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One-of-a-Kind 1982 BMW 345i Dietel/Alpina

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Before I get into the wonderful details of this rare and custom Bimmer, here’s a brief history synopsis on how this car came to be.  In the 1980’s a man by the name of Mike Dietel was spending most of his time importing Euro Spec BMWs which never made their way to our shores. Once across the pond, he and his crew at Dietel Enterprises in Laguna Hills California would bring the cars (typically e21 3-Series) up to legal standards and fully customize them with Alpina goodies. At this time Dietel was the sole Alpina distributor and built many custom vehicles for his clients. Dietel’s final work, which happens to also be one of his most well-known and striking pieces of work is this 1982 E21 BMW 345i.   

What do the Hulk, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and the Dietel/Alpina 345i have in common?  They each have split personalities and each have the ability to be extremely dangerous and terrifying!  The body of the 345 belongs to a Euro-spec 323 while the heart was sourced from the 3.2-liter engine from the 745i with a turbocharger.  Boost was upped to 7.5 Psi which produced a staggering 300+ horsepower.  An Alpina five-speed and LSD were added to transfer this hulkish grunt to the rear wheels.  All of the suspension was updated to Bilstein/Alpina components, the chassis was reinforced and to slow this Bavarian rocket down brakes from the M1 were installed.

Before all of the above you notice the e30-M3 like wide-body.  This very distinctive kit was designed by Dietel and built by Wayne Hartman Fiberglass.  This whole package is said to have cost over $70,000 to create (and that’s back in 1980’s dollars!)

I’ve always been a diehard E30 fan but lately I’ve gone head over heels for maintained and unique E21s. This one really caught my eye and it was really interesting to learn more about Dietel and the transformation that this Bimmer went through.  I’m really shocked that the bid on this one-of-a-kind Dietel Special is only at $11K, especially seeing that it comes with all the documents, low miles and a monster engine.  Hopefully it finds a nice home.

-Ben

More info on the 345i Dietel/Alpina

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Posted by Ben in Alpina, BMW | May 5, 2010 | 5 Comments »