Car S.O.S E30 ALPINA

[nealpina]

Please see my post in the spotted section

I am posting here as I like to think every ALPINA fan will like to watch it

[Wellsy]

Is it or Isn't it - that is the question??

[Meister]

Folks,
Just watched this episode and Timothy and the Fuzzster dragged out "Is it or isn't it" forever.
I see Alpina had the engine number registered and the car had a lot of Alpina parts on it.
Here's what I don't get. My B4 and B3 have the dual chassis numbers upon the dvrs side strut. Also etched in the V5. I've not had an E30 Alpina. Anyone out there known why the featured vehicle hasn't a dual chassis number on the strut? Didn't they ever? Looked onnthe programme and the strut was painted so couldn't see anything?
Also my Alpinas on the Dvla mot check come up as BMW Alpina, the festive car comes up as BMW 3 Series?
Anyone any ideas?
Regards
Carl

[hap]

Pre 1995 sytner was the sole distributor along with John Clark London & croyden to build Alpina under licence
So this will have had everything shipped over fitted and standard parts sent back to be reused Alpina dash plaque generally didn’t run sequential it would be a random number or engine number most still will be 325 on log book but have seen others amended to 2.7 there was no dual vin until e36 came direct from Alpina to uk
So all early stuff e28 e32 e34 e30 e21 even all built uk & information is very sketchy as no hard or fast rule on builds plus it was paper build cars back then
Each car was unique and frank sytner is to be thanked for bringing the brand to the uk in early 80s
In a nutshell

[Wellsy]

If anyone has contact details for Mark Adkin he can confirm everything. He would of done the conversion at Sytner.

[Norrie]

I have direct contact with Mark, so if anyone wants to PM me with their details I can pass them to mark and see if he is happy to respond

[dydaktix]

Pre 1995 sytner was the sole distributor along with John Clark London & croyden to build Alpina under licence
So this will have had everything shipped over fitted and standard parts sent back to be reused Alpina dash plaque generally didn’t run sequential it would be a random number or engine number most still will be 325 on log book but have seen others amended to 2.7 there was no dual vin until e36 came direct from Alpina to uk
So all early stuff e28 e32 e34 e30 e21 even all built uk & information is very sketchy as no hard or fast rule on builds plus it was paper build cars back then
Each car was unique and frank sytner is to be thanked for bringing the brand to the uk in early 80s
In a nutshell

Did the UK Alpinas have the Alpina MFG plaque riveted above the right headlight in the engine bay?

[dydaktix]

Folks,
Just watched this episode and Timothy and the Fuzzster dragged out "Is it or isn't it" forever.
I see Alpina had the engine number registered and the car had a lot of Alpina parts on it.
Here's what I don't get. My B4 and B3 have the dual chassis numbers upon the dvrs side strut. Also etched in the V5. I've not had an E30 Alpina. Anyone out there known why the featured vehicle hasn't a dual chassis number on the strut? Didn't they ever? Looked onnthe programme and the strut was painted so couldn't see anything?
Also my Alpinas on the Dvla mot check come up as BMW Alpina, the festive car comes up as BMW 3 Series?
Anyone any ideas?
Regards
Carl

It's also interesting that the brakes weren't Alpina brakes but aftermarket. And the M3 Aerial/Antenna. And the body kit too. What kind was that? Looks like the pulled it off during the resto, and replaced the rear spoiler with an unpainted one.

[simon13]

Pre 1995 sytner was the sole distributor along with John Clark London & croyden to build Alpina under licence
So this will have had everything shipped over fitted and standard parts sent back to be reused Alpina dash plaque generally didn’t run sequential it would be a random number or engine number most still will be 325 on log book but have seen others amended to 2.7 there was no dual vin until e36 came direct from Alpina to uk
So all early stuff e28 e32 e34 e30 e21 even all built uk & information is very sketchy as no hard or fast rule on builds plus it was paper build cars back then
Each car was unique and frank sytner is to be thanked for bringing the brand to the uk in early 80s
In a nutshell

Did the UK Alpinas have the Alpina MFG plaque riveted above the right headlight in the engine bay?

no, standard 325i Vin

[simon13]

UK E30's as said only use the original chassis numbers, now yes the engines have stampings but unless you know where to look they aren't a quick glance in the engine bay to confirm

This is why on all the sytner built cars the paperwork is crucial. So having the Alpina service book is key, helps value aswell imo

It was my black E30 featured on the show, i told Tim and Fuzz alot on this drama. They went to Alpina just for TV

[hap]

I’ve seen a few late c2 with the roof mounted aerial
The body kit was a uk Sytner commissioned job very distinctive on the joint
Rear spoiler was genuine probably stripped the old paint

[nealpina]

Is it or Isn't it - that is the question??

[nealpina]

It was my black E30 featured on the show

Nice! I thought it was

IThey went to Alpina just for TV

I kept saying why don't they just check with Sytner of Nottingham. I am however glad they did go all the way to Buchloe as I enjoyed watching the factory

I understand about time limits of a TV show, I have had two friends phone me and ask 'just because it has an ALPINA engine it doesn't mean it is a genuine ALPINA chassis'. I therefore needed to explain to them that Sytner of Nottingham do have this information.

I should know this but did ALPINA ever keep a record of E30 chassis numbers with the corresponding engine (according to the TV show they didn't)?

[Norrie]

"Sytner of Nottingham do have all the information". Not correct, they may have some information. Reason being back in the day the job card was a white cardboard sheet and hand written. These were kept in a cardboard box, over the years some people it is alleged were allowed to look through them as no appointed person was looking after them or had the time to check queries.

Consequently a number of documents are "missing", there may be a sporadic number of people with information that either worked there or have collated information, but it is by no means a given that specific information for every Sytner ALPINA exists.

How do I know all this? A pervious ALPINA Brand Manager explained and showed me the box with the documents in when I was looking for some specific information which I did not find.

[JohnW]

It was my black E30 featured on the show, i told Tim and Fuzz alot on this drama.

That is one huge achievement I’d be very proud…..something to tell the grandkids.

Well done sir!