B10 V8, No. 388

[KennyP]

Cheeky wash this afternoon as its present for turning 117k miles There were 'some' bugs attached after a wee saunter out to St Andrews, Anstruther & Crail at the weekend.

Decided that the leather could have some Gliptone that I had left over as I hadn't done it since last summer. I had also purchased Gtech ceramic wheel coating for some BBS RC090 wheels I am in the process of buying for the e39 Touring. Probably......the only set of wheels that are a bigger PITA than Alpinas to clean! Bought enough to do 2 sets of wheels so we shall see if their claims are true (or not... )

When the sun shines, Oxford green really does pop!

Cheers

[KennyP]

A wee tootle out to the Trossachs yesterday to see the outlaws.... A/C on (most unusually.....) for most of the trip and we netted a record 26mpg over 125 miles. The best I've ever seen was 25 over a longer slower trip last summer with no a/c on so wondering if the manifolds are indeed a little more efficient or if it was just coincidence.

Either way its currently driving better than it ever has in my time with it so I hope it lasts!

Cheers

[KennyP]

I don't normally bother re-taxing for October, but it's so mild (there, I've said it..... ) that it seemed rude not to before they start throwing salt for fun. Both have been rolling projects but are now pretty much where I want them to be. Not cheap to do, but very satisfying (apologies for the non-alpina..... )

[ScooBeeFive]

The are a fantastic combination - great photo too! Will they both be off the road over winter?

[KennyP]

Cheers Paul, yes Alpina garaged over winter, the poor touring will have to live outside but will be off the road for most of the salty stuff hopefully.

Well, happy 25th birthday to No.388. Took it up to Pitlochry & Bruar on Thursday where of course it absolutely chucked it down all day......It was of those days where lights, A/C, heated rear screen & wipers were on from start to finish...heh, at least I know they all actually work! Dried off the day after and tucked away in the garage now.

[ScooBeeFive]

That's my kind of parking space!

[KennyP]

A9 just behind the trees. When I returned there were 2 motorhomes next to me but they parked as badly as I did and left huge gap away from the B10 just the way I like it!

[KennyP]

Well that's 388 sorn'd for the winter. It hardly moved during October due to the weather (you'd think I'd have learned by now... ) but that's it tucked away before any salt goes down.

Big thanks to the Forum on the ULEZ guide, I received my certificate from Alpina last week and even the miserable Scottish lot (I'm from here, it's allowed..!!) eventually accepted my application. Very rarely take 388 into cities but there is always the unplanned detour so it made sense to register it.

Final bit of fun was a proper Carbon/Kevlar Simota intake system that appeared on the 'Bay. This should compliment the Supersprint manifolds nicely. Donkeys years back on this forum a couple of the B10 owners had bought Gruppe M ones and they looked and sounded very nice indeed. A Gruppe M one is £800+, an Eventuri one for the e39 M5 is over £1200 as you have to buy a pair. Now this is just for fun, I seriously doubt there are any real gains to be had and this year has been somewhat spendy already....

The Simota intakes are very similar to the Gruppe M ones, this pair are actually for the V10 M5 and were less than £200 delivered from a guy with 100% feedback. If they can flow enough air for the V10, then they had to be worth a punt. As they come as a pair, I can put one on the B10, the other on the 525i Touring. They arrived in super condition, all the carbon/kevlar is lovely and the filters had been cleaned and oiled. I purchased some maf blanking plugs as they are in a different place and some silicon joining pieces. After some faffing around, it all sits in the original air box spaces very nicely. The 'mouth' of the intakes are protected by a rubber seal and they sit directly over both factory cold air pipes that come in from the wing. The carbon/kevlar is extremely good at not absorbing heat so we should be fine in that respect too.

I only had the chance of a 15 minute gentle drive after fitting, there is just a touch more intake noise from Alpina's finest but it is nice and subtle and easily reversed if I change my mind!

Cheers

[KennyP]

Morning Chaps! It's been a while for 388 to say the least. It genuinely feels like it hasn't stopped bloody raining up here since October and the salt spreading types do love their overtime too.....

After removing the fuel pump fuse first, 388 fired up first time and was brought out into the daylight. Fresh oil & filter with general check over and tyre P's sorted. I have gone for Millers C3 5w-30 this time which boasts ester qualities so we shall see how that fares once it gets taxed from the 1st May!

Other plans are afoot. Some purchases may have been made from a well known bloke on here (and elsewhere) and I'll update once these have arrived

After reading good reviews, I tried some Infinity Wax Plastic coat for the unpainted black trim. It's not permanent but the ones that claim that never seem to last either, so this seems a good compromise. I have used lots of their other products with success so we shall see how long it does actually last.

[KennyP]

I actually drove it yesterday! It was even sunny & warm! Some fresh 99 in the tank and an easy first 1/2 hour or so to bring all the temps up and ensure everything was working after 7 months hiding in the garage. Some country roads out towards Montrose and around back to Forfar and back here.

After a winter of driving (mainly) electric hatches (SEAT Mii/BMW i3) this was a breath of fresh air, stretching out 2nd and the l-o-n-g 3rd gear was genuinely feel good with a lovely but still very Alpina & refined intake and exhaust noise from Messrs Simota and Supersprint. Proper hydraulic power steering was nice to feel again and the optioned from new M5 front brakes on this with ATE ceramic pads really do have some genuine bite to them.

Needed that

[KennyP]

I still can't believe what this cost me, but every time I opened the boot I knew it was missing and I was faced with just a sea of BMW grey......so;.....

....I'm now going off to have a bloomin' good talk with myself It is at least genuine and in really good nick to be fair....

[ScooBeeFive]

Still enjoying the updates Kenny - hard to believe winter lasted 7 months..... That intake looks great and the boot mat is a nice touch too. Enjoy the better weather!

[KennyP]

Cheers Paul, yes, I think most of the UK had a pretty dismal winter with all the rain and wind but heh-ho

Ever since purchasing 388 I could feel that the dampers were probably past their best. Two owners back, the chap had new springs fitted which would have helped but a spring can only do so much. I kept looking into dampers and the limited places that seems able to supply and then around a year ago Barry posted up that fronts were NLA. As you know, last years plan was to freshen up all the flubbery bits underneath 388 (bushes, arms, sub frame bushings, track rods etc etc). My thinking was, give it a year and maybe Alpina will see sense and organise some new stock. Well, as per Seb's post about e46 B3 dampers, things seem yo be getting worse, not better.

I looked into carious options and then contacted Barry @BMR. He informed me that it wasn't just fronts that were NLA but the rears too..... He has put M5 dampers onto his own B10 as he feels that they are the closest to oe that you can get and for the B10 at least much closer in spec than B8's, Konis etc. In fact part numbers are apparently the same..... I decided to bite the bullet and asked him to organise a full set of M5 dampers to use with Alpina springs and genuine top mounts, bump stops, spring pads all round.

After a few weeks the kit arrived (see pic below). In an ideal world, only Alpina would do but, if the dampers are shot then a decision has to be made.

Time to get the spanners out!

[KennyP]

The strip down begins.....what fun....