B3 3.2 Touring No.36 Bodywork time, 13 style

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simon13
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B3 3.2 Touring No.36 Bodywork time, 13 style

Post by simon13 » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:29 am

I rescued this a couple months ago off a trader who was doing his best to ruin it beyond repair!


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The main problem, the head cracked and then this is where it went wrong for them. After they had "repaired" it. My task is to correct this.



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High milege huge history file, all the toys for an e36 nearly. I'm retro fitting parking sensors off my old 328. No electric seats but who needs that!

I'm still at the fixing stage and hopefully a lasting repair can be carried out. Can't wait to drive it. Number 3 alpina in the household :oops:
Last edited by simon13 on Mon Nov 14, 2016 9:50 pm, edited 9 times in total.
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Post by E24man » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:53 am

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Alpina Jim
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Post by Alpina Jim » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:55 am

Nice one Simon, it looks to be in good condition and the interior looks great with the piped leather seats.

Hopefully you rescued it at the right price, are you aiming to keep it in the long run?
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Post by Chas » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:56 am

Nice one Simon. If that was a manual, you'd have cash waiting when you'd finished the job. Love it :)

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Post by joylove » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:12 pm

Looks like it was loved at one point in it's life, interior and engine bay (save for oil/coolant stains) look almost new. Does it have HK audio? Would you consider an E36 M3 6 speed swap?
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Post by Araf » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:43 pm

Well done for getting the whole car. 8) I remember seeing it on Autotrader, where the dealer was trying to break it for parts.
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Post by biffa » Sat Dec 10, 2011 5:35 pm

Well done & good luck :wink:
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Post by Ikule » Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:11 pm

Glad you have saved it Simon, do you know how they had previously 'repaired' it? (weld or replace with a standard non gasflowed head :( )
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Post by simon13 » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:26 pm

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I had this 328i touring for the past 2 years as my daily slag, which gave me more of an e36 bug than i thought i'd ever have. It was a bit of a nail being a Cat C write off in 2003 and she'd clocked up 175,000 on the nikasil engine. The engine was a beaut and it went really well with full Alpina (what else!) exhaust, M50 inlet and the much lighter M20 flywheel. It was always a shed so if a fancy or nice E36 touring came along i'd have to think about it. The MOT ran out in Oct gone and it needed a rear wheel bearing a ball joint and the handbrake had died on one side. So it made more financial sense to break it up rather than do the work for another ticket and struggle to sell it for £500. Engine has gone into an E30 track car!

the history file for this B3 is massive low onwers but high milege with 187,000 on it.

I had a tip from a guy on another forum as the car was in camberley, i live in camberley and me being me i had to have a look!

Its been loved, it ended up being quite a time getting it i offered him 2000 pound as it was. He declined he wanted £2500. I left it and basically he phoned back 2 months later and said did i still fancy it for my original offer! So i thought all of 3 seconds but hung it out for a few days and went and got it.

I towed it home with my C2 2.7 touring, a rare sight no doubt.


I even know the mechanic he used to fix it who although is a friend is a well known beast. Bascially to cut the story short, the car over heated on the trader guy. He had the head ali welded, but there was still a problem after it was put back together. It was running on 5 cylinders. loads of mayo still in the coolant and a ton of rad weld :cry: He had this car up for £6250 originally!

So i've wiped the slate clean and started again. Its needed so far a complete cooling system overhaul. New rad, pipes, water pump, thermostat, viscous. It was all horrid bar the pump.

I had the head pressure tested and it failed, cracked on the weld. So i've had to get inventive and get the thinking hat on. I had in "stock" a M52 head which i'd aquired which i new was good. Turned out the casting numbers where the same. So the Vanos head off an e36 325, 323 and 328 are all the same. They're also used on the Alpina 3.2

The alpina 3.2 engines in these cars are based on the US spec M3 engine which is basically a 3.2 M52 with a cast iron block. but with the usual alpina treatment.



