Alpina Roadster S (soon to be) Supercharged by ESS

[FemmeT]

Hi guys,

My car is no E46 but I have been reading this forum for a long time because it's the best source for information on M52/M54 forced induction. I'm very excited now my Alpina Roadster S is in Norway at ESS for a TS2 treatment and I'd like to share my experience with you.

First some information about the car. The Alpina Roadster S was produced between 2004 and 2006 and is based on the Z4 3.0i. The engine is completely different however, based on the S52B32 which was used in the US E36 M3. Engine displacement was increased to 3,35 litres and Alpina managed to increase the power to 300hp, though most of the cars deliver around 310hp on the dyno (I haven't dynoed my car). It doesn't like to be waked in the morning and the 'laufkultur' is not as perfect as the much newer N52 but is has real character. It is also rev happy up to 7200rpm and doesn't lose much power above 6300rpm where maximum power is achieved.

I bought my Roadster S in april 2006 from a German BMW/Alpina-dealer when it was two years old and had driven only 6000km. The car is number 46 out of about 370 cars made. I soon started to add mods which eventually grew into a long list. Performance mods include a Drexler Motorsport LSD with 3.46:1 final drive ratio (stock 3.23:1), Mov'it 6-piston 380mm brakes, custom made 4-way adjustable shock absorbers and springs by Reiger Racing Suspension, uprated suspension bushings, lightweight Recaro Pole Position seats with Schroth harness belts and a StrongStrut strut tower bar. The car has been repainted and several cosmetic modifications where done: Z4M bonnet, aero side skirts, aero diffuser, quad exhaust, etc. Overall it's a well balanced package that just needs more power.

This is how I bought the car:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/444f0be919480a70453e2b235d434d8c/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/24c849bc40aa8200cf28477656643fce/full.jpg

And this is what it looked like in March of this year:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/1Q9ULeJyOM9b5lnzfNtLyAFU/full.jpg

One of the downsides of having an Alpina is the non existence of off the shelf engine upgrades. Thanks to its resemblance to the M52 and M54 engines it should e possible to fit a supercharger for this type of engines with only minor physical modifications. I have been wanting the ESS twinscrew the moment I read about its existence. After several attempts to schedule a custom conversion in Norway, which failed because the shop doing all the mods on my car was taking much longer than planned, I was finally ready to deliver the car to ESS on the 6th of October.

Because it was a 1250 km drive to Norway I decided it was the best way to spread the journey over two days and to leave for Puttgarden, where a ferry leaves to Denmark, on saturday evening. I washed the car, packed my stuff and left for the 500km drive at 19.00h. The weather conditions were perfect with no rain so there would be no trouble driving high speeds on the Autobahn. I had a TomTom navigation device at hand as a backup and to accurately measure real speeds. I have driven it many times on top speed before but I never measured the actual speed. The car accelerated easily to 260km/h. After several tries I managed a top speed of exactly 270km/h, which made me happy because the official top speed is 265km/h with soft top and 270km/h with hard top according to Alpina.

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/HtPFwiMPD7NuG0qn3GeA4we5/full.jpg

Ready to leave:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/jquhflNUenudEm8CDA11eS0R/full.jpg

First pit stop:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/0GZsWhDnvW5eHmreRU6B5CZr/full.jpg

That's me with my new toy :) :

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/vVUwaeTIZaiCRmZH932yToaO/full.jpg

After four hours I arrived at the hotel, averaging a speed of 146km/h. Not bad since about one fifth of the route was off the Autobahn and there were also several lengthy construction works with speed limits of 60-80km/h. Obviously driving this hard was not good for fuel economy, which averaged 16,4l/100km.

The next day it was raining. I only had to wait five minutes to get on the ferry. After 45 minutes I arrived in Denmark at 12.00h and started to drive all way up to Norway through Sweden, which wasn't all that exciting because of the bad weather and low speed limits of 110-120km/h. Eventually I reached the city of Halden at 20.00h. From there on it would be about 30km to ESS the next day.

