Brown on Brown Wagon: Alfa Romeo 156 SW

[Galapolis]

The forum has been pretty quiet lately. I really like this tight-knit community, so I figured I'd share my latest project here, even if it's a little different from the usual BMW stuff.

As some may know, I moved back to Germany last summer (although I plan to return to the US as soon as I can) and took my E46 with me. I've taken it on some memorable road trips through the Austrian and Swiss alps, but as we near winter yet again, it's time to store it in the garage. I didn't want to miss out on the convenience of a car and longer road trips this winter, so I've been searching for a suitable winter beater.

I've always loved the late 90s and early 2000s Alfa Romeos. They are both beautiful and quirky in a way that really speaks to me. This was also the period where Alfa really upped their production quality and made some genuinely reliable cars (for the most part). In fact, if Alfa hadn't pulled out of the US market in 1995, I would probably have gotten a 2000s era Alfa Romeo instead of the E46.

With my need for a second car, I was finally able to revisit that dream. Now, my top pick would have been something like a Busso-powered Type 916 GTV, but since I needed a beater, it had to be something more sensible. The 156 (also known as the Type 932) was my second choice. I found a Sportwagon (usually just called SW) with a really interesting color combination near Munich. I wasn't specifically looking for a wagon, but the spec was too good to pass up on.

The car seemed decent on paper but meeting the seller was what really blew me away. This guy had 12 Alfa Romeos in a place where each parking spot costs more than a ZHP, and part of his collection was a pristine SZ and Montreal. He was an enthusiast through and through, exactly the kind of person you want to buy an Alfa from.

Needless to say, we agreed on a price and he seemed happy that the car was going to another enthusiast who understands what it means to buy a more than 20 year old car.

Pics:



Specs:

• 2000 Alfa Romeo 156 SW
• 2.0 Twin Spark engine
• Nero Fuoco over brown Momo leather
• Factory Sportpack
• Factory carbon-style steering wheel
• Factory Blaupunkt carphone
• 17" OEM sport wheels with Michelin Alpin 6 tires (225/45r17)
• Bilstein coilovers

History and details

Interestingly, when you search for Nero Fuoco, you mostly get BMW pics because it seems that the Individual program adopted that color at some point. It's described as a metallic color but looks more like pearl to me, meaning it's black in the shade and brown in direct sunlight. Either way, I absolutely love the color combination. The car came with a maintenance history spreadsheet. It passed inspection this summer and doesn't need anything for a little while, but it should be easy to continue right where the previous owner left off with the spreadsheet.

The car was actually a summer car until 2020, then the previous owner started using it in the winter. As such, it has some minor rust, but overall it's really in the right spot of "nice enough while not being too nice" for winter use. The sills have been replaced on both sides with 1mm sheet metal, then treated with rust prevention. The rest of the underbody is also greased up, which really got me the first time I touched it while inspecting the car. It should survive a couple winters just fine, but I'll still do my best to avoid leaving salt on it.

For anyone who wants to learn more about the 156, the Wikipedia entry will get you started and Big Car on YouTube made a video with some nice background information. There is some interesting history and engineering behind the 156 as well. For example, it has a double wishbone front suspension and an aluminium rear subframe with MacPerhson struts. For a FWD platform, this car feels absolutely amazing to drive, especially with the Bilstein coilovers.

Future plans:

For now I want to address some of the smaller but fundamental details that annoy me. Just like our E46s, the badges on Type 932s like to fade. I've already ordered new ones. The shift knob is not my cup of tea at all so I've ordered an aluminum knob, which is what I'm used to in my E46 as well. One of the window regulators doesn't work either (deja vu) so I'll probably troubleshoot that when I upgrade the speakers.

The timing belt needs to be done every 30k or years on these. It's due next year. Luckily the cam phaser has already been replaced with an upgraded unit. I really like the Sportpack wheels and the tires are surprisingly good in dry conditions, but I am itching to get a set of teledials and all seasons, given that it's rare to ever drive on actual snow with all the snow plows around here.

Since I'm returning to the US at some point, I'm thinking of shipping this out ahead of time so that I'll have transportation the day I land. Kind of hard to function without a car pretty much anywhere in the US.

I have very specific plans for my next "actual" car, so the 156 should hold me over just fine and turn into a nice little project/cars and coffee show car after that. The Twin Spark is relatively durable, but I am still planning something like a K swap down the road. That would make sourcing parts in the US easier and would let me tune the engine to the exact power output I want.

Stay tuned for more pics and updates.

[Galapolis]

Reserved

[fredo]

Congrats, man! Interesting project, indeed.

[ZHPizza]

Hell yeah brother. I love how weird it is. You'll be snapping necks if you manage to get this thing into the US.

[Oli77]

Cool change of pace around the neighborhood.

[t.er]

Very cool! So will the E46 stay in Germany then?

And I guess this would be a "temporary import" when you make it back to the US? Or I guess you'd plan to return later and by that time, the car is 25 years old already?

[san]

You can call yourself a true petrolhead now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pilot05]

That thing is sex on wheels!

[Galapolis]

The first few updates. I know it looked relatively clean in the pics but I can assure y'all it wasn't. Last weekend I wiped down all the interior plastic surfaces and rubber seals with 303, cleaned the carpets with soap and conditioned the leather seats. Made quite a difference. Now that the cleanliness is up to my standard, it feels like I actually own the car.

I only washed the exterior but it clearly needed some hefty detailing so today I gave it the full clay bar/polish/wax treatment. Unfortunately it got dark by the time I finished (I hate it here). I guess you can still kind of see the smoothness in the garage light reflection, especially compared to the fender shot from the day I picked the car up.




Next I installed a Squadra Sportiva shift knob. I'm really used to heavy solid aluminum shift knobs like the one in my E46, so this one definitely did the trick. Feels way better than the worn out flimsy fake leather original knob.



Another thing that really annoyed me was the keycard head unit. It's the original one but it doesn't really look it and having to insert and remove the keycard all the time is really annoying. The sound system in the 156 is absolutely atrocious and some of the right side speakers seemed to not work properly, so I figured I might as well replace the head unit.




That's some nice weight reduction right there.



Usually I hate these type of head units because they look so out of place, but I gotta say it's not even that much worse than the original. Sadly that didn't fix the sound on the right side, so I removed the tweeters to switch them from side to side and was able to confirm that it's just a classic blown speaker. Removing it is surprisingly easy too, just one screw and it literally slides out with the handle cover assembly. The woofers also just come out right after unclipping the speaker grills, so with how easy replacing them all is, I went ahead and ordered a full set of Alpine speakers.



Another thing I had to order was the engine splash guard because it came loose on the Autobahn yesterday. It's a known weak point on the 156 and I already saw that mine was literally hanging on by a zip tie. I should have removed it sooner but oh well. I ordered the sturdy aluminum guard, also from Squadra Sportiva. It looks like this (taken from their website, sadly mine isn't this rust free):



With how low this thing rides to the ground, it's definitely necessary to have the guard (if you live in the southern US or Cali, prepare you eyes for rust gore):



This is probably a bit cheesy but I feel like it suits what the car is. Got some Italian flag color plate frames after switching to my own plates. As you can see I carried on the AR 156 torch. It was either that or TP 932 (Type 932) but it's hard to decipher the TP so AR 156 it was.



The Italians have shorter plates so there was an ugly adapter that I removed. It would of course look the sleekest in NC with no front plate, but I'll have to find a shop to remove the plate bump and fill in all the holes.

Very cool! So will the E46 stay in Germany then?

And I guess this would be a "temporary import" when you make it back to the US? Or I guess you'd plan to return later and by that time, the car is 25 years old already?

The earliest I can go back would be next October, assuming I get the VISA in the next round, so the car will be 25 by then anyway. With the E46 I'm often torn between keeping it nice and using it as a daily. It was never in a collectible condition to begin but with all the work done to it, the excellent driving experience would make it a shame not to use it.

That being said, a 3 series in general is a solution to a problem that I don't have anymore. If you can only have one car, I doubt anything can fulfill as many roles as well as an E46. But now that multiple cars are feasible for me, I'd rather go for something more focused for spirited driving and have a beater/practical car for everything else.

Also, bringing the 156 with me still hinges on how it survives the next few winters (so it also depends on how long I still have to stay here). Regardless, I'll have to bring something with me because I remember the struggle of getting a car abroad when you are just settling in. I'd rather just have a car ready and waiting for me at the port the day I land.

[Galapolis]

Clear coat on the wheels was cooked with how much brake dust was baked into them. I was able to scrub it all out with a bit of patience and aggressive wheel cleaner but I'm not sure how much longer the paint will last.





New speakers are in too. Installation was stupid easy, you literally just pop out the speaker grills and you have direct access. Definitely better than before but I think the stock HK setup I had in my sedan was still better. Not sure if I want to add a sub. For now I'm happy enough, although there seems to be some wiring issue as the right rear speaker is softer than the rest. Was able to mostly tune it out via the head unit. Kinda makes me want a higher end head unit with even more tuning options. Maybe if there is one that can accept the factory CD changer I'll upgrade in the future.




We haven't had a sunny day in a while but sometimes you get 10 minute windows of slightly less misery. Even with that kind of light, it looks like the paint cleaned up decently after all the detailing. It still needs some compound that can cut deeper, I just did the bare minimum to get it to an acceptable spot.