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Shiney No. 4 piston. This got the alarm bells ringing


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Head with shiney valve..................They also used the wrong head gasket!



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split coolant pipe. 1 of the many bodges i'm rectifying



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Nice breather pipe




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Radiator top hose just fell off in my hands. I think the rad being toast is what started the first over heating issue



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Earth strap for the coil leads, theres 2 others 1 was missing



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exhaust manifold studs half in...................



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Timing chain guides worn.

So you get the picture. I'm replacing the whole cooling system, New tinging chain and guides as they aren't expensive. Then onto the head. The now twice cracked alpina head is being replaced by a stock head. BUT i've just picked up this head today. I gave a guy i know both heads and he has replicated the alpina headwork onto the stock head.

Its the best repair imo and gives me a chance of fixing the car properly and with the headwork re done giving the engine the chance to make the power it should.

The A/C was inoperative but, the condensor was f**ked. The compressor wasn't seized so i think a re gas with a new condensor Dryer will have it working again.

The heated seats dont' work but i'm sure this can be fixed.

My plans are to use it as my new daily, IF the gearbox sh!ts itself then there would be a strong chance of a manual conversion i'm not sure what gearbox id use. It should have a 6 speed but the 5 speed can be used also. It would be bloody quick in manual i think.

Its a total spec car almost. No electric seats or PDC. I'm retro fitting the PDC from my old 328i to it as we speak. Electric seats don't bother me too much. They;re heated montana leather which suits me swell!

RE the sound system it had the upgraded system from factory but not the HK option. This has all been replaced its got a hell of a stereo system in it! big 640watt amp for the speakers, new wiring, speakers replaced, sub amp in the boot and a funky DAB headunit. Its really quite loud and thumping if thats what you like. I just happen to like it! I've never had a car with a decent sound system so it can all stay.

The car on the register is a pre facelift and although the same colour combo its not got the high spec like this one. So i've read only 5 RHD were built?? No 3.0 tourings either in RHD it seems, so its a rare one even for alpina standards.

Hopefully this week i'll have it back together and running so we can go from there. Its MOT'd but yes you guessed it theres work to be done elsewhere but getting it running is the main priority. I hope i've diagnosed the fault and this work will be a lasting repair. I can't wait to drive it!
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Post by ade and liz flint » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:49 pm

Amazing write-up. Good luck with getting her running 8) Looks to be well worth the effort.
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Post by joylove » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:30 am

Wow that's a lot of progress already! Noticed you have the M3 mirrors option too!

Personally I think E/seats is good for the E46 where they have driver and key memory, but in the E36 they just add weight, plus when they fail you can't moved them to get at the bolts to remove them :lol:

The heated seats are probably broken elements

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Just one break is game over for the entire mat. Later cars have a CF honeycomb matrix. You can check the resistance with a multimeter, think it's about 9Ohms per each mat for an E36 and each of the 4 mats have their own connections under the seat.

PDC sounds good, just did this on the wife's Toyota (the BMW had it from new), and one chap has put the E39 module in his E36 and that's allowed him to add front PDC too. :o
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Post by simon13 » Mon Dec 12, 2011 1:31 am

Right, major progress has been made but i'm playing catch up on here! So were up to date now . I have got the head back to use, but its now with my dad who will be giving it a flash up first. It is a standard head thats been re worked to alpina spec So pics to follow when i get it back from my dad.


Whilst waiting for a head to return i've tried to get other jobs done

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Like refitting the front end with the replacement A/C lines condensor and dryer and the fan. Then all the trim and front spoiler could go back on




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So it looks like a car going on the road not a scrapper much to the joy of my neighbours i expect. I've also fixed the bonnet as the catch mechanisms and cable needed some TLC to get it all moving free again. One of the bonnet shocks was bent. So i've sorted all that and now you can open shut the bonnet. Makes a difference! And the bonnet shuts too.