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/sPpkW65UcIilZHtHotZ5a8Uq/full.jpg

Queued up for the ferry:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/G5njnGdVzAdoP74aaMloe3uz/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/3uyvDfTIrUOaPhx0uAtrN22J/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/NjUll1JJMZ0QwpIdsctiA7wG/full.jpg

Leaving Germany:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/TIhgcSeqzoq0aQmiLaHZhx1j/full.jpg

Somewhere in Sweden close to the Norwegian border:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/SowU5htH5QpQcyUQkUv8leBW/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/kZAeA7383YnRD74TbTgBTD8X/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/GIvBi41RfWVuRSfTKmtDhuGE/full.jpg

On monday morning the weather had turned around to beautiful blue skies. ESS is located in the rural area of Aremark. I knew finding their shop was going to be a little challenging because the streets had no names in this area. Instead they use the name of the property as the address are something like that. Google Maps, TomTom and the MK4 nav have no idea how to deal with that. I asked for instructions at a nearby petrol station and the guy behind the counter instantly recognized what I was doing there even before I mentioned the name ESS :D . The scenery and roads where incredibly beautiful with the autumn coloured trees and lakes everywhere. They should consider changing some of the roads into a one way toll road with no speed limits and call it the Aremarkring :) . Following the map which I bought the petrol station and with the help of Hans I eventually found the ESS site, which was near a big country house. Hans was not there and Asbjorn was in the US. I had a talk with someone who looked like the gardener and had a look around the countryside. After 20 minutes someone arrived who did assembly work. He showed me around and I got to see all the beautiful pieces of the twinscrew kit. There were several interesting cars inside, one of them an E30 with M5 V8 and a new M3 with some missing parts under the hood.

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/ELUoyAuQQx60TewnbQLA9Wne/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/iczBqrnwDKE6fh43pGi22PE0/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/UwGHX4V1lBliwRWPDUcVnk9F/full.jpg

There was also a dog but it was naturally aspirated and the only mod looked like a restrictor on the dog's air intake:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/khxwD6d2EkySP9NzgJkuXGTa/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/akrePmZexPetpM5Odr7r9zIN/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/zbwcQaBaCkNGxLpMlJ6ouqrk/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/S8A4INyJsQBUykJjFoWk6Phe/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/TrcUEoKrtMhTFvbiJqy4UlA3/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/w7WkFTTNApBd86qemj958QFC/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/AqM5bahopR2dDJAVlEweZPgc/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/zLnuVrjOoQBTK5YhSdrLA6Jl/full.jpg

I was given the keys to a VW Caddy so I could catch the train from Halden to the Oslo airport where my flight would leave at 18.00h. It's a strange feeling to leave your beloved car 1200km from home ;) . The Norwegian trains were comfortable and clean and Oslo has a very nice airport. I arrived in Amsterdam, took the train home and got there at 22.30h.

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/g279VAlYoL8689a4FOG0RPkE/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/FfHZkoq0gUF8M9UISe6NCmLh/full.jpg

I called Hans yesterday and he had already been working on the car. There was some issue with the fuel rail but he did not expect a lot of trouble getting the other parts to fit on the Alpina engine. When everything turns out well the car should be ready in two weeks.

[Alpina86]

that....car.....is.......:drool::drool::drool:


cant wait to see the final results/numbers!

[BDUB328I]

awesome looking car bro, one of the best looking z4 style cars i have seen

[MachRc]

wow beautiful picturees femmet!!!!!!

keep it moving hans!@!

[simsima325]

WOW, what a car!!! Rare and beautiful, I hope you keep us updated!!

[mikechungs330]

wow awesome thread!!! I love the pics. It was really cool reading the entire journey, europe is so different from america. I cant wait to visit europe.



Great car, great pics, great place :thumbsup::thumbsup:


Now just keep updated lol... Best of luck.

