(E46) BMW M3 • Hartge H50 V8 • Alpina B3 3.3 (B3S) - TrackTest MotorVision

HARTGE H50 5.0 V8 Hartge was a third party car tuning company specializing in BMW, MINI, Juno, and Range Rover cars. Founded in 1971 in Merzig, Germany, the company moved to its current location in Beckingen in 1974. The company is known for putting larger, more powerful factory BMW engines in smaller cars, such as engines from the 5 Series into the smaller 3 Series. In 1985 Hartge was granted manufacturer's status in Germany. All vehicles built from then on received a Hartge Motorsport VIN plate in place on the BMW VIN plate. The company was liquidated in mid-2019 and deleted from the commercial register BMW Alpina B3 3.3 Third generation (E46; 1999-2006) In 1999, the new BMW Alpina B3 3.3 of the E46 series was introduced. A year earlier, a prototype with the 3.2-liter engine of the B3 3.2 was presented at the Birmingham Auto Show. The production model was formally presented at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show and the station wagon at the 2000 Birmingham Auto Show. The body base was initially provided by the 328i (M52TÜ) and then later by the 330i (M54). The following model variants were available: sedan, coupé, cabriolet (convertible) and station wagon (touring). From 2001, the B3 was also offered in an all-wheel drive variant, the premiere of which took place at the Geneva Motor Show of the same year. From 2002, the Alpina B3 S with 224 kW maximum power and 362 Nm maximum torque was produced. Its premiere took place at the Paris Motor Show in 2002. For both E46-B3 models, Alpina used the E36-US-M3 gray cast iron engine block (S52B32/US) as the basis and modified it, since neither the M52TÜ nor the M54 engine block were suitable for it. 2001 Retro Review MotorVision #e46 #e46m3 #alpina