packed and i've only packed some jump leads, few hoses, coolant pipe tape (seals with heat wind it round a spit) oil, water, hi vis, fan belt plus tools to change, jubiless, cable ties, bulbs, and a load of shit that keeps my mind at rest!
Sadly i'm missing Gaydon as we travel back a week sunday, much to my annoyance as i missed it last year and have the hunger back this year!
why of course, just got back no dramas ran a dream 1600 miles no sweat.
Very glad to have A/C it was 34 degrees driving up through France yesterday coming back. Hot coming down and resisting the urge to really get the hammer down on their motorways!
A trip round the up the M20, M25 and M3 home always gets you pissed off after driving in Europe
Anyone else find the worst drivers in europe are fucking idiot english people?!
Very glad to have A/C it was 34 degrees driving up through France yesterday coming back. Hot coming down and resisting the urge to really get the hammer down on their motorways!
A trip round the up the M20, M25 and M3 home always gets you pissed off after driving in Europe
Anyone else find the worst drivers in europe are fucking idiot english people?!
Sad day in our household. An F25 3.0d X3 has appeared to replace the B3S as the wife/family transport. Don't worry i've bought a balaclava to wear when i'm in the X3. I've been resisting this for months but i've lost this battle. However i did win the we aren't selling the B3S contest!
So shes been tucked up into a garage and i've taken the battery off and I can ponder what to do with this and all these cars i have! As this is now mine mine mine also! Its out of the weather at least and in a family members garage which is also free of charge and no pressure to get it out in a few months
I hate these chelsea fucking tractors, the X5 Q7 the most of all. This thing luckily is no where near as big or gawdy looking as the above, but still a pointless 2 ton car. Lucky i'm not driving it everyday then
i kind of insisted that bit get the bigger engine, this is ex demo so its got alot of nice options if a little leggy with 64k on it but its got the full media? pan roof, power tail gate! xenons with high beam assist and something else which points them round the corners?! Plus a whole load of other shit.
Now i've driven it its yeah well not my cup of tea. I can see why people like it
Now i've driven it its yeah well not my cup of tea. I can see why people like it