[A55A55IN]

amazing pics! please keep us posted :bow:

[madchef]

Great pics

lol @ the dog comment :D

[FemmeT]

Thanks guys.

Norway is a great country to visit. It's very different the Netherlands, which is just as flat as gets and very crowded. Besides the beautiful landscape, Norway has other assets too. When we arrived two years ago in Kristiansand for our vacation it was like all of Scandinavia's female beauty had gathered there :D . The Danish, Swedish and Norwegian languages are great fun if you can understand Dutch, English and German. There are many similarities, but still it is very difficult to understand full sentences and as soon as the people start talking I have no clue what they are saying. The people are very kind and they speak English very well, even the older people.

[xcoolnessx]

wow.. very very nice. I've always like the style of the roadster. Nice camera as well.

[howie]

sweet project, beautiful pics and a very metro sexual car! Will be back to check status

[TKC]

AMAZING car and photos!! :bow:

Can't wait to see the final results!!

[shockin330i]

Nice!

[elite53]

That was a fun read. Almost felt like we were there with you. Please do it again when you go back for the car. The more pictures the better...:thumbsup:

[maxnathan]

:cry::cry:This thread brings back some great memories ( well most of it anyway).......

Stunning car m8!!:drool: I remember that location well ....ESS secret HQ:4ngie: Only thing was that i had to wait for AJ at the train station and he was late...:tsk: Anyway that silver polo caddy was my transporter as well..
AJ was even going on about how great the diesel engine in the polo was....:rofl:

Did you uncover any other future secrets....:excited::4ngie:

[2K5 325i]

WRITE-UP OF THE YEAR!!!

Such an absolutely gorgeous car! :drool: x 100.

You are a very fortunate individual to have a toy like that, I know many fanatics (myself included :eeps:) are very jealous.

I love every mod you've done to it- freakin flawless! :bow: :bow: :bow:,
-Chris

[FemmeT]

:cry::cry:This thread brings back some great memories ( well most of it anyway).......

Stunning car m8!!:drool: I remember that location well ....ESS secret HQ:4ngie: Only thing was that i had to wait for AJ at the train station and he was late...:tsk: Anyway that silver polo caddy was my transporter as well..
AJ was even going on about how great the diesel engine in the polo was....:rofl:

Did you uncover any other future secrets....:excited::4ngie:

Their secret HQ is impossible to find without local intelligence. I actually drove up the hill where it should be according to the guy from the petrol station, but only saw this country house and a building with two horses on it and I couldn't believe it was there. Ofcourse I should have picked up the hint - they are actually breeding ponies inside :idea: .

Usually I hate diesel engines but in this case it was just a utility vehicle and its performance wasn't too shabby. It was also equipped with a faulty wheel bearing to increase the sense of speed :excited: .

The E92 M3 obviously is there for a reason.

I think I have read your story about the short lived TS3. I hope your are doing well.

[Rider Ryuga]

Awesome photos :)

[Maestroxl]

Pretty amazing car, finaly another ESS twinscrewed car in the Netherlands.(that I know of).

[FemmeT]

Hi Maestroxl, you should post your car here (http://www.driving-fun.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3) (only real petrol heads, no caravan towers, school kids and other disturbing elements like on the Autoweek forums). I haven't heard about other twinscrews in NL either.

[Dirtboy]

Very nice ride you got there!:drool:

I'm sooo jealous that you got to go to ESS' shop. I wish I could have been able to make arrangements to get up there so they could have installed my TS2+...

Keep us posted, and post up some more of those beautiful pics when you get your car back.:thumbsup:

[nleksan]

Excellent story and write-up! Your car is beautiful, and if I had a Z4, I would want the exterior to look identical! The new-style Alpina wheels, the Alpina front lip that not-so-subtly proclaims your car to be among the most elite of roadsters, the beefy quad-exhaust that surely sounds like the war between Heaven and Hell is shooting out your exhaust pipes, and the aggressive (but probably fairly comfortably-riding) look of the suspension; they all come together to make the car straddle "the line" between "sleeper" and "exotic roadster" more and better than any other car. For fanatics who know what it is, it's drool-worthy and would be just as neck-snapping as a Ferrari passing by. To a regular person, however, it's just a nice looking Z4, maybe to be confused with an M Roadster.

