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TWR 335 E21 |
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Mark Brown
Register Chair E21 Register Chairman Joined: 15 May 2009 Location: Cornwall Status: Offline Points: 377 |
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Posted: 04 Sep 2010 at 5:23pm |
A chance look at the bay of e, and a subsequent e-mail and Miss Marple'esque detective session have brought about the purchase of a very rare e21 BMW. When I say very rare, what I really mean is very, very rare. In fact, it is one of 3 known cars and possibly one of only two known survivors. Anyway, the car in question is a TWR 335. A 323 converted to 3.5 m30 with a liberal sprinkling of Alpina parts.
The link below takes you to a write up from the era when the car was new. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4354348089_69161bb601_b.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4355091964_c941825df3_b.jpg The specification includes 3.5 m30 engine, Alpina gearbox casing and LSD with extended cooling fin cover. There are also Alpina spoilers and a Recaro interior. I still have work to do before it will be back on the road but it should be a bit of a beast with 240bhp and loads of torque. The boot floor, rear turrets & beneath the rear screen are all spotless with no rust or rot. The head has been removed to allow the bores to be inspected and there is no wear to speak of. There certainly no ridge at the top of the bores and the bores themselves are in great condition. Before I fit the new front panel etc, I am going to take the chance to paint and detail the engine bay. The is a brand new custom rad all ready to slot in. There is a brand new head which I plan to have flowed before I fit the Schrick cam to compliment the bigger valves already fitted. It's being built up to 240bhp specification. You can see just how little room is left between the block and the bulkhead. I'm going to fit a tubular manifold and exhaust system. Hopefully, I will be able to get http://www.christullettexhausts.com to fabricate it as they did a great job on MIB. I have plenty to do before I need to worry about that though. Obviously there are staggered Alpina rims which will also be refurbished at some point. I'm not going to stress too much about cosmetics though. I'm more concerned with getting it mechanically sorted. The pretty stuff can wait. I've decided to keep all the period ICE and fit it here rather than in MIB. I think it'll make a nice final touch to the mint Recaro interior. The next job is bringing it home and putting it in my garage. As luck would have it, I've finally found one just around the corner! Once it's here I can start writing a massive ''to do'' list. The interior is Recaro but they've trimmed the seats to match the doorcards etc. I was unsure about the authenticity of the steering wheel however, it seems it is the one supplied by TWR. With regard to the period ICE, I have managed to get the final missing components and now have the amp and pre-amp to match. I just need to decide which speakers to go with although that's a way off yet. If anyone can offer help / advice to aid getting my car back on the road I would love to hear from you. |
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2002
e30 M3 2.3 wanted - early e21 316 "e" numbers make me giddy |
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Cabrio
Register Chair E30 Register & Competition Secretary Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 6625 |
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Got a spare engine for that :-)
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E30 Register joint coordinator - Competition Secretary - Contact name Neil for PM and Email - cabrio_e30@yahoo.co.uk - be aware addicted to E numbers
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Cabrio
Register Chair E30 Register & Competition Secretary Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 6625 |
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Seriously - give me a shout this looks interesting and a mate has a 335 E30 - I see an article coming on - Cheers Neil
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E30 Register joint coordinator - Competition Secretary - Contact name Neil for PM and Email - cabrio_e30@yahoo.co.uk - be aware addicted to E numbers
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Mark Brown
Register Chair E21 Register Chairman Joined: 15 May 2009 Location: Cornwall Status: Offline Points: 377 |
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Will do. If you're selling that spare engine, it might be a quicker route to getting the car back on the road and I could then rebuild the original at my leisure.
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2002
e30 M3 2.3 wanted - early e21 316 "e" numbers make me giddy |
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Cabrio
Register Chair E30 Register & Competition Secretary Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 6625 |
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Does look a nice bit of kit
Re engine that was the plan with this 335 E30 of my mates but we may just do the head...worth case I will find you another - Good find...have you got the front spoiler etc
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E30 Register joint coordinator - Competition Secretary - Contact name Neil for PM and Email - cabrio_e30@yahoo.co.uk - be aware addicted to E numbers
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Mark Brown
Register Chair E21 Register Chairman Joined: 15 May 2009 Location: Cornwall Status: Offline Points: 377 |
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It's got everything bar the exhaust, ecu, rear screen and carpet. I just bought a late 316 to get all the glass, carpet & trim, plus the 5 speed for the tii. I hope to use Chris Tullett to make the 6 branch and exhaust system. I'm giving myself 12 months to get it back up & running.
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2002
e30 M3 2.3 wanted - early e21 316 "e" numbers make me giddy |
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Mark Brown
Register Chair E21 Register Chairman Joined: 15 May 2009 Location: Cornwall Status: Offline Points: 377 |
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Well there's been some progress, in as much as the TWR is now sat in the workshop awaiting the go ahead for work to commence. I am going over on Monday and plan to get the car up on the ramps to inspect it thoroughly, take photos etc etc.
While the original engine is being re-built I will be slotting in the engine taken from an e12 M535. It is my intention to blueprint the original engine, flow the head, balance etc as per the original 240bhp specification when the car was new. I have made contact with the old TWR service manager who, as well as being an extremely nice chap, is a wealth of useful information. A 6 branch manifold is being made on behalf of Fritz bits in Taunton and should be with me in just a few weeks. The primary tubes are all 50mm and I shall continue that bore size with the exhaust. I plan to just have a pair of race silencers so it should sound awesome. If anyone has experience of flowing m30 heads etc, please get in touch as I need all the help I can get. I have been fortunate enough to get a totally mint headlining and carpet too. The new front screen was kindly donated too. As I was going through all the history I also found that the Pioneer hifi I bought was actually identical to the system supplied when the car was new! I love co-incidences like that. It also transpires that before being converted to 335 spec the car started off as a German built Alpina C1. I'll tell more here eventually, but my intention is to blog the cars re-commissioning in our club magazine. Once in print, I'll post it here too. I know one thing though. I cannot wait to get this car back up and running. It's going to be a bit of a beast! |
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2002
e30 M3 2.3 wanted - early e21 316 "e" numbers make me giddy |
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