Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Place to discuss your non-ALPINA car / problems with your car

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Rav
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:57 pm

Only a few pictures as it was a long day. I had to replace the glow plugs and glow plug control module on a Megane before getting my job done.

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My car is missing the panel covering the oil drain plug - has anyone got one spare?

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1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

hap
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by hap » Mon Jun 17, 2019 12:13 am

Good work rav if i do come Gaydon will they alpina rondals be bsck to bmw 😁

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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Charles » Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:20 am

Rav wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:57 pm
My car is missing the panel covering the oil drain plug - has anyone got one spare?
Mine's been missing since the first service - from what I can tell, they don't fix particularly well and easily fall off.

Personally, I haven't bothered about it.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
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Rav
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:56 am

I managed to find time and money to buy a fit a new set of tyres to my car.

The ones which arrived on my car were Federal F-595R semi slick, road legal, track tyres. At the last MOT my tester advised that they were perished. I looked at Michelin PS4, but just couldnt find stock. I ended up buying a set for Good Year Eagle F1.

I fitted these and took time to clean the wheels including the barell. The car drives so well now. The old tyres must have had a solid side wall or have been so perished that they had zero give. The ride with the new tyres is firm, but much more civilized. The suspension is now well matched to the tyres and i can drive without the contant look out for any postage stamps on hte road which would crash my suspension.

Very happy to be back into something that drives so well.
1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

Rav
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Sun Dec 22, 2019 8:54 pm

I've been enjoying my car massively over the summer. She has become my daily driver and I have even used her for work trips. She is now showing 108k miles.I am enjoying her so much that my early 3.2s Boxster has not really ventured out at all. But my kids wont let me sell the Porsche.

Today, i removed the front fog lights as one has a habit of misting up whenever it rains. As we speak it is in the oven at 50 degrees, gently baking.

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1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

hap
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by hap » Sun Dec 22, 2019 9:17 pm

Nice one rav glad it’s still making u smile

Rav
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Sun Dec 22, 2019 10:05 pm

Thanks Hap.

I also got some time to clean and add some forum stickers to the car. One for you Neil!!

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1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

Rav
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Sat May 23, 2020 11:32 pm

So lockdown blues and not being able to play with my toys (Alpina B3 and Boxster S) has meant that I am being brave and have and new nervous enthusiasm to tackle tasks on my cars.

The B3 is starting to show signs of rot, which has horrified me. Previous owners had kept the car for occasional use or a jaunt to the Nurburgring. I have used the car 'as it should' and kept her going over the winter months even though everyone told me "BMWs are crap in snow". Well, i have run the car as my daily for two winters now and she has never let me down. However, the rear arches are starting to show signs of rot and I thought that I had better do something about it as I love the car so much.

So today, I cleaned the rear arches out of many years of crud build up and after drying in near hurricane winds, undersealed the arches, waxoyled the moving parts and used POR15 on the lips or the arches.

POR15 is a specialist rust cure that kills rust and seals the area to stop all further progression. Both Wxoyl products and POR15 are pretty toxic, so handle with care.

I bought this stuff from Frost:
https://www.frost.co.uk/how-do-i-use-po ... gIswPD_BwE
I bought the 6 piece kit for £60 - which is plenty to do a single car and perhaps enough to get a couple of cars done.

The under body seal was this stuff:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hammerite-5092 ... B002HMOIE8

and the waxoyl:
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/waxoyl-ru ... gIGU_D_BwE

I started by jacking up the rear of the car and cleaning this area with a hose. Years of mud and straw, grass and stones came out.
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Its a great time to clean up the backs of the alloys and then cover in a wax to ensure that brake dust doesn't stick in the future.
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To my horror i found out why my tyre was loosing air. Not the normal puncture, but a cracked alloy. The roads in Wiltshire are peppered with pot holes and I remember hitting one just before lockdown. The alloy has actually cracked and is loosing air. Another thing to sort out.
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Feeling totally gutted, i pressed on and painted the area with Under bodyseal once the car was dry. It is essential that the area is as dry as it can be. A windy, but sunny day like today is ideal.

Before
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After
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I waxoyled the moving parts around this area and made sure to use a straw to spray into all the crevasses.
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Finally, i applied the POR15 to the rolled lip of the wheel arches. This stuff is very good and drys hard. Two coats are needed with lots of prep with degreaser and metal prep.

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So that is the rear of the car done and it took about 4 hours to do. Mainly drying time.... I am pleased and will do the front arches similarly in the next couple of days. I hope that the car will live longer and I really do love driving this car.

Thanks for reading.
1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Bob » Sun May 24, 2020 12:28 am

Definitely a worthwhile exercise Rav, make sure you include a good hose down and wipe round the arch lips as part of your ongoing cleaning routine.

Have you got coilovers on there? Looks like you have adjustable spring perches on those shock bodies and you may want to look at those bump stops and dust shields, they look a bit past their best.
B3 3.2 TOURING #062

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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Sun May 24, 2020 10:30 am

Thanks CeasarBob - yes, I will add this to my cleaning routine going forward as it is easier to keep the area clean regularly rather than once every 20 years.

The car came fitted with HSD Coil overs and yes, i too noticed that the dust sheilds and bump stops are totally perished. I have contacted HSD in Brimingham and requested a quote for a replacement set. Lets see what they come back with. Its yet another task to be completed on the car.
Makes me keep thinking of that high mileage E92 B3 Bi Turbo.....Must resisit!!!
1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

Bob
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Bob » Sun May 24, 2020 12:37 pm

Rav wrote:
Sun May 24, 2020 10:30 am
The car came fitted with HSD Coil overs and yes, i too noticed that the dust sheilds and bump stops are totally perished. I have contacted HSD in Brimingham and requested a quote for a replacement set. Lets see what they come back with. Its yet another task to be completed on the car.
Makes me keep thinking of that high mileage E92 B3 Bi Turbo.....Must resisit!!!
Just remind yourself that there will be at least an equivalent list of jobs to do on the E92 😁
B3 3.2 TOURING #062

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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by hashluck » Sun May 24, 2020 1:59 pm

An excellent read, thank you!

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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by hap » Sun May 24, 2020 8:52 pm

Good work rav
Look forward to more updates

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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Metrics » Mon May 25, 2020 3:28 pm

Nice work Rav, as Bob says a E92 won't be much better on the to do list! Keep this one, nice car
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Re: Rav's 1999 B3 3.3 Saloon - Yes I bought it!!

Post by Rav » Tue May 26, 2020 2:02 pm

Thanks for the kind words all. Your motivation keeps me going.

Local wheel refurb place have quoted £51+vat for the alloy wheel repair. The will have to refurb the wheel as part of the process. Now that means i have to have all four done....

Will keep you all updated.

As for the front arches, there looks to be a liner, so i will try and remove or spray waxoyl up under here.
1999 #032 Alpina B3 3.3 saloon (UK Press Car) - Buchloe Beast
2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola
2015 Audi A4 Avant Ultra - Wife's car
2002 VW Lupo 1.4 16v - Daughter's car

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