Alpina steering wheel / horn button / hub combination - opinions welcome

[Clubsport_CSi]

Hello guys,

as mentioned earlier, I gifted myself with the reproduction of the Alpina Momo Prototipo 380mm in black.

Now that I have the steering wheel I always wanted to see in my 3.5CSi, I think it would be a good time to select from the other wheels I collected as "spare" which parts to use / keep an which parts could finance other optimization projects

I have this four-spoke Alpina, with correct horn button showing carburetor and camshaft with a silver metal ring around the button to push and a S153 154 155 hub:

Than I got this four-spoke with horn button with black ring and a C2004 hub:

And I have a 350mm Prototipo with a BMW horn button with silver ring and a 152 hub:

Now I ask myself, which parts would be the best combination for the 380mm Alpina Prototipo?
I tend to use the Alpina horn button with silver ring as I think this version is the period correct while the buttons with black ring were released later?
For the hub, the 152 should be the correct one, but I am uncertain if I could value the genuine appearance of the solid hub in case of an accident, so I am tending to use the S153 154 155.

What would you recommend?

Thanks a lot in advance and kind regards, Dan

 

[Markos]

Horn Button:

Period correct would be the silver ring buttons, either the Alpina or BMW. BMW never used the alpina button, even when mated to a Alpina wheel. It certainly wouldn’t look out of place though. The black ring Alpina buttons is either a reproduction or it has been modified. Check if the ring is plastic. Also snap a pic of the back. That early Alpina face would never been mated to a late 70’s+ horn button. The button body doesn’t look like a reproduction to me,

Hub;

The 152 is the right form factor but the horn won’t work. The 153 has a brass ring that mates to the brass plunger on the e9 steering column. Assuming it has a brass horn ring best option would be the early collapsible hub on the four spoke.

 

[Clubsport_CSi]

Hi Markos,
Thanks a lot for your reply!
I will try to take a photo of the backside of the horn button at the weekend.
For the hub:
You are right, the 152 is without contact ring and has the pin - I assume it is from a 02 (would also align with the 350mm diameter)?

The other hubs do have the ring - here the S153 154 155:

I thought I may also be able to transfer the ring to the 152 hub - but I am probably too naive here?

I would be OK with sticking with the S153 154 155, as I do have an additional spare of these in my parts box

I need to assamble the wheel soon, I am quite excited to see it completed

Kind regards, Dan

 

[JamesE30]

Horn Button:

Period correct would be the silver ring buttons, either the Alpina or BMW. BMW never used the alpina button, even when mated to a Alpina wheel. It certainly wouldn’t look out of place though. The black ring Alpina buttons is either a reproduction or it has been modified. Check if the ring is plastic. Also snap a pic of the back. That early Alpina face would never been mated to a late 70’s+ horn button. The button body doesn’t look like a reproduction to me,

Actually Markos all genuine Momo Alpina buttons new and old have the carburettor logo! Chrome ring momo buttons are the oldest, then still in the 70's was introduced the black rings but keeping the old gloss black housings, and the black ring and matte black housing is the newest design which you can still buy today from Momo or directly from Alpina. there are many subtle variations but those are the main design changes..

Dan, your nice old chrome ring Alpina button will look great with the new wheel. Thanks for sharing some pics it’s interesting to see.

 

[Clubsport_CSi]

Thanks a lot, James!
It is a pity, the Alpina Homepage was shut down now - they had a nice presentation of the time-axis of transferring the logo from carburetor/camshaft to ITB/crankshaft... I think I remember it was in '75 or '76?
Also, the history of the three piece racing rims (every other spoke solid for stability reasons vs all single spokes) disappeared with that...
Anyways, most disappointing is that they present "the very first version of the Alpina shift knob from '68", screw on version, but displaying the ITB/crankshaft logo... And it a very exclusive wood. In reality, the wood was a very simple one and, of course, the logo was with carburetor and camshaft Will need to drop them an e-mail again

 

[Clubsport_CSi]

Ah, yeah - and BTW: As I am getting clearer about what combination to use in my coupé, I will probably sell the two Alpina four-spoke wheels and the hubs; will probably keep both horn buttons (but could organize a reproduction one with my next order in Buchloe).
Still in a hard fight to say goodbye to the 350mm Prototipo, although it is a 02 wheel...
I will go to Chicago end of May, so I could probably also bring one of them to the US if anybody would be interested.

