I MANUAL SWAPPED AN ULTRA RARE BMW - PART 3

Summary

Taylor takes his rare BMW Alpina B3 3.3 on exciting roads in Wales to test the improvements he's made, including installing a manual gearbox and limited slip differential. He loves driving the special car, feeling privileged to own an Alpina. The car now encourages spirited driving, transforming from a lazy cruiser to an engaging driver's car. Taylor did the work in a day and a half, wanting the manual gearbox to maintain the early BMW feel. He plans further modifications to perfect it.

Takeaways

• 😊 Taylor is test driving his modified BMW Alpina 3.3 in Wales
• 🚗 He upgraded it with a manual transmission, new diff, badges, steering rack, and serviced it
• ❤️ Taylor loves how the upgrades transformed it into an exciting driver's car
• 🚦 The shorter diff ratios previously made it rev too high, so he swapped in a longer one
• ⚙️ Taylor still plans more upgrades like tuning, removing the LPG tank, and adding Alpina stripes
• 👍 He feels privileged to own such a rare and special car
• 🌄 The roads in Wales are beautiful but it's extremely cold (-9 million °C!)
• 🎥 Rory is filming with his BMW E46 touring camera car
• 💰 Taylor only paid £4,500 for his Alpina
• 👋 He thanks viewers and invites them to like, subscribe and suggest more mechanical videos

Q & A

What car is Taylor reviewing in this video?

Taylor is reviewing an Alpina B3 3.3 in this video.

What changes did Taylor make to the Alpina since acquiring it?

Taylor serviced the Alpina, added some badges, and changed the differential to a shorter ratio.

How does Taylor describe the way the Alpina drives after the modifications?

Taylor says the Alpina now feels alive, is a proper driver's car, and encourages you to drive it hard and enjoy it.

What steering rack does the Alpina have?

Taylor notices the Alpina has a purple tag steering rack, which is one of the shortest ratio racks available on BMWs.

What does Taylor plan to do next with the Alpina?

Taylor plans to remove the LPG system, tune it to get more power, and add Alpina stripes down the sides.

How much did Taylor pay for the Alpina?

Taylor says he paid 4.5 grand for the Alpina.

Why does Taylor prefer the 5-speed manual gearbox over a 6-speed?

Taylor wanted to maintain the older, early 2000s feel of the car, and notes that a 330i from that era would have had a 5-speed manual.

What modifications does Taylor still want to make to the car?

Taylor still wants to add the Alpina stripes on the sides and tune it to get a bit more power while maintaining the flat torque curve.

What does Taylor say owning this rare Alpina feels like?

Taylor says owning the Alpina feels like an honor and privilege since they are so rare, and he feels proud to be able to bring it back to life.

How does Taylor describe the way the Alpina drives after the modifications?

Taylor says the Alpina now feels alive, is a proper driver's car, and encourages you to drive it hard and enjoy it.

Outlines

00:00

😄 Introducing the Alpena 3.3 and Wales Road Trip

Taylor introduces his Alpena 3.3 manual and the video showing its capabilities on the roads in Wales. He has serviced the car, added badges, and changed the diff ratio since last seeing it. He notes how alive and transformed the manual gearbox makes the car feel now.

05:00

👍 Enjoying the Improved Driving Experience

Taylor elaborates on the improvements made to the Alpena including the suspension, steering, and differential. He reflects on the transformation from a lazy cruiser to an engaging driver's car. He emphasizes enjoying the exclusivity and privilege of owning this rare car.

10:01

😎 Wrapping Up After a Fantastic Drive

Taylor recaps after enjoying the fantastic mountain roads in Wales in the Alpena. He reflects on the enjoyment of transforming and personalizing your own car. He thanks the audience and crew as the cold but excellent drive comes to an end.

Keywords

💡Alpina

Alpina refers to the model of BMW that Taylor owns. It is a rare limited edition and high performance BMW model that he spends time modifying to his taste throughout the video. Modifying the Alpina and enjoying driving it is a core theme.

💡Manual gearbox

Taylor converts his Alpina from an automatic transmission to a manual gearbox. This dramatically changes the driving experience, making it much more engaging, responsive and 'alive.' The enjoyment of driving a manual gearbox is a key theme.

💡LSD

LSD stands for limited slip differential. Taylor upgrades his Alpina's differential to make the car handle better when pushed to its limits. Testing how it performs demonstrates his desire to fully experience the Alpina's capabilities.

💡Ratio

Ratio refers to the gearing in the drivetrain. Taylor experiments with different ratios to optimize engine revs for better response, fuel efficiency and highway cruising, illustrating how he fine tunes the Alpina.

💡Modification

Taylor discusses several modifications he makes to the Alpina, like badges, servicing, and shifter upgrades. Constant modification to achieve his ideal version of the car is central.

