B2.5 Coupe - A little TLC

Discuss all aspects of Car Care / Detailling etc.
James_G
ALPI
ALPI
Posts: 335
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 10:33 pm
Location: Guildford

Re: B2.5 Coupe - A little TLC

Post by James_G » Mon Jul 18, 2022 11:03 am

One year ago today I was picking up the Alpina on what was, at the time, the hottest day of 2021. And so today, on what feels like a similarly hot day it feels like the right time for an update.

Last time the car had just past the MOT, but not until there had been a bit of welding. In between the MOT failure and returning it a day later for that welding the side indicator bulb had blown and since I didn't have any spares I had let it go in like that. Thankfully they didn't spot it but I couldn't bring myself to drive around without a functioning indicator.

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There was much fun and games though as the bulb I pulled out was orange with offset pins and every resource on the internet had told me it should be a clear bulb without offset pins.

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The clear bulb wouldn't fit in the holder even though the logic of having an amber bub in an amber light unit was ringing lots of alarms bells with me. So I ordered up an orange bulb and a few weeks later I did some further investigation and it seems I have an aftermarket bulb holder on that side. I'll correct it, but a genuine bulb holder is strangely expensive, even 2nd hand. If any E36 owners have got one spare, do let me know.

A little while later I headed off to another event at Goodwood and took it for the trip down there. Here it is in the usual Goodwood field for parking.

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Then back in May my wife and I had a weekend away without the children, courtesy of a good friend and his holiday home on the Bournemouth coast. No kids meant that I could fold the seats down and take our two road bikes which fitted inside with all our luggage surrounding them, which highlighted how useful it is to have something like this than, say, a Z4 Coupe (which I have also owned).

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Lunch stop en route, bike wheel just visible:

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The lovely holiday home:

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When we arrived at the house the fuel pump was making a dreadful noise and while it had taken two hours to get to this point there hadn't been too much traffic drama. Thankfully it got us home too, but I was beginning to think that I was testing my luck.



The following weekend my good friend Rob (Robsouth on here), who appeared at the beginning of this thread with his D3, had arranged a little driving route through the Hertfordshire countryside for us to sample. He had also upgraded to a B5 Bi-Turbo in the intervening months and this was the first chance to get the two together (his wheel centre is in the boot, but had been run over a few days before so would no longer fit!)

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Somewhere along the route we stopped here for a break and to pick up a few drinks. It was hot this too and I was reminded how the lack of aircon can be a nuisance.

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Later on I pulled over on a side road in order that I could take the following photos:

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A local BMW serial owner who I'd contacted via Instagram many months ago had promised to gift me a good used fuel economy gauge but it has ever materialised, so it still has this look of flaking wall paper...!



And then the final fill up before parting ways, back when petrol wasn't so ruinous. At this point my fuel pump was back making awful noises again and I vowed to do something about it.

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That was May and since then I haven't really driven it very much partly for fear of breaking down due to the fuel pump. This along with the need to do some other jobs has meant that I've declared it SORN while I face in to them. There's the risk that this lasts longer than the month of July (which is my intention) but I have already made some progress.



Ever since that first day I've always thought there was a lot of noise from the engine bay and in the paperwork there's reference to noisy alternator bearings, so I'd got started a few weeks back.

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The alternator came out without too much difficulty and the bearings are definitely noisy. The belt is old too and the deflector pulley isn't running smoothly either.

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In this shot above this pile of dirt has just come out of that air cooling inlet, so it's amazing that this was working fine before I took it apart.


I have now sourced a new bearing kit for it, plus new belt, deflection pulley and tensioner pulley. I wanted to go the full monty and get a new waterpump, tensioner and thermostat and so on but nobody seems to sell a full kit, so I'll do it this way for now so I can back on the road sooner.

Once that's done I'll sort the fuel pump and then rebuild the rear brake calipers and things should be a lot quieter. Until then, thanks for reading.
Currently:
1992 Alpina B2.5 #026, Lagoon Green with Parchment Cloth

Previously:
2013 BMW M135i 3dr, Mineral Grey with Red Leather
2001 Alpina B3 3.3 Coupe #170, Orient Blue with Grey Leather
2006 Z4MC, Silver Grey with Red Leather
2001 E46 330i Sport, Silver with Red Leather
1997 E36 323i SE Touring, Calypso Red with Grey Cloth

James_G
ALPI
ALPI
Posts: 335
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 10:33 pm
Location: Guildford

Re: B2.5 Coupe - A little TLC

Post by James_G » Thu May 18, 2023 4:12 pm

We last left the action with the Alpina SORN'd and the original alternator removed due to noisy bearings.

I got it inside and removed the rear cover, which forms part of the air-cool ducting and found rather a lot more debris plus evidence of corrosion. Amazing it still works really.

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I removed the regulator and noted that the brushes were quite worn down. I then removed the pulley using an impact driver followed by the case screws, neither of which was a drama. With everything going so well I was being lulled in to thinking this was going to be easy...

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Unfortunately I just couldn't split the two case halves. Every Youtube video shows these two parts coming away in people's hands, but not in this case. Much levering, pushing and pulling and it's still not budging and all I've managed to do is chip away some aluminium. It isn't helped by the fact that I don't have a proper vice to hold it still.

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Fast forward a few weeks and I've got access to a proper vice and have been told the trick of inserting the original case screws part way and hammering seven shades out of them which, to be fair, gives the desired result.

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However what you can see here is that the front case has come off complete with the bearing and the rotor is still well and truly wedged in there. It's held in there on this bearing (beyond the slip ring) but nothing I can do will get it to shift.

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So having had the car off the road and immobile for weeks I decide the only thing for it is to buy a new unit. Once committed a few days later this turns up for a whisker under £200. I've still got the bearing kit for the original alternator if anybody wants it.

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So back at the car and it's time to get everything back together. New vs old

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Plus new pulleys and a belt all of which came from Amazon EU which seems to be the place where I can most reliably find parts for this car.

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And 30 minutes later and it's in situ.

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In the end removal and refitting was probably an hour's work, but I wasted much more than that trying to get the old one apart since the plan had been to rebuild it with new bearings. Oh well, you live and learn and at least this new alternator is lovely and quiet.

That was August 2022 and then in September I'm back to attend to the fuel pump. He's the old (original) one which had been making ominous noises once warmed through.

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I've never actually replaced a fuel pump before so when I get to see inside the tank I get that same feeling I do when removing a cylinder head, like you're looking in to the car's soul.

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I forget to take a photo of the new one after installation but it goes in fine and the Hella unit I fitted looks all but identical to the BMW/Geber unit that came out.

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I am delighted to say that this pump, like the alternator, is totally silent and will hopefully last as long as the original (assuming there will be any petrol to pump in 30 years time...). Following this I then tax it again and periodically use it to keep everything ticking over.

Fast forward to New Year's Eve and I've got the buckets out to give it a good clean, resulting in this.

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Reason for the seasonal wash is that the builders are due to start the first week of January and they need to base themselves in the garage so the Alpina has to be stored offsite, meaning that I am shortly afterwards parking it up in another garage on the other side of town.

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With the Ctek charger plugged in and the paint clean and dry I close the door and head home to declare it SORN again.
Currently:
1992 Alpina B2.5 #026, Lagoon Green with Parchment Cloth

Previously:
2013 BMW M135i 3dr, Mineral Grey with Red Leather
2001 Alpina B3 3.3 Coupe #170, Orient Blue with Grey Leather
2006 Z4MC, Silver Grey with Red Leather
2001 E46 330i Sport, Silver with Red Leather
1997 E36 323i SE Touring, Calypso Red with Grey Cloth

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