I'll bet that thing has got some torque already, along with an engine that loves to scream all the way to redline. Bored/stroked to 3.35L must really change the engine characteristics. Typically it's done to give more low-end grunt, but looking at a dyno chart for the same model as yours (not the same mods, obviously), it also made it into quite a screamer. Your car is a perfect example of the kind of engine best-suited for ESS's Twin-Screw superchargers; you already have a great power/torque-curve, it doesn't seem to be extremely high compression so boost can be safely used, and the wide-wheels, limited-slip differential, big-brake kit, and suspension modifications mean that your car already has a perfect chassis for adding more power. Seeing as the twin-screw reaches full-boost around, what, 2000rpm(?), your car will find that it will have gargantuan amounts of torque available at less-than-cruising RPM's, and that it will continue on even past your "stock" peak-power point. In fact, the supercharger should mean that you will experience a continual increase in power, all the way to redline, even past the 6800rpm "power peak". You should have peak-power at whatever your new redline is. If you're making 300hp now, you can probably expect 420-450hp EASY from an ESS kit; and that would be like having 500-530hp from a centrifugal supercharger since you have full-boost all the time and are making MUCH more low-end power.

Good luck with the project. It's straight up BAD ASZ!!

[blucaller]

Beautiful thread...Well done. I can't wait for your update.

[FemmeT]

and the aggressive (but probably fairly comfortably-riding) look of the suspension

The suspension is actually much more comfortable than the stock suspension. I specifically asked for a setup that would be compliant with imperfect road conditions because that is the type of roads where I experience most of the driving thrills. The shock absorbers were made and setup by a company called Reiger Suspension, located just 15km from where I live. It's a no-nonsense company and only supplies to motor sport teams where performance, durability and flexibility are the things that count. Well known clients are the Ford WRC, Suzuki WRC and BMW X-Raid teams. Reiger also supply many privateers in different disciplines from rally-raid trucks down to Group N rally cars, quads and moto cross.

I have been driving on many challenging roads in the Alps, the Eiffel (the area that surrounds the Nurburgring), the 'Ring itself ofcourse and Autobahns (that have greatly varying road conditions) and so far I have been very happy with the setup.

Photos:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/d1a06e77d75572ec55dc8b1d08d5f2b9/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/2360d452650f9f59d557714ea8e4e1fe/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/c751eff582adc5d61fa2ad04308d8cb2/full.jpg

The brakes were a story by itself. First we tried a 4-piston 342mm set but it was impossible to fit the Alpina wheels (the wheels would stick out of the fenders). I absolutely wanted to keep the Alpina look and without the Alpina Dynamic wheels that would be unsuccesful. At the end we had to send a wheel to the factory so Mov'it could make accurate measurements. By using 380mm discs (with the caliper further away from the heart of the wheel) they were able to make the brakes fit with minimal clearance between the wheel spokes and caliper. Top job by Mov'it and Dutch importer Dick Hoekendijk.

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/zELH7uw1laceYz3NPzYplJAU/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/oPSQ6AuGaH8xrJN493JKBo1U/full.jpg

[MATT0404]

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/vVUwaeTIZaiCRmZH932yToaO/full.jpg

Sony A900?

[Cruzer03]

Great thread! What camera is that?

[FemmeT]

It's the new Sony Alpha 900 with Carl Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8.

[MATT0404]

It's the new Sony Alpha 900 with Carl Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8.

Very nice! That's a great lens, too.

Oh, and good luck with your car. It's going to be sick when it's done (not that it isn't already).

[zeshon]

Very cool thread man. I was captivated the whole time!

[Nismode]

Subscribed. Great pictures and story. Good luck and keep us updated please.

[NJx330CI]

Dude, I'm loving your photography.:thumbsup:

[Cruzer03]

It's the new Sony Alpha 900 with Carl Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8.

Great car and camera congrats!

[bimmerbum46]

Any Updates?!

[Rayce185]

:drool:

[FemmeT]

Any Updates?!

Stock power was very good at about 320hp. Asbjorn didn't expect any serious fitment issues. That's all I know for now (last update on Tuesday).

[m330]

:drool:

[krenar]

nice thread love your car love what you are doing with it
i would like to see more pics of the car as well some pics from autobahn:D :thumbsup:

[Leon_s]

awsome car!!
keep us posted, aye

[Lemonsqr]

great picture log of your trip!

[FemmeT]

The hardware is done and Asbjorn is working on fine tuning the software. It develops around 370HP at the wheels @ 7 PSI boost up from 270RWHP. That equals to ~435HP at the crank with a 15 percent correction factor for drivetrain losses :str8pimpi .

I will be shooting a video of the car in the Norway.

[Cruzer03]

Congrats!

[mcr_driver]

omg...i just reread this thread i want your car so badly :drool:

[BMWfanfromQuebec]

Rich ***** ! :P

[loayo]

That is amazing :excited:

How was traction for you before with the 270RWHP? I wonder also how traction will be with now with the supercharger. I drove a 3.0si Z4 6speed manual yesterday and was surprised with how much traction it had ! Felt very planted to the extend that it was hard to get the tail out even at low speed. It felt like a roller coaster with the low ride position.

This was all part of a BMW event for breast cancer awareness Susan G Komen and they had an ALPINA B7 which I did not sign up for :( I only realized how much power it had after I signed up. I saw it up close and the smart people that did sign up accelerate in it. The exhaust note and sheer acceleration of a 4500 lb monster was amazing !!! [BTW - They bent one of the 21 wheels the night before and it took them almost a day to get a replacement but they did. BMW did not spare any expense. I think one wheel was $4500 :excited:]

All the best.

Regards,
Loay

[MATT0404]

I've been patiently waiting on an update to this. Congrats! Can't wait for more pics and a vid!

[HighBoostin330]

Congrats! With that 7PSI you make more power than me at 14PSI on 91 octane. Geebus! :bow:

[maxnathan]

Wow..........that didn`t take that long !! Congrats m8!!:pimpin:

You were the inspiration for my friend who is about to " Twin screw " his alpina soon at our local motorsports workshop........:excited:

[Asbjorn@ESS]

And here is the end result of the Alpina Roadster S TS2 7PSI project..

[mikem7709]

Great work guys, those figures are very close to my Dyno Dynamics figures and it looks factory neat. :thumbsup:

[mcr_driver]

moar pics please and vids :drool:

[HighBoostin330]

Geebus this thing is a torque monster! :bow:

It makes basically my power on half my boost levels. Shows how good ESS is at tuning. Major Kudos AJ! :thumbsup:

[Dirtboy]

Geebus this thing is a torque monster! :bow:

It makes basically my power on half my boost levels. Shows how good ESS is at tuning. Major Kudos AJ! :thumbsup:


No kidding!:yikes: Makes me wanna send my car up to Norway for some custom tuning...:4ngie:

[EIAlfonso]

Good work AJ, now where's that video.:str8pimpi

[m330]

:yikes:

omggggg

[numba1guju]

what a wicked car...so rare...so beautiful...im not a fan of the z4 but you just made me one

[AntB]

Congrats, beautiful car as I said earlier. Definitely producing crazy levels of torque for such a small package! You might be needing some wider tires in the back if you can fit em!

[simsima325]

what a torque curve, love this car!!!

[///M3-QTR]

Yea the torque is crazy !!

[Maestroxl]

Awesome car, Uber numbers!
Congrats!

[Deah7]

Wow ESS must be great. That kinda looks like an ugly curve before cause everything drops off at high rpms but now it looks nice and neat. Great job guys!

[steelgrey330ci]

great stuff

[Onurleft]

WRITE-UP OF THE YEAR!!!

Such an absolutely gorgeous car! :drool: x 100.

You are a very fortunate individual to have a toy like that, I know many fanatics (myself included :eeps:) are very jealous.

I love every mod you've done to it- freakin flawless! :bow: :bow: :bow:,
-Chris

x1000.

The car is amazing as it is. A 270whp all motor beast about to get one of the nicest F.I setups possible. I would dream to own this car
Your dyno sheets are incredible, 380who 411wt. Incredible power

[malina]

This is a flawless roadster to start with. FI makes it even more enjoyable. Great dyno results @ 7 PSI. I guess, everyone is confusing H-M with ft-lb stating about craziness of the torque curve.

[FemmeT]

Thanks guys for all the comments.

I can't believe it's already almost a week ago I picked up the car in Norway. I decided to travel to Norway by car because I wanted to make a video and I wouldn't be possible to carry the gear back home in the small trunk of the Z4. I though about installing ESS' version of KITT but it was too expensive so I asked my friend Tom and fellow Z4 driver to travel to Norway so he could drive the car while I was handling the camera ;) . We left on Thursday for the 1100km drive to a place called Uddevalla in Sweden, two hours away from Aremark where ESS is located. Everything went well although the speeds were a lot lower this time because most part of the Autobahn between Osnabruck and Hamburg is speed limited during the day. On the boat to Denmark I wanted to eat soup so badly I served myself something which later turned out to be a sauce :D (my understanding of the German language needs improvement). We arrived in Uddevalla at 21:30.

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/1.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/2.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/3.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/4.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/5.jpg

The next day we headed off to ESS' secret countryside HQ (which actually is not difficult to find if you have been there once). We arrived a bit earlier than expected by Hans. The car was parked outside with some test equipment still attached to it. We had a look at the engine bay, which looked very nice. Two Norwegian guys where there to have a 120d tuned to 215hp and we talked about the outrageous car prices and speeding tickets in Norway (one of the guys once got in jail for speeding). Cars in the Netherlands are expensive but in Norway it is pure theft. It's easily recognizable by the cars people drive that Germany and Sweden have a domestic car industry while countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway don't, so the governments of these countries have no incentive to keep car taxes down to stimulate employment.

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/6.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/7.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/8.jpg

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http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/14.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/15.jpg

Asbjorn's 850i in pristine condition:

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/17.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/19.jpg

After a bit waiting Hans took the car for a final test of the lambda values and I took place in the passenger seat. The cold start was rough, like it has always been due to the aggressive camshafts in the Alpina engine and the need to comply with emission regulations. While Hans was warming up the engine it was obvious the car would run perfectly normal and very smooth at low speeds. The sound of the supercharger was barely noticeable. After the engine was warmed up, Hans launched the car uphill in second gear with very impressive acceleration.

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/20.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/21.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/22.jpg

After we returned to the shop we hang around there and talked about all kinds of things. Hans and Asbjorn are really cool guys and it's obvious they know a lot about these things. We hade a ride in a twinscrewed 520i automatic Asbjorn was working on. The performance of the car was very good 'considering there is no engine in it' (Asbjorn's words). Hans checked the fault codes of my Alpina B10 3.2 (there where vague German messages appearing on the display which I couldn't read because of pixel failures) and Asbjorn made use of this opportunity to read out the engine software of the B10. I had a look at the dyno graph for the first time and I was very impressed with the torque curve. I love the way it builds power all the way to the redline at 7200rpm. The torque improvement at lower revs is good but you still have to have to push it to extract maximum power.

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/23.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/24.jpg

It was already getting dark when I had my first test drive with Tom. I didn't push it very hard because of the wet conditions but I was already very impressed. The throttle response is very good and power delivery is just perfect. It's the closest you can get to a high revving engine without having one. We finally left ESS at 17:00 and drove to the hotel in the nearby city of Halden. We used the evening to shoot video at the parking of a shopping mall and the road nearby a very cool looking factory with lots of steam coming out of it. The next day we filmed on the road from Halden to ESS untill sun was set. We visited the Swedish customs where a smart guy pointed out my last name is an English verb and my first name means woman in French... I had some fun on the road to Goteborg, Sweden. The car is so fast, it's like a translocator in a shooting game. You shift down, push the throttle and the next moment you are in a different place. The engine feels powerful yet refined. If Alpina would still be making crazy fast cars like in the eighties this would be part of their lineup.

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/25.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/26.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/27.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/28.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/29.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/30.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/31.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/32.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/33.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/34.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/35.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/36.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/37.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/38.jpg

The next day we travelled home from Goteborg in Sweden. The roads in Sweden were just empty. No one was there, so it was difficult to obey the speed limits of only 110-120km/h. When we arrived in Germany we joined the millions of Germans who decided to drive from Hamburg to Osnabruck on a Sunday evening. I managed to do a few runs to 7000rpm (~280km/h). Tom was behind me pushing the B10. It's not the fastest car on the planet but it's certainly not slow with about 274HP. Everytime I pressed the throttle I opened a gap of several hundred meters in just no time. The car moves so easily between 120 and 180km/h in sixth gear it's just incredible. You need very little space to pass other cars who are driving at higher speeds.

[FemmeT]

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/39.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/40.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/41.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/42.jpg

http://www.driving-fun.com/Tom/AlpinaESS/43.jpg

I haven't driven it a lot since we arrived back home. There is a knocking noise coming from a diff when accelerating, which could be a broken hardy disk. I will have the car seviced next week.

I haven't made a lot of pictures this time. The photos in these posts are made by Tom. I'm still working on the video. It takes a lot of time to get in right. I wasn't able to make all the shots I wanted but still I think it's going to be nice. Here a some screen captures:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/rYHZq4mWvOJcpKPwp5Iobq8m/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/ZSdVnUOs7s4vLLNrmvhu2nxf/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/K2FBwYfC7lwmujIoxA1hkQ80/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/y0m1A8sy1KG9qT0K1WFsSTVD/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/h8HeZUKq2tKdUMquPvxBNXDa/full.jpg

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/LUf6KmeeAgaBkdMHyjn1cIGt/full.jpg

[A55A55IN]

amazing pics :bow:

[LABMW13]

Wow beautiful pics and roadster:thumbsup:

[mcr_driver]

:drool: i just love the way your car looks. the spoiler the rims it's perfect compliments to the Z4 chassis, and now all the power lurking underneath :drool:

[AntB]

Dammit I want one so bad now.

[Sales@ESS]

Amazing car, amazing owner. Looking forward to the video!

[Dr. Wonder]

amazing

[czechchamp]

:clap:

[whiplash]

Thank you for this topic , the pictures are great too :bow:

There'is something strange in your picture of the front of the engine with the crankcase ventilation hose. It's not the same route on my TS2 :hmm:

[Fluxe46]

god i love that car
and your photography is stunning:)

[EMPORIOO]

amazing photos, what kind of lense are you using?

[giving_birth]

Enjoy it good health mate!


Looking forward for the vid though!!!!!:4ngie:

[Asbjorn@ESS]

Thank you for this topic , the pictures are great too :bow:

There'is something strange in your picture of the front of the engine with the crankcase ventilation hose. It's not the same route on my TS2 :hmm:

You are correct, there are several custom modifications done to the TS2 to bolt it to the S52 based Alpina engine.

[HighBoostin330]

You are correct, there are several custom modifications done to the TS2 to bolt it to the S52 based Alpina engine.

AJ, just curious, why was 7PSI the chosen boost for this engine and not the typical 8PSI?

[Asbjorn@ESS]

AJ, just curious, why was 7PSI the chosen boost for this engine and not the typical 8PSI?