 

[Markos]

Actually Markos all genuine Momo Alpina buttons new and old have the carburettor logo! Chrome ring momo buttons are the oldest, then still in the 70's was introduced the black rings but keeping the old gloss black housings, and the black ring and matte black housing is the newest design which you can still buy today from Momo or directly from Alpina. there are many subtle variations but those are the main design changes..

Dan, your nice old chrome ring Alpina button will look great with the new wheel. Thanks for sharing some pics it’s interesting to see.

Hi James,

My fellow steering wheel affacianado & one of the few genuine Alpina e9 owners: I respectfully disagree, with receipts. I just think that you are being normal-accurate and I am being on-the-autism-spectrum-accurate.

With that said…

Alpina had two, possibly three distinct logos with the the silver ring momo button. I say possibly three because I have only personally owned/seen two of them. I haven’t paid close enough attention to spot the middle child in the wilderness.

Rather than listing the three variants, have a look at Alpina’s own published logo history at the bottom if this thread.

The most important thing to note that is that the logo changed from a carburetor to a throttle body, and at the same time - a camshaft to a crankshaft. For a short time they used a five piston crankshaft before standardizing on four. I haven’t seen that button, but it likely exists. These important details that left me making that statement likely fall under your “subtle variations” comment.

Apologies for the content sprawl but with many things momo and Alpina we need to use relative dating methods. The silver ring momo button lasted through the 77/78. For instance, the 1977 Ferrari 308 has a silver ring momo button and the 1978 has the plastic ring - as seen in the brochures and some single-owner vehicles.

Here is momo’s single arrow logo (pre-double-arrow) from 1978. This momo logo only lived through the early 80’s before moving to the mainstream double arrow.

This single arrow button bridges the gap into from silver ring metal buttons plastic ringed buttons.

Here is the same early momo log transitioning to the “modern” black plastic horn ring. Courtesy of PatiPatina.

End of detour. Long story short, by the time that momo was pumping out black plastic horn rings in 1978, the 1974+ Alpina logo had a throttle body and a four cylinder crankshaft. The earliest Alpina button face below was never paired with a black plastic momo ring.

When Alpina Classic split “Big Alpina” took down this logo history page. Not before I saved it.

210610_ALPINA_Emblem: ALPINA Automobiles

web.archive.org

 

[Markos]

Thanks a lot, James!
It is a pity, the Alpina Homepage was shut down now - they had a nice presentation of the time-axis of transferring the logo from carburetor/camshaft to ITB/crankshaft... I think I remember it was in '75 or '76?
Also, the history of the three piece racing rims (every other spoke solid for stability reasons vs all single spokes) disappeared with that...
Anyways, most disappointing is that they present "the very first version of the Alpina shift knob from '68", screw on version, but displaying the ITB/crankshaft logo... And it a very exclusive wood. In reality, the wood was a very simple one and, of course, the logo was with carburetor and camshaft Will need to drop them an e-mail again

See my comment above with the logo changes. I took a snapshot for all time. I have another post with a link to the site and I updated it.

You likely can swap that plastic ring it should be the same dimension. The plastic setup is held on by friction only. You run the horn ring wire though the plunger hole. Just ensure you can get it seated properly. Also, confirm that your metal press-fit signal cancel lever isn’t stuck on your steering column. You only need one so the integrated plastic one will do.

FWIW, That other hub is an collapsible from the late 70’s. It’s a nice period correct hub that is longer than the 152/153 by a decent amount. In fact it’s just a little longer than the CSL Petri hub. See which one you like better for driving. The collapsible hubs are a little safer in an accident.

All momo hubs have a compatible 70mm PCD that mounts the wheel to the hub. The early hubs have an integrated ring to catch the button. Later hubs with the accordion boot require a thin steel ring to secure the button. They are wider and fill the space better but not period correct if that matters to you.

It’s difficult to see in this pic, but the early CSL’s has a momo Alpina wheel with a 153 hub.