e12 530i alpina?

TimE12 · Post by **TimE12** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:44 pm

New to this forum, just picked up a 1978 530i. Its badged as an alpina but how do I find out for sure? I had bmw run the vin and all they could tell me was production date and that it was an M30 engine lol. Any help on how I can get this info and some specs?

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:57 pm

I doubt it's a true Alpina, they were all euro 528i based, not US model 530 based. Not to mention the US smog laws make importation very difficult.

http://www.alpina-automobiles.com/en/mo ... s/e12.html

TimE12 · Post by **TimE12** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:03 pm

Yeah thats what I figured, thanks tho. You any good websites to pick up window trim, exhaust, repair manual, and stuff like that?

Lmarkey · Post by **Lmarkey** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:07 pm

Is that blue 78 from Escondido? If so, I looked at it. Its a US 78 that the original owner had Hardy and Beck in San Francisco upgrade at least the suspension. That at least I was told by the second owner who the guy selling it put me in contact with. Not sure if anything else was upgraded.

TimE12 · Post by **TimE12** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:28 am

Sweet! Thatnks for the info. I saw the tags that it was a u.s. Model so I figured... no way... still a fun project so far tho, but definitely needs work

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:54 am

TimE12 wrote:Yeah thats what I figured, thanks tho. You any good websites to pick up window trim, exhaust, repair manual, and stuff like that?

Blunttech can get dealer parts and has a good reputation, Tischer BMW (now known as something else, but I think still comes up in searches) is a dealer with very competitive prices. Finding a manual may be difficult, the Haynes is pretty good, but NLA. The factory ones pop up every so often, but are expensive, as in the $75-150 range. Autohaus AZ is also good on parts, but not so much on dealer type stuff.