Want to impress your Bimmer buddies at the next club meeting without spending a ton of cash? Then how about this low-mileage 1998 BMW Alpina B8 4.0 listed for sale in Canada for CA$ 29,000, which comes to about US$23,000US$26,800? According to the Alpina-Archive, the E36 3-Series-based car is one out of five or six cars ever made, all of which were originally sold in Japan.
Alpina actually made two V8-powered E36 models; the European market B8 4.6 and the Japanese market B8 4.0 featured here.
The Euro B8 (see last photo and video below) borrowed the E34 540i’s 4.0-liter unit with its displacement increased to 4.6-liters. Along with a series of other mechanical upgrades, the V8 produced 333PS (328hp) and 470Nm (345 lb-ft) of peak torque. Linked to a six-speed manual from Getrag, it accelerated the B8 sedan from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 5.6 seconds (5.8 sec for Convertible, 5.7 sec for Touring) and allowed it to reach a top speed in excess of 280km/h (174+mph).
The much rarer Japanese-spec B8 kept the same 4.0-liter displacement as the original V8, but it was tuned to deliver 313PS (309hp). It also came with a six-speed stick shift and hade the same exterior and interior updates as the B8 4.6.
This B8 4.0, which is listed for sale over at the Bimmerforums, has just 63,000km (39,150 miles). If everything checks out in regards to its originality starting with the VIN, it’s an awesome find. Now, if only someone could tell me if/how (see NHTSA Import guidelines here) you can bring a Japanese-spec Canadian import to Massachusetts without getting into a lengthy pickle with EPA/NHTSA or any other .gov agency, for that matter…
By John Halas
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEO