Here at Classic Heroes we’re suckers for a fast estate car. The combination of load-lugging ability plus a good turn of speed is an appealing and subtle combination, and as a result we’re big fans of this e46 Alpina B3 Biturbo. She was in for a post-winter check-over following the owner’s long-term winter skiing holiday. We swapped the winter wheels for the lovely Alpina rims & summer rubber that you can see above, and applied a little paint to the rear bumper as it had been the victim of a ‘nudge parking’ incident in London. Now back in the UK, the car will be enjoyed as a daily driver, just as she should be.
The Misano red 17,000 mile M3 in the gallery below has just been sold and is being readied for the new owner, who’ll use the car lightly. All of the major age-related maintenance was done when we sold it previously a couple of years ago, so all she needed was an inspection II service including new brake fluid & coolant and to check the waxoyl, topping up where necessary. As you’ll see, the cam cover & plenum chamber is painted on this car. Just in case you’re not true e30 M3 cognoscenti, prepare yourself for a short lesson on e30 M3 engines:
On Sport Evo M3’s these parts are painted black, on Evo II’s they’re painted in Motorsport stripes (as above) and on Cecotto & Ravaglia models they’re body-coloured, so if the car is Negaro silver…. yup, you’ve guessed it! Right, history lesson over, back to the workshop:
You’ll see our customer below – a serial BMW owner – standing next to his e24 635CSI following a structural bodywork restoration. We carried out repairs to all the usual spots where these models suffer; namely the front inner wings, jacking points, lifting pads and inner & outer rear arches. We also addressed the rear wing to rear panel seam corrosion, cutting out bad metal & refabricating where necessary. Following all of this she was treated to a lower half respray. The finishing touch was before handover was to fit new 17” BBS split-rim wheels so the car could run on modern rubber and escape the now ludirously expensive & rather dated metric Michelin TRX tyres. We think the final result is rather magnificent! .
The lovely MkII Golf GTI 16v below is part of our own collection. We’d noticed some oily patches on the floor underneath her when she was parked up, so thought we should diagnose these oil leaks, which we traced to head gasket failure. So, off came the cylinder head, the head was de-coked and the valve seats were re-lapped. The cylinder head was inspected & checked and the head reassembled with new valve stem oil seals. The job was completed with the fitment of a new cam belt & pulley, power steering pump and a service. Now she’s ready for us to enjoy a summer of 80’s hot hatch fun.
