I recently acquired a rare and special Alpina E3 B2-S. From the knowledge Ive gathered, I dont think there was ever an E3 produced by Alpina with the amount of work they did on this particular car. I had heard about the car several years ago and finally came accross it a couple months ago by chance. It was perfect timing as the owner was downsizing his business and needed to make room so he sold me the car. The car had been sitting for several years and was eventually going to be restored by the last owner but you know how that goes....
The story is quite unique in that it was a 1973 model but brought to Alpina in 1979 for a full conversion. Most of the original paperwork is still with the car confirming its authenticity. The car was originally owned by an Israeli diamond merchant living in Europe who paid for the work with diamonds, and this is why I believe so much work was done to the car. The owner ultimately relocated to Miami Florida where he imported the car to setup his business in the Seibold Building (jewelry market in Miami). The car was sold to the last owner sometime in the early part of 2000 where it sat in a warehouse collecting dust with little to no driving time.
The car is in fairly nice shape now. The previous owner did some average paint work and left most of the interior trim, door seals and various parts unassembled so Im slowly piecing it back together. It spent a good amount of time in the shop on carb work and freshening up old hoses and worn parts, but its running pretty well now.
The car has the following upgrades done at Alpina:
Full Polaris paint job (color change from Fjord blue)
Alpina B2-S 250HP motor with triple solex ddh 45 carbs
16" Alpina wheels
Full Alpina interior, instrument cluster, shift knob, steering wheel, and guage cluster
oil cooler
CR dogleg five speed (car was converted from automatic)
LSD
full suspension
adjustable sway bars front and back
big brakes
front chin spoiler (not installed yet)
The car rides pretty aggressive for a sedan but kind of fun to drive. Here's some before an after shots, with still a ways to go...
See pics at below link. Alpina E3
Last edited by djmink; 21st August 2009 at 17:47.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to djmink For This Useful Post:
You really have a gem (no pun intended) on your hands and I am sure it will be a real stunner when it's finished!
Your single pic you sent me inspired me to finally find a Bav and transform it into something close to what you
have. Thanks for the inspiration and I am happy to see that you have finally gone public with it.
Dangit!! You're making me seriously ill over my decision to part with my E3 some 15 years ago this month. I'm sure you've seen pictures of it before, so I won't clutter this thread with any. This E3 you found is awesome! How in the heck do you come across these cars all the time (it seems to me in my own little sheltered world)?
Any chance that you'll be taking the car to Oktoberfest this year? (shameless attempt to get to see it on my part).
More detail and stories related to it, what you've fixed to date, what it needs still, etc, would be very interesting.
Chuck
P.S. Also curious what's under the covers in the garage... Oh, and with all four spaces taken, where does the E3 get to go?
__________________ Current stable:
2001 M5 LeMans Blue/Silverstone
Dinan: springs, Konis, rear sway bar, monoball bushings, and exhaust
Ground Control camber plates
Stoptech front brake kit
Brake ducts opened
TC Design brackets
OE 9.5" rear wheels all around & 275/35-18 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec for street
275/35-18 BFG R1 & Nitto NT-01 R-comps for track
2003 330i ZHP 6MT Imola Red/Black Alcantara
2006 330i sport 6MT Electric Red/Black
2001 Audi S4 6MT Silver/sport Alcantara
1996 Volvo 850R wagon
Dangit!! You're making me seriously ill over my decision to part with my E3 some 15 years ago this month. I'm sure you've seen pictures of it before, so I won't clutter this thread with any. This E3 you found is awesome! How in the heck do you come across these cars all the time (it seems to me in my own little sheltered world)?
Any chance that you'll be taking the car to Oktoberfest this year? (shameless attempt to get to see it on my part).
More detail and stories related to it, what you've fixed to date, what it needs still, etc, would be very interesting.
Chuck
P.S. Also curious what's under the covers in the garage... Oh, and with all four spaces taken, where does the E3 get to go?
Hi Chuck, Not sure how I find these cars. I guess cause Im always looking. Its certainly an interesting car. I had heard about it several years ago, but ran across it by chance a few months ago. As I said, the owner was combining two warehouses into one, so he had to sell off a lot of his cars. He didnt have anything else of interest to me, (a lot of BMW's with mismatched motors), but this car was there. The nice thing about this car is the owner kept all the Alpina parts on the car, and being a 70's car that makes them much harder to replace. Ive refinished the wheels, cleaned up the engine bay, got the a/c working and gone through the carbs for now. It hasn't been a car for several years, so everytime I take it out, it seems to drive better and better. Misc. interior trim parts needs to be put back, but I have most of them. Its by no means perfect, and because of its rarity maybe someday someone will restore it to its former glory, but Ill leave that to the next owner....
As for the garages, theres another four spaces on the other side, it. E3 will stay safe indoors dont worry.. 2002 turbo, E21 b6, E30 m3, E36 M3 lurk under those covers. I know its a sickness...
E3 will stay safe indoors dont worry.. 2002 turbo, E21 b6, E30 m3, E36 M3 lurk under those covers. I know its a sickness...
Yep, a sickness I've had in numerous stages of severity for a long time. After the kids are out of college, I suspect I might have a major flare-up. If you want to bring some cars to Oktoberfest, I can always fly down and drive the 02 turbo or B6 up to Atlanta for you next month. My problem recently is that I'm battling between buying a super track/fun/autocross car (GT3) versus picking up an older and interesting BMW or two...having lunch today with a buddy who just bought a GT3 isn't helping the BMW side at the moment. Perhaps with GT3 prices dropping like stones both can be accommodated in the future -- one can dream at least.
__________________ Current stable:
2001 M5 LeMans Blue/Silverstone
Dinan: springs, Konis, rear sway bar, monoball bushings, and exhaust
Ground Control camber plates
Stoptech front brake kit
Brake ducts opened
TC Design brackets
OE 9.5" rear wheels all around & 275/35-18 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec for street
275/35-18 BFG R1 & Nitto NT-01 R-comps for track
2003 330i ZHP 6MT Imola Red/Black Alcantara
2006 330i sport 6MT Electric Red/Black
2001 Audi S4 6MT Silver/sport Alcantara
1996 Volvo 850R wagon
Its certainly an interesting car. I had heard about it several years ago, but ran across it by chance a few months ago. As I said, the owner was combining two warehouses into one, so he had to sell off a lot of his cars. He didnt have anything else of interest to me, (a lot of BMW's with mismatched motors), but this car was there. The nice thing about this car is the owner kept all the Alpina parts on the car, and being a 70's car that makes them much harder to replace. Ive refinished the wheels, cleaned up the engine bay, got the a/c working and gone through the carbs for now. It hasn't been a car for several years, so everytime I take it out, it seems to drive better and better. Misc. interior trim parts needs to be put back, but I have most of them. Its by no means perfect, and because of its rarity maybe someday someone will restore it to its former glory, but Ill leave that to the next owner....
My problem recently is that I'm battling between buying a super track/fun/autocross car (GT3) versus picking up an older and interesting BMW or two...having lunch today with a buddy who just bought a GT3 isn't helping the BMW side at the moment. 
Perhaps with GT3 prices dropping like stones both can be accommodated in the future -- one can dream at least.
Linear Mode
