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great find and research will be following this one closely we had an e21 323 years ago was an awesome machine lovely sounding motor. pity it rotted so badly was quite a nice colour to kind of misty green mettalic with bronze tinted glass.
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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When I get back from holiday (I'm going in a few minutes ) I plan to step the research up a gear and see if I can find anything I may have missed. I've also asked M-tech, who are doing the work, to come back to me with an estimated completion date. There's not actually too much left to do but I know they are keen to make sure the car gets done right first time. Don't get me wrong, this is no cheque book restoration, but my disability means I am severely limited in just how much I am able to do myself. Hence the project managing. One other area, where I shall be calling on the pro's, is the interior re-trim. Luckily the Recaro seats are absolutely mint with no of the usual bolster wear that effects BMW seats of all ages. I have been lucky enough to source a pretty mint carpet in the correct dark blue colour. The problem I do have, is that a previous owner removed the headlining and all the trim from the A, B & C pillars. I am hoping that BMW Classic will come up trumps and find these trim panels. The headlining itself is NLA but I found a mint one from a 316 that was stripped because of the scrappage scheme. While the trim is all out though, I do plan to lay all the wires for the period ICE install. I still need to have the head unit fitted with an input jack so that I can connect a shuffle or DAB radio. This might be a rare car but it's still going to get used.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Jun 22, 2011 16:51:14 GMT
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In an effort to get as much from the M30 engine as I can, I'm planning on fitting ITB's. Thanks to a bit of a prod in the right direction, I was able to get these from an E34 M5 and the shiny new adaptor plates came care of zee Germans. This way I get massive induction roar with the added bonus of drivability from injection. Piccies. Dave @ M-tech in Essex has promised me photos of all the work that has been done so far. Hopefully, they'll be here by Monday.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Jul 22, 2011 18:46:58 GMT
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Hello from Holland,
I’m a huge BMW enthusiast and new to this board. I own, and have owned various modern and classic BMW’s over the years.
I just discovered this very interesting posting about a TWR E21 335i with interesting pictures from the old days and the various TWR documents.
I’m investigating some special and ultra rare “UK only” BMW models from the late ‘70s.
In particular the BMW 633 CSi Hallmark Edition cars which had various Alpina mods and some other solid silver interior cosmetics fitted. This mod-work was also done at TWR Kidlington, at the time Alpina representative for the UK. The assigned new BMW 633 CSi's went straight from the docks in Dover to Kidlington
When the BMW 635 CSi came out in 1978, dealerships were faced with the last of the 633 CSi’s in stock which were a bit hard to sell after the introduction of the new quicker model.
That’s when it was decided that these mods could help sales of these cars.
It’s believed only 26 cars were made. Other sources say 56 (one for each UK dealership at the time) Most of the buyers took delivery at TWR and also got a special certificate with their car stating “Nr. x out of x cars” Unfortunately I’ve never seen such a certificate yet.
At the moment I have records of about 15 cars still alive.
Only two of them had a manual gearbox, the rest were Automatics.
One of these manual cars was delivered new to racing driver Derek Bell.
And now the question: this car had a “Blueprinted engine”.
Reading through this very interesting post, it seems there were various “Blue Print” options available from TWR at the time.
However, the leaflets posted here are all from the early ‘80s hence the 3,3 litre engine is not mentioned, as by that time this engine was already dropped by BMW.
I’m wondering if anyone perhaps has a leaflet fron the late ‘70’s stating the mods available to the 3,3 litre engine.
I assume they must have been more or less the same as for the other engines.
Can anyone shed some more light on this, perhaps even on the specific work done on Derek Bell’s car back in early 1978? Your help will be much appreciated.
Perhaps even a 3,5 litre with Blueprint was fitted to Derek’s car?
(The car is still with us, and I’ve seen it recently – it’s going to be restored, unfortunately there is no documentation with the car with info about the engine works from T.W.R.)
Many thanks and BMW regards from Holland.
Ronald.
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Jul 27, 2011 15:51:00 GMT
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I'll see what information I can come up with. I do have the names of the guys that did TWR's engine work so it's certainly possible that I can find more details. I know that, with regard to e21's, only two 3.5's were used and a single 2.8. Out of the 3.5's only this car was built to ''240 bhp'' spec and the majority of this was down to the extensive work on the head and a camshaft from Schrick. There was also a triple Weber 45's kit listed on the options list but sadly none were supplied. I have toyed with the idea of fitting triple Weber 45's as I could easily remove them if the car needed returning to standard for any reason. I will try and scan all the paperwork I have from TWR and see if there is any relevant information that might be of use to you? Meanwhile, we are aiming to have my car back on the road by the end of September. Just 2 months away now!
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Jul 28, 2011 16:24:50 GMT
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Hello from Holland,
Many thanks and much appreciated!
Have sent you a PM.
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Aug 22, 2011 21:05:10 GMT
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Got these today....
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Aug 23, 2011 18:31:48 GMT
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great find and i also saw the first picture on the the first page in septembers issue of classic & sports car very very nice car and cant wait for more updates
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If in doubt, go flat out - Collin Mcrae
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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I've just got myself a scanner so I'll try and upload all the info and articles I have around ALPINA & TWR later today.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Aug 30, 2011 21:54:24 GMT
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Last Edit: Aug 30, 2011 22:00:12 GMT by Mark
BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Aug 30, 2011 22:57:14 GMT
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i used to work with a guy that was a gearbox tech for the TWR le mans team, cool work your doing
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Sept 17, 2011 9:32:38 GMT
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Hopefully - and I do say ''hopefully'' - we should be in a position to fire up the freshly rebuilt M30 engine. The head is a new casting after the original cracked, but it has been built to the same sort of spec as the TWR one, with the added bonus of slightly larger inlet valves from an e34. The new camshaft is the same spec as the original, well worn, Schrick one but it comes from Cat Cams. The original flywheel and clutch has been replaced with the same parts from an e34 M5. Combined with the bespoke tubular exhaust & manifold with triple Weber 45's, we should see a fair bit more than the original 240 bhp that TWR managed to get. I cannot wait to hear it too! I have had some comments that carbs are not the way to go and that I should stick with the old K-jet injection but personally, as carbs were an option TWR offered, I think they are a period modification that will add to the character of the car. Plus, they come off just as easy as they go on, should I ever want it to go back on injection. The goal is to have the car running and ready for MOT by the end of September when it is due to be photographed for a full magazine feature. There are other, more minor jobs, that need doing. The wheels could do with being refurbished for a start. I am thinking of having the outer lip diamond cut & polished in an effort to brighten them up a little. I think the contrast would work well against the silver body colour and chrome. I have also just bought all new Alpina centre caps and badges along with 335 badges front and rear as per the original specification. Any other cosmetic stuff will be done as the cars being used although I know Dave at M-tech is determined to finish the car to a high standard. Anyway, I am off to Cornwall for the next 10 days in an e30 M3 but, as I said, I will hopefully be coming back to a date to go fire up the TWR!
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Sept 25, 2011 19:51:55 GMT
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Well we made it - sort of. Dave @ M-tech finished building the M30 up and got it on the dyno. We figured it would be easier to set up the triple Webers that way. Anyway, for the first time in over 20 years the engine fired! ;D The bad news is that there is a rattle that needs investigating so we need to tear it all down again and find what the problem is. I won't pretend that I'm not disappointed, because obviously I am, but it's easy to forget just what 20 years of storage can do to a car I guess. Luckily I bought a spare engine from an e12 M535i so, if we can't solve the problem with the original engine, at least we have an alternative option. I'm going back to the workshop next weekend so I'll try and get some photos so that we can update this thread properly. I'm glad we are making progress but I just wish it was quicker. It's been a year already and quite a chunk of cash but hopefully it will all be worth it. If I can have it ready for next years shows I'll be happy but right now I'm losing the enthusiasm I had when we first started.
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Last Edit: Sept 25, 2011 20:02:15 GMT by Mark
BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Sept 25, 2011 21:50:46 GMT
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I don't suppose you could get any photos of it? I'm trying to research as much TWR / Alpina / BMW stuff as I can and my car was actually supplied and converted at The Motorsport Centre. I spoke with the then Sales Manager, Ken Hosken, and he recalls my actual car. Mind you, they only built 3 anyway. The original car, as tested by Tiff Needell, still exists but is being subjected to a nut & bolt restoration. It's been 6 years and it's still a bare shell. Chassis number 2 was destroyed in a fire and mine is number 3. I still have most of the service history and the DVLA are returning the original registration after it was changed when a private plate was removed. My car was originally supplied as a 323 but specced up with most of the Alpina C1 parts. The chap who bought it had a go in TWR's domonstrator and when they wouldn't sell it to him, he requested his car be converted instead. It was only a matter of weeks old and the conversion was another £8000 which was a lot considering the car had cost him £9000! The invoice shows that he requested they delete the Alpina spoiler on the rear and swap the 13'' Alpina rims for the 15's instead. The seats were also re-trimmed in black. I've been able to trace nearly all the previous keepers although the car hasn't been on the road for nearly 20 years. I think a few of the most recent keepers underestimated just how much it was likely to cost to get it back in one piece. Building is still there it is now a cafe and shop will get you photos in the next couple of days if you want them??
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1998 Subaru Impreza uk wagon rebuilding into RWD FUN 1993 Range Rover 200TDi LSE 1998 VW Passat 1.9 TDi Estate 1992 Mercedes W124 3.0 Estate 2002 Citroen Berlingo 1900tdi 1984 Mercedes W123 2.0 Auto FOR SALE
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Sept 25, 2011 21:51:35 GMT
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PS iam so looking forward to seeing this finished it sounds and looks like its gonna be awesome good work Mark
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1998 Subaru Impreza uk wagon rebuilding into RWD FUN 1993 Range Rover 200TDi LSE 1998 VW Passat 1.9 TDi Estate 1992 Mercedes W124 3.0 Estate 2002 Citroen Berlingo 1900tdi 1984 Mercedes W123 2.0 Auto FOR SALE
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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Sept 26, 2011 12:16:56 GMT
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Awesome find, an old, rare, very sporty car and a BMW on top of that! Congrats on putting it back on the road
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Sept 26, 2011 16:50:14 GMT
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Thanks guys. Pics of the old TWR building would be great - thank you!
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Oct 30, 2011 21:04:34 GMT
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Progress! The shell is nicely protected once more. Gaz supplied some of their finest coilovers. Alpina brakes have been fully refurbished. I've got a lot of love for a triple Weber 45 set-up. There's a whole lot more to come.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Oct 31, 2011 21:02:17 GMT
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Spoke to the guys at AH Fabrication today and asked them to build an alloy rad rather than using the one that came with the car. Obviously an alloy one will be far more efficient but it also means we won't have to chop about the new front panel in order to get the rad mounted correctly. We are also going to use a Kenlow fan in the interest of reliability and because space is at a premium. Tomorrow we plan to fit the e34 M5 flywheel and clutch. The flywheel is much lighter than the original item which is an obvious bonus and the clutch should easily cope with the added grunt that will be available. I'm also contacting trimming companies to help get the interior up to scratch too.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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