💡Driving experience

A core message is Taylor's passion for the sensory and emotional experience of driving the Alpina. He describes in depth how the gearchange transforms the feeling and enjoyment of driving.

💡Limited edition

Taylor emphasizes the exclusivity of the Alpina badge and its prestige as a rare limited edition BMW. His pride in ownership indicates this status is meaningful to him.

💡Transform

Taylor uses the word "transformed" and similar language to describe the dramatic change in the car after modifying the gearbox and other elements. This reinforces how impactful the modifications are.

💡Driver's car

Taylor calls the Alpina a "proper driver's car" - meaning performance oriented for an enthusiast driver to extract maximum enjoyment from driving.

💡Ownership

Taylor expresses a passion for ownership - selecting, customizing and caring for the Alpina reflects his persona through the car as an object of self-expression.

Highlights

Taylor discusses transforming his automatic Alpina into a proper driver's car with a manual gearbox

The manual gearbox and shorter steering rack make the Alpina feel alive and encouraging to drive hard

Taylor changed the diff ratio to improve cruising speeds while maintaining performance

The Alpina has a special interior with blue dials and an Alpina badge that make it feel exclusive

Taylor is proud to restore and modify this rare Alpina model to be enjoyed as intended

Manual gearboxes connect drivers to their cars for a more engaging experience

Taylor wanted to maintain the older 5-speed manual instead of upgrading to a 6-speed

Older chassis like the E46 respond beautifully to upgrades like the manual gearbox

Taylor is thrilled to own this special Alpina and feels privileged to be able to

Taylor plans to add Alpina stripes and continue modifying the car to his taste

The transformation has exceeded Taylor's expectations for only £4,500 spent

Camera car is another rare manual E46 wagon showing off modifications

Taylor promises more mechanical content and hopes viewers enjoyed the Alpina

Ad recommends using CarVertical reports to research used cars before purchasing

Example CarVertical report shows concerning damage history for an RX-7

Transcripts

[Applause]

[Music]

hello everyone and welcome to another

episode on the V2 Channel with me Taylor

hington and my Alpena 3.3 manual today

you join us in Wales we've got some

beautiful mountains and beautiful roads

behind us what we're going to do is take

my Alpena we're going to put it on these

hairpin roads and see what it's all

about and as you can probably tell by my

attire it is about - 9 million de today

since you last saw this car have done a

few little bits to it I've serviced it

put a couple of badges on it and I have

also changed the diff again because the

original one was a bit short ratio but

let's jump in see what these roads and

this car are all

about God it's

[Music]

cold he's got a manual

gearbox

[Music]

oh this car is oh it's completely

transformed it feels alive it's just

amazing how you can take an already

great car and change one thing and it

feels completely different before it was

lovely to drive and I did really enjoy

going for a nice Cruise in it and

floating about in it and just enjoying

it but now you just want to get in it

and you just want to go for a drive and

you it it's just completely transformed

it it's a proper driver's car this thing

the suspension setup in this is great

it's got Factory buin with irback rings

it came from Alpena like that and it

feels fantastic to be honest feels

really planted really compliant it

doesn't feel too harsh the gearbox is

now a 5-speed manual with a weighted

short shifter and a qua limited slip

differential now I have replaced the

diff again for the slightly longer ratio

one that I had that I wasn't going to

fit but I drove the car home and I just

wasn't I wasn't quite happy with it the

ratio was too short it revved too high

and it yeah it just wasn't very nice to

use to be honest and it was quite a bad

on fuel as well so I fitted the longer

ratio diff and it is just perfect now it

revs really nicely it sits on the

motorway really happy it's great to be

honest it's really really good and also

I did notice while it was on the ramp

when we were fitting the gearbox that

this car's got a purple tag rack a

steering rack uh now that is one of the

shortest ratio steering racks you can

get in a BMW and to be honest you can

feel it the tur in's

fantastic oh oh it feels so good it

feels really good it feels really direct

very positive it just feels fantastic it

just it it genuinely you get in it and

you just feel like you want to drive it

it encourages you to drive it quite hard

it encourages you to just enjoy it to be

honest whereas before it was it was a

little bit lazy it was a little bit slow

and it it just felt like a bit of an old

boat to be honest it felt like a bit of

an old Cruiser and I like that sometimes

it's sometimes nice to get in a car

stick it in D and just float about but

I'm a bit of a driver to be honest I

like to drive a car properly and enjoy

it and change gears to be honest having

that as an auto before it was a bit like

telling some someone to do something

that you knew they really didn't want to

do and you feel really bad for it it was

a bit like that but now you stick it in

a gear and you

disappear

there's something about this car it just

feels so special and it it actually

feels really exclusive you sit behind

these blue dials with different font

holding this SE steering wheel

effectively an SE steering wheel but

with an Alpena badge in the middle of it

I've got a plaque here that tells me

it's a limited edition it feels like an

honor and a privilege to be able to own

this car because trust me there's not

many people that are able to because

these cars are so rare and I'll be

honest today on this bit of road with

this car I am absolutely loving it

should I test the LSD give you a little

bit

of yeah the LSD def it definitely

works that locks up really nicely

actually really nicely so this has now

got a qu Limited slip TI in it and it

feels Mah Mah now obviously I do still

have a couple of things I want to do to

this car the main one being is removing

that Bloody LPG it looks rubbish so

that's all going to go in the bin I do

want to tune it a little bit and see if

we can get a little bit more power out

of it and just you know just make it

feel really nice keep the torque curve

lovely and flat other than that I think

I'm just going to put the Alpena

stickers down the side of it maintain it

and enjoy it these are already a good

chassis you know E46 is a cult car they

they're great people love them around

the world they sold in their Millions

but to have one this

special just feels incredible I love it

and now I'm stuck behind a Citron

C4 what

a nightmare if seeing Taylor's alpino

has got you in the mood to buy a used

car van or motorbike make sure you run a

car vertical report on it first to

ensure it's not being crashed stolen or

clocked if we take a look at gareth's

very own 2004 Fireblade you can see that

we've got green Tak for odometer finance

and damage that tells me that this

motorbike does not have a shady past it

has however been dropped a couple of

times as you will see in an episode very

soon and now to show you an example of a

car vertical report that gives me cause

for concern check out this Mazda RX7

we've got a green tick for odometer and

finance but an Amber warning for damage

so we want to check that out we scroll

down a little bit we can see that this

poor car has been crashed the front end

looks to be quite damaged doesn't

actually look too bad actually the rear

3/4 is in a very very bad State as well

and the interior looks like it's just

been uh turned upside down and put into

a skip if we scroll down a little bit

further we can see 80,000 mil and this

vehicle was marked as an insurance write

off category C repairable but exceeds

vehicle value so if you were to see this

car as a clean title car you know

because of car vertical that's a big fat

lie so then if you go and buy yourself a

used car van or motorbike make sure you

run a car vertical report on it first

what's more you will get 10% off using

the code

V2 also I really like the spec of this

car it's got heated seats Harmon Carden

satnav Zenon headlights it's right on

the the edge of being old but really

usable and really nice and really well

equipped I mean I drove this car here

yesterday it took me 4 hours to get here

I was comfortable the whole way I was

enjoying this great sound system I was

warm I had my heated seat on it even

does 35 mil to the gallon and I can't

complain at that rowing through my gears

oh listen to

that listen to that let's be honest we

all prefer a manual gearbox us drivers

we love a manual being able to slip the

clutch like Alex and roll through the

gears oh there's something about it it

just it just makes the experience you

know a lot of people would probably turn

their nose up to the fact that I fed

five-speed box into this and not a

six-speed now I wanted to do that for a

reason when I first drove this car it

felt quite old and I wanted to maintain

that to be honest I like the fact that

it feels like an early car I didn't

really want to make it feel newer than

it is now being a pre-facelift if this

car was a 330i it would have been a

5-speed manual gearbox and I just feel

like it's nice to maintain that yeah all

right it's not as easy to drive and it's

not as great in traffic blah blah blah

but it makes it experience and

especially with a car of this age with a

chassis like this that steers and

handles and feels as nice as this you

want it as a manual it's just it's

fantastic and to be honest I feel so

proud to be able to take this car which

let's be honest was a bit ropey with an

automatic gearbox full and bring it back

and give it a good life and just enjoy

it that's what it's all about it's just

to take your car make it how you want it

and how you like it and to just go out

and enjoy it and I think that is what

motoring is all about can you tell that

I love it have I given you enough

information that describes how much I

love this car

yet

waiton

wait

DK I like my donon box so we're back

with the Alpena um I paid 4 and a half

grand for this car and I cannot tell you

how over the moon I am with it we've

done what can only be described as a

fantastic transformation to it in a day

and a half I've wanted one of these cars

for so long now especially an Alpena and

it's so nice to be able to own one I

genuinely feel privileged to own this

car it does still need a few little bits

do into it I'd like to put the stripes

on it and a few other little bits but

overall I am absolutely besotted by this

car absolutely love it to bits today's

been a fantastic day although it's minus

19 million de it has been fantastic I've

enjoyed all of the roads on this trip I

have loved this car and I'm sure I'm

going to enjoy driving it home on the

motorway cruising along with my heated

seats on also I would just like to

mention Rory's fantastic camera rig

which is also a e463 33i manual touring

it's been a very cool day and they're

going to take this home enjoy every

moment of it thank you for watching

don't forget to like And subscribe to

the V2 Channel and uh let us know if

you'd like to see more of this and some

other mechanical stuff but in the

meantime TDA a nice me bastard Lake and

I hope you enjoyed that

[Music]

Lake

[Music]