[strickers]

Hi all,

Haven't been on for sometime as I have been a little busy with things that aren't really that interesting... Anyhow I have a question... I'm looking at buying a 1997 alpina (guy said it's a 96 but as far as i know the b10 wasn't produced until 97) anyhow what I need to know is what engine is in it?

Is it the M60 or the M62 ? It's the 4.4 litre Engine.

I just want to make sure it's not a nikasil block... Any help anyone can give would be great!!!!

Thanks

Paul :thumbsup

 

[bigedd9990]

I'd be interested in some info on the E39 V8 B10 I always thought the B10 V8 was a 4.6l or am I mistaking

 

[steve23002]

B10 V8 was from 1996 onwards has a 4.6 litre based on the 4.4 litre M60 :thumbsup

Very rare car the B10 V8, only about 600 built from what i remember.

 

[bigedd9990]

Took this from another Site



ALPINA B10 V8(e-39)

This is the first Alpina car based on the latest 5-series generation, the e-39. It was introduced in March 1997 and it is still in production. When it was introduced it was considerably cheaper than the B10 4,6 it replaced. For 1999 Alpina updated the B10 V8 with a improved engine with double VANOS. That makes the car both more powerful and more frugal. It is around 17000 D-mark cheaper than the new BMW M5. This summer BMW introduced a facelifted 5-series, so all the B10´s from September 2000 will receive the changes.


Engine/Gearbox


The B10 V8 is based on the BMW 540i, which has a 286 bhp, 4,4 litre V8 engine. The easiest way to get more power in a engine, besides turbocharging and supercharging, is to increase the displacement. The usual problem when increasing the displacement on a BMW V8 engine is that it has Nicasil-coated bores so you can´t just overbore the block, you have to cast a whole new block. So BMW casts new blocks for Alpina with the displacement increased to 4,6 litre. Alpina have also made some other changes to the engine such as a new crankshaft, more enterprisingly timed cams, hand-fettled ports, lighter higher-compression Mahle pistons and reprogrammed the Motronic system. The result is 340 bhp and 470 Nm of torque at 3800 rpm, 100 rpm lower than standard. For this model year the engine has double VANOS. The engine now produces 347 bhp, probably more if you look at the much improved performance figures, and a torque of 480 Nm. The B10 V8 has a ZF 5-speed automatic gearbox with the steering wheel mounted Switch-Tronic system.


Suspension/Brakes/Wheels


The B10 V8 has twin-tube gas pressure shock absorbers at both front and rear. It also have new anti-roll bars. The brake discs are ventilated all around and have floating callipers. The Alpina alloys are 18in high with 235/40 tires at front and 265/35 at rear. Michelin tires of course. But as an option you can have your B10 equipped with 19in wheels.


Interior/Exterior


The interior changes are not many, the steering wheel is hand-stitched and the BMW´s sport seats are fitted with anthracite cloth with blue and green stripes. You can have the car with Alpina instruments which are blue with red needles and the speedo shows 320 km/h. Alpina also fits its own wood and soon you can have it with Alpinas own sports seats. The visual changes are a new front spoiler, rear spoiler, the wheels and the exhaust pipes.


Performance


Alpina claimed a 0-100 km/h time of 5,9 seconds and a top speed of over 275 km/h. For the touring they claimed 0-100 km/h in 6,2 seconds and a top speed of 268 km/h. In Auto Motor und Sport´s test the B10 accelerated from 0-100 km/h in 5,7 seconds, 0-160 km/h in 13,0 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 22,3 seconds. In Auto Motor und Sport´s test of the B10 V8 model year 99 against the new BMW M5 and BMW 540i, the B10 accelerated from 0-100 km/h in 5,4 seconds, only 0,2 seconds slower than the manual M5, 0-160 km/h in 12,5 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 20,6 seconds. The top speed was 279 km/h.

 

[bigedd9990]

Thats my next Car :thumbsup looks as though Alpina had the block change so they could increase the bore to 4.6l and BMW cast new blocks for them

 

[bigedd9990]

Heres some more info on the V8s


ALPINA B10 V8S(e-39)


The B10 V8 is one of the most successful cars in Alpina´s history, with over 1300 cars sold since it´s launch in march 1997. But the last years a lot of powerful sport-saloons has entered the market and 347 bhp simply wasn´t enough. So for the last model-year of the E39, which still is one of the best cars in it´s class, Alpina introduced the B10 V8S at the Geneva autoshow. You may remember the ´S´-designation from classics such as the B7S Turbo, which was a limited edition. The B10 V8S will not be as rare as it´s older brother but it will still be a very rare car. For example Japan, which is a big market for Alpina, is limited to only 88 cars. Read on for more detailed information of what makes the B10 V8S one of the most desirable sport-saloons on the market.





Engine/Gearbox


The V8S uses a stroked version of the B10 V8´s engine. The bore is exaclty the same at 93 mm but the new crankshaft has increased the stroke from 85 mm to 89 mm which increases the displacement 4837 cm3. Other changes include a reworked and improved intake-system and new piston-rings. These changes makes the B10 V8S the most powerful Alpina 5-series ever produced. At 5800 rpm it develops 375 bhp and has 510 NM of torque at 3800 rpm. The gearbox is the same 5-speed automatic with Switch-Tronic that the standard B10 has.



Suspension/Brakes/Wheels

The suspension has a stiffer set-up than the standard B10 has, but not by much. Alpina have designed it to work with the beautiful 19" wheels the B10 V8S is eqiupped with. The front wheels are 8,5" wide and has 245/35 tires while the rears are 9,5" wide and has 275/30 tires. But if you like the 18" wheels better they are available as a no-cost option. Behind the front wheels the much improved brakes can be found. They have been developed in collaboration with Brembo and have the dimension 360/34 mm. The discs are drilled and the 4-piston calipers, which are made of aluminium, is finished in blue with a silver Alpina logo.





Interior/Exterior

As most Alpina´s, the B10 V8S is very subtle. The exterior changes include a front-spoiler, which is the same that the B10 V8 has, a new rear-spoiler, the 19" wheels and the exhaust-pipes. Inside, it has the classic Alpina-designed anthracite cloth, a hand-stitched steering-wheel in Alpina-design, blue instruments with red needles, Alpina door-sills and velour floor mats and a Rüster Maser wood-interior. The stripes are a no-cost option and are available in silver or gold and of course it has a silver-plated production plaque. If money is no object there are some interesting options I would recommend. For example Alpina´s blue or green colour, the very nice velour-mat for the luggage-compartment in Alpina design, the B10 V8S-sign on the B-pillar and the Lavalina leather interior.





Performance

Alpina claims:

Saloon: 0-100 km/h in 5,4 seconds, 0-1000 metres in 24,7 seconds and a top speed of 284 km/h.
Touring: 0-100 km/h in 5,6 seconds, 0-1000 metres in 25,0 seconds and a top speed of 273 km/h.

 

[bigedd9990]

A good site to look at here

 

[strickers]

Thanks for the help guys, so the next question then is as the engine was based on the M60 am I at risk of the nicasil failure or as the recast the blocks are the liners alusil?

 

[Ronnie]

They never fitted a M60 in the E39 4.4 is a M62 engine.