1984 BMW e30 Hardy & Beck 327S

November 9, 2009 by Dan

Here’s a cool piece of e30 history. Check out this Hardy and Beck 327s on Roadfly (143k miles, $10.9k, California):

hardy_and_beck 327s

quote from the seller’s listing:

1984 E30 327S. – Built Jan 1984 as a Euro 323i 5-speed Euro bumpers – Imported and modified by Hardy & Beck (formerly “Alpina West”) in Berkeley, CA in 1984 – this is one of about 12 cars they built – Maybe the only original left – 2.7 bottom end, custom pistons and 323i head, some other performance modifications – Full H&B suspension – 3-piece H&B wheels 15×7 with 205/55-15 – original and perfect delphin grey paint, just clayed and waxed – original BMW cloth sport seats, very nice condition, rear headrests – el. windows and sunroof, A/C – Zender body kit (H&B installed) I bought the car in June this year, and have done the following (by Schatz & Krum in Sacramento): – Timing belt – waterpump – all hoses – new steering rack – control arm bushings – complete A/C overhaul (done by an expensive A/C shop in Auburn) – found and installed the super rare 3-piece H&B wheels to replace the Ronal LS – Italian period correct Dino steering wheel with removable leather center It drives like a dream, very fast (like an Alpina, H&B was named “Alpina West” before). Road & Track tested the car in 2/1985, and recorded a 0-60 time of 6.9s. I have a copy of the magazine. This car needs nothing. Car was serviced by H&B until a few years ago.

I couldn’t really find much quality information on Hardy & Beck and their history. Sounds like a pretty small operation that used to go by ‘Alpina West’ and modified cars with Alpina parts. Gets blurry from there. Anyone have any good information about these guys?

In any event, an interesting car for $10.9k.

dc

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Posted by Dan in BMW, Hardy & Beck | November 9, 2009 |
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4 Responses to “1984 BMW e30 Hardy & Beck 327S”

  1. #1
    Blair Winter
    November 10th, 2009 10:39 am

    Hi Dan,

    Hardy & Beck did a brisk business in the ’80s importing and ‘federalizing’ gray-market BMWs – everything from the e21 323i to the M1. They developed suspension parts and [among other things] wheels. The wheels on the e30 featured are very rare, and very sought after. H&B had a national presence, but a particularly big west coast following. Not sure exactly when they closed, but it wasn’t too many years ago.

    An acquaintance and fellow e21 323i owner worked there back in the day…

    Best,
    Blair in Eugene

  2. #2
    Dan
    November 10th, 2009 10:42 am

    Hey Blair,

    Long time no hear! Thanks for catching me up on their history. Nice to have a close source instead of trying to figure out which internet forum post is reliable!

    How are things going? What’s in your stable right now anyway?

    dc

  3. #3
    Ross Bogen
    July 17th, 2010 12:37 pm

    Found this 9 mo. old post as I was looking for alt wheels for my e30. FYI, H&B is still in business, still in Berkeley, just had them service my car. Alan Hardy runs it now (Horst Beck – or whatever his name is – split off a while ago and I think also still keeps shop). While I was there, I happened to see a set of H&B wheels, “our last ones” Alan said, which he keeps as a reserve, although not sure exactly what he meant by that…
    Anyway, any suggestions on where to find 16×7 wheels with et25 offset? (And don’t say Alpina…)

  4. #4
    Dan
    July 19th, 2010 9:48 am

    Hi Ross,

    Thanks for the update on the shop!

    As for where to find the wheels, I think your best bet would be to join some club and enthusiast forums and post ‘want to buy’ listings and see if you can’t find someone to part with them. There’s actually a guy in town who has some on his e30 325is, but I know for a fact he’s not parting with them (or I’d have them, and the whole car for that matter if he’d part with it!)

    Good luck in your search!

    dc

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