E-12 B7trubo questions - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

carmel · 10th October 2003, 11:31

What do you think of the E-12 B7 turbo ?

I am looking at one now to buy !

Andy G · 10th October 2003, 12:42

what, in the states?
Stonking good car by all accounts!!!

Alecci · 17th October 2003, 15:07

Well, I don't know where to start... This is the second time I own my car (E12 Alpina B7 Turbo #156), that ought to say quite a good deal.

The only thing about the car that I don't like that much, is the mechanical injections system (Zenith-Pierburg-DL), which has a tendency to make your ownership of this car miserable. I am experiencing trouble with mine, and all other E12 B7 Turbo owners that I've talked to express similar experiences. It's suppousedly VERY VERY hard to configure/reconfigure it correctly, if it ever becomes uncalibrated.

I haven't gotten to that part yet, as I intend to replace it with an electronic and combined injection/ignitions system (will probably use Autronic or Haltech). On the other hand I will, however, keep all original parts and make no changes to the car that will render it impossible to restore it to ultimate original condition. So I guess I'll have to tackle that problem some day anyway...

Except for the above-mentioned, it's really a stunning car with a very special load of driving characteristics. If you have any opportunity to buy one for a reasonable price, I'd recommend you to go for it!

kees · 17th October 2003, 17:12

Alleci,

Good to hear you finally managed to buy 'your' B7 back!!

Now post some nice pictures to whet our appetite!

/Kees

Alecci · 19th October 2003, 12:18

I was thinking of uploading pictures to my gallery, but I don't know how to do it... Perhaps someone could shed some light?

carmel · 20th October 2003, 01:05

if you can't get the pics up can you describe the car, color, stripes.........

what year is yours?

how many other B7's do you know of? you have production #'s

Alecci · 20th October 2003, 19:56

I have now uploaded pictures of my car, they can be found in my gallery.

kees · 21st October 2003, 08:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Alecci
I have now uploaded pictures of my car, they can be found in my gallery.

Your father really did have a very cool company car!

carmel · 21st October 2003, 08:51

do you have the alpina cloth seats? what else can you tell me about the B7..i need more info on this car before i make the final decisions on the B7 i am looking at !

Alecci · 21st October 2003, 13:05

My car is, regrettably, equipped with after-market black cloth. I will remedy this in the future by replacing it with leather upholstery with Alpina logos etc.

More info about my car:

The car was manufactured in Buchlohe in 1980 and was assigned the production number of #156 as indicated by the photos in the gallery. The first owner was a German baron, who after some time sold the car to his sister. The sister did not own the car for long, but instead sold it to her husband (i.e. the baron's brother-in-law), who managed to blow the engine. He put the car up for sale, at which time the reknown Alpina-importer in Sweden (Sten Jarl at Jarls Bilservice in Helsingborg) bought the car. I think that was in 1985, but I'm not sure.

Sten Jarl made a complete engine and drivetrain restoration on the car, and was able to sell it to a company called Bankeryds Maskin AB, where it was to serve as a company service car for the managing director, who was my father. My father soon took a liking to the car and bought it from the company, that is to say, the car passed from the company's possesion into his personal dito. This was 1987 I think, I could check up on dates later if anyone's interested.

After a while my father got used to the performance of the car, and wanted to enhance its figures further. He thus sent the car to Sten Jarl who converted it to B7S specification (3,5 litre engine instead of just 3,0). At the same time the engine got another complete restoration. After the B7S conversion the car wasn't running properly, and after severa visits at Jarls Bilservice that didn't produce any results, my father resolved to go to Alpina themselves in Buchlohe.

Alpina was able to fix the problem, and at the same time made some further tuning to the engine. When my father got the car back it was reported to have an output of 360 BHP and 520 Nm, which is a bit more than the standard B7S. During our visit there, we had the pleasure of driving the prototype B10 BiTurbo, which at that time was Mr Bovensiepen's personal car. Since I myself, however, was only 9 years old at that time, I don't remember much from the journey at all.

When we got home the car was not in traffic for long, since my father got an offer on a Ford Sierra Cosworth for a new company service car. Our beloved Alpina B7 Turbo was thus, in late 1989, but into a heated garage, where it was to remain until 2000.

In 2000, I bought the car to my father. Unfortunately I had yet to learn the down sides of owning such a car, and had to sell it to a collector because of pending studies, after just half a year of ownership. The car however left its tracks on my mind, and when I now got the chance I just had to buy it back. Now it's once again standing in a heated garage, until I can find the time and money to begin a thorough restoration.

Alecci · 21st October 2003, 13:06

My car is, regrettably, equipped with after-market black cloth. I will remedy this in the future by replacing it with leather upholstery with Alpina logos etc.

More info about my car:

The car was manufactured in Buchlohe in 1980 and was assigned the production number of #156 as indicated by the photos in the gallery. The first owner was a German baron, who after some time sold the car to his sister. The sister did not own the car for long, but instead sold it to her husband (i.e. the baron's brother-in-law), who managed to blow the engine. He put the car up for sale, at which time the reknown Alpina-importer in Sweden (Sten Jarl at Jarls Bilservice in Helsingborg) bought the car. I think that was in 1985, but I'm not sure.

Sten Jarl made a complete engine and drivetrain restoration on the car, and was able to sell it to a company called Bankeryds Maskin AB, where it was to serve as a company service car for the managing director, who was my father. My father soon took a liking to the car and bought it from the company, that is to say, the car passed from the company's possesion into his personal dito. This was 1987 I think, I could check up on dates later if anyone's interested.

After a while my father got used to the performance of the car, and wanted to enhance its figures further. He thus sent the car to Sten Jarl who converted it to B7S specification (3,5 litre engine instead of just 3,0). At the same time the engine got another complete restoration. After the B7S conversion the car wasn't running properly, and after severa visits at Jarls Bilservice that didn't produce any results, my father resolved to go to Alpina themselves in Buchlohe.

Alpina was able to fix the problem, and at the same time made some further tuning to the engine. When my father got the car back it was reported to have an output of 360 BHP and 520 Nm, which is a bit more than the standard B7S. During our visit there, we had the pleasure of driving the prototype B10 BiTurbo, which at that time was Mr Bovensiepen's personal car. Since I myself, however, was only 9 years old at that time, I don't remember much from the journey at all.

When we got home the car was not in traffic for long, since my father got an offer on a Ford Sierra Cosworth for a new company service car. Our beloved Alpina B7 Turbo was thus, in late 1989, but into a heated garage, where it was to remain until 2000.

In 2000, I bought the car from my father. Unfortunately I had yet to learn the downsides of owning such a car, and had to sell it to a collector because of pending studies, after just half a year of ownership. The car however left its tracks on my mind, and when I now got the chance I just had to buy it back. Now it's once again standing in a heated garage, until I can find the time and money to begin a thorough restoration.

Alecci · 21st October 2003, 15:33

I forgot to add:

When the car was importet to Sweden it was given a new identity as a BMW 525i -75 because it was not emissions legal in this country. During this process the original chassis number was replaced with a "stolen" one from a BMW according to above.