We have never worked on the Alpina engine before and wanted to be very conservative to avoid the potential for problems.

[ebelizard]

Thats so sick. Ive been to Norway and Sweeden a number of years back, and this thread reminds me how beautiful it is. Might have to make a trip back :)

[popmyclutch]

can i just say one thing and only one thing.....


:drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::dro ol::drool::drool::drool:

[HighBoostin330]

We have never worked on the Alpina engine before and wanted to be very conservative to avoid the potential for problems.

The results show you guys had no problems working on the car. ESS comes through again. Awesome work guys! :thumbsup:

[mcr_driver]

We have never worked on the Alpina engine before and wanted to be very conservative to avoid the potential for problems.

would you guys considering doing 8psi after the fact now that you've finished or do you think 7psi is at the safepoint still??

[Asbjorn@ESS]

would you guys considering doing 8psi after the fact now that you've finished or do you think 7psi is at the safepoint still??

Personally I think this engine can take 9PSI safely (cast iron block and high quality Mahle/Alpina pistons), but I do not want to gamble our Roadster S customers engines on it and the Alpina 3.4 SC market is to small to justify extensive long term testing at 8-9PSI. That's why it is IMO better to settle for a very safe 7PSI intercooled and 100 extra whp.

[mcr_driver]

all that means is he needs to go back and get more boost :eeps:

[ModBargains]

:drool:

[simsima325]

awesome coverage of this moment for your car :) great shots!!

[FemmeT]

The dealer has inspected the differential. The bad news is that the knocking sound really comes from the rear axle and not from a hardy disk / flexdisk or something else easily replaceable. I will have to send the axle back to Drexler Motorsport for a rebuild. The car has been involved in an accident which happened just before the grand makeover of my car. The left rear suspension was damaged in this incident. All parts have been replaced or upgraded except for the rear axle which passed visual inspection.

The preview video is now available @ http://ilija.nl .

amazing photos, what kind of lense are you using?

These were not my pictures this time. The camera was a Canon 40D with Canon EF-S 10-22mm F/3.5-4.5 USM lense. I don't know what other gear Tom was using.

all that means is he needs to go back and get more boost :eeps:

With current dirty and wet road conditions and temperatures close to 0°C traction is more of a problem than lack of power ;) .

Going back to Norway is not a bad idea.

This a picture from my vacation two years ago in Norway with the car somewhere on top of a 25km tunnel (Norwegians really like building tunnels, if they see rock they want to tunnel through it even it's only to create a shortcut of a few hundred meters ;) ). It was still in original state. You can see how much has changed since then:

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/15d603cae89844f66c9cb239b3aa4f66/full.jpg

[elite53]

Sorry about to hear about your axle but that video is looking awesome. You never stop impressing me. Great job! I'll be waiting on the edge of my seat for the rest of it. Thanks for sharing. :)

[MATT0404]

VERY nice video so far! Can't wait to see the full one.

Sorry to hear about the diff :(

[Dirtboy]

:yikes: Wow, that preveiw was sick!:bow: Can't wait to see the whole thing!
You got skillzzzz! :str8pimpi

:D

[M3nthusiast]

Amazing car, awesome right up, best of luck!

[bluejeansonfire]

that's an awesome car!
But that's a s52... not based on the s52, it is an s52. It's not like a stroked m54, it's not the z4 3.0L engine: the m54. This is a single vanos pipe laying monster. You have the awesome motor with bore. I know that with this very short deck design that the m20 started, we can't run too much stroke, the rod ratio is horrible in the s52/m54.... which share cranks and rods. And it compromises these motors at high rpms. But the s52 isn't boost deficient with its cast iron block, infinitely better ports, and throttle by cable. I wonder what version of BMW's DME it uses- I wish I could go to these motors- so much less effort, I wonder if they managed to tune a modern double vanos DME for single vanos. I wonder where Alpina added the displacement, bore or stroke.

edit: I'm a total noob for following with someone digging up a dead thread, sorry