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Swapped in this headlamp as it doesn't mist up anywhere near like the one on it



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fixed this earth for the coil leads. I've bought 2 new earth straps for the other coils - one was missing and i lost the other!


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tinkered these studs up, BMW was £1.90 a stud! fook that. Run a tap through




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new seal and chain



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The chain didn't come linked so a father with a life time of bikes soon sorted that for me. You can see which one the linked one is. Its been peened!


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Cleaned up the front, new guides and chain on



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Cover with gaskets, one was a bit bent just to make a fairly easy job a bloody pain


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All on and torqued up, i even did the crank bolt. The Bentley manual states these need to be replaced like a stretch bolt?! 320Nm is the setting. I've never heard of it before?! I'll change it if i need to?!?!?



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New pump belts all that shizzle back on

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Some new seals for the vanos



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I thought i'd clean the piston tops, i only needed to do 5! No. 4 was done for me. ho ho ho

So that left me at a stage where i'm ready to do the rest.




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Heres the boot which is nice




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Now Trade friendly, the beige trim can be kept nice in the shed. The cream floor mats will be getting this treatment also



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This still tickles me, this car was over £40,000 new and the barstards give you this as a spare and.............



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Tosh this 10p sticker on!



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This bit off totally f**ked wood trim is a megre £600 new, hence the black replacement


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Looks ok to me



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You wouldn't even know unless i told you! Looks easy here. Whoever desgined the centre consols and arm rest assenbly on an E36 needs shooting. What a load of sh!t and bloody awkard



Next project was retro fitting my PDC from the departed 328 to this. Not that i need them but just helps the mega spec and well why not


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Nothing exciting on the rear just some hole saw action on the bumper and 1 through the rear panel. ECU sits behind the passenger wheel tub



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Seat out and carpet up to lay it all along




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Then connect the wires to the right colours bascially. I don't know why E36's are like this but it kind of makes it easy. But...........



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This is what intially greats you



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On this poxy car being facelift or whatever the reverse wires where under the steering coloumn. So i had to extent one wire over. Then i couldn't work out where to get power. Wiring diagrams say green/black. match the colours like the rest of the loom. Is there any green/black on this car? Is there fook! So i had to power the car up and get the volt meter out to find a source. These Red ones did the trick. I hope its ok. So they seem to all work fine which is nice


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2003 dated hedgehog. I changed it while i was there as i bought a new one from BMW not long ago for the 328i at considerable cost. The one before that was from ECP and didn't last 18months. Mirco filter whilst i was there also



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What are these for? Theres ICE everywhere on this car. Some huge 640watt amp in the side pocket in the boot. All new speak wires.



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Here you go Kos. not one but 2 alpina systems! Well they're quite different?!

Well i've done some looking on the alpina ETK i have and the system closest to the car is the 3.2 system which i took off the green car.

The other one is for the 2.8 and 3.0 B3's. I thought the systems were all the same for 2.8 3.0 and 3.2s but i'm wrong.




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Back boxes look similar




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small X pipe here on the 3.2 system



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The front halfs are totally different. Look at the bore size of the 3.2 system Its mega! And no funky X pipe like the 3.0 system


So there you have it. Time and weather permitting i'd like to think we shall have it running good or bad by the weekend!
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Post by nealpina » Mon Dec 12, 2011 2:34 am

Well done Simon.

Been reading the thread on the e36coupe forum - excellent work :clap:
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Post by joylove » Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:24 am

Looking good!

On the power thing, on E36, ACC is usually VI/tracer and unswitched power is Red/tracer. Unfused power is red no tracer.

The kenwood box is a crossover for the speakers, it distributes the high and low frequencies to the appropriate speaker.

Much prefer the black over th wood or carbon console. You still have your passenger "alter" though!
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Post by ali » Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:39 pm

What a great project. Thanks for taking the tiome to share.
How do you find the E30 with the M52 in it? Just curious as I love mine to bits clicky
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