I MANUAL SWAPPED AN ULTRA RARE BMW - PART 3
Summary
TLDRTaylor 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
😄 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.
👍 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.
😎 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Alpina
💡Manual gearbox
💡LSD
💡Ratio
💡Modification
💡Driving experience
💡Limited edition
💡Transform
💡Driver's car
💡Ownership
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]
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