TWR 335i

[e21-Mark]

Hoping to be back on the road by end of September.

[e21-Mark]

TWR is one step closer to completion.

[e21-Mark]

After giving it serious thought, going through the TWR catalogue and listening to other Weber equipped M30's, I got myself a triple 45 set-up. I know it's not exactly ideal when it comes to MPG but seeing as it's not going to be a daily driver I figured it would be worth the noise & extra performance. I was also lucky enough to find the whole kit at £1000 less than I had previously been quoted. I just need to sort the ignition side of things and get some base jetting before it can go to be set up properly on a dyno. It should easily pass the 240 brake it had originally.

[Smartie]

That would be a wicked sound.
Keep up the good work!

[e21-Mark]

My car advertised for a £21 995

[TopCat]

Am surprised it doesn't have the battery moved to the boot- an Alpina Mod per the B6?

[e21-Mark]

The first car they converted (KHR 792X), which is the one in the photo, did keep the battery in the boot but the next 2 had the boot mounted battery conversion. I can't help but wonder what Alpina must have thought about TWR's conversion? They badged it as either a 323is or, as you can just see in some photos, a 335i. I did ask for some information from Sytners Alpina archive but they were useless. Initially they said that Alpina didn't convert any e21's! I explained, politely, that I thought they might be mistaken, only to be told that people ''bolt all sorts of things to their cars in order to call them Alpinas''. They also said that TWR weren't Alpina distributors. It's a shame really as it reflects badly on the classic section of BMW. I think I have been fortunate enough to track down enough past TWR / Alpina employees and enough paperwork to prove my cars provenance without question. The problem I have now, is agreeing a market value for the purposes of insurance..

[TopCat]

This sort of attitude from Sytners is unhelpul!

James Taylor mentions the TWR connection as distributors before Frank Sytner in his excellent book (which I am sure you may have?)

Also of note is that Brian "Yogi" Muir was involved in the early days- the same guy who raced a 1 Gen Camaro !

With my other hat I am often being asked for Club valuations (for Camaros) for insurance purposes- quite doable with an ear to the ground once condition and provenance are proven

I was recently asked for an opinion on Martin Thomas' 1 Gen Camaro- the one in greatest sporting moments at Crystal Palace for e.g.: would have thought that the BMW Club should be able to provide you with something for insurance purposes?

Re batteries I note that Alun Parry's B6 (I Beleive the only other one in UK no 278) also has the battery under the bonnet -

One other item of advice (I might offer the expert if I may!) is that I sourced a replica 7x15 Alpina wheel for a spare and fitted a 205x50x15 tyre (same are rears since rears are more likely to have a puncture- I can explain why if required!)- problem is that the tyre/wheel combo doesn't quite fit in the standard wheelwell- raising same by about 1/2inch. If doing again I would try a front tyre 195x50x15 as spare!

[e21-Mark]

Funnily enough I have a spare Alpina rim with a 195/50 fitted.

As for the value, well I know what I think it's worth. I also know what it owes me so far! Put it this way, I could have another 2 or 3 very nice 323's sat outside for what I have spent. I imagine, this is why it spent 20 years in storage. The exhaust & manifold alone cost over £1 100 and I bought nice 316's & 320's for that amount. It's only very recently that e21 values have started to reach levels that reflect just how good a car they are. They're still way behind a lot of other things of the same era though. I was looking at a really nice MK2 Escort Mexico today. It was like MIB but a Ford version. Price? £11.000.

[TopCat]

does the boot floor/cover fit flush over your spare with the 195x50x15?

could tell a few tales about Frank S - but not publically!

[e21-Mark]

I don't know to be honest. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't as I believe steel rims were usually supplied as spares. I guess it would be simple enough to raise the boot floor liner slightly? In fact, I am probably going to replace the wooden covers with new one's cut from marine ply.

[e21-Mark]

Currently on the phone trying to arrange insurance via Adrian Flux who - supposedly - are Alpina specialists!? Once I told them it was like a B6 with a bigger engine they sort of got the idea.
Anyway, it's a lot stricter than my other classic policies. The car must be locked in my garage between 10pm and 6am when not in use and for a limited mileage of 1500 miles per year the cost was £430! Hopefully, that will go down a bit once the tracker is installed and activated. The most positive part is that they've agreed, given the cars rarity, a value of £30k.

[TopCat]

Do try the NFU? -or KGM 260 Motor

£430 sounds like a London Weighting to me (Kingston)- ouch

presumably they will require corroborative info later?

[e21-Mark]

I've e-mailed copies of the original purchase docs, a spec list and, I imagine, they will have done their own searches to confirm what the car is exactly. Some companies I approached for quotes simply wouldn't even consider it. Adrian Flux did ask if I could get confirmation of the cars details from the car club registrar till I told them I didn't think that would be appropriate as that was I. Conflict of interests and all that. I just wanted to increase the chances of actually being able to replace it with a similar car, should the worst ever happen. Mind you, the closest thing would be a B6 and when did one of those last come up for sale?

[dannyboy]

30k insurence value for one the rarest e21's?... in my veiw a fare bit more than that..... and a 335i badge would top it off.. show these chaps with there new 335i's were it began...and still pull away from them as well