ALPINA Costs - Insurance, Depreciation, Oil Usage
Moderators: Charles, neil, D4
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Charles
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by Charles » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:38 pm
Burt wrote:I have always checked the oil on a bi weekly basis ( every 500 miles ) and it seems to be using in the region of 1 litre per 500 miles. I have spoken with Alpina and they reckon anything below 630 miles per litre may be a problem.
I know this is a long thread about oil consumption on Alpinas but anyone any experience with this engine?
The car runs like a dream with no lack of power or misfiring
Burt,
I am running the same engine as you so my experiences ought to be useful.
Generally, in the early days I had to add 1 litre of oil approximately 9-10,000 miles after a service. This has now reduced to about 7-8,000 miles, but then the engine has done 130,000 miles.
I still use SLX as originally installed.
This is the first time I have heard of such excessive oil usage on the 3.4 engine. I would get it checked out soonest.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but at least you have a benchmark for how the engine should be using oil. Please bear in mind, however, that I have run the car since new so I know exactly how it was run-in and how it has been used since then.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
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Burt
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by Burt » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:46 pm
Thanks Charles
In light of your experience what do you think of Alpinas comments re 630 miles per litre being ok as I am not too far away from that and it is not an exact science as we know?
I am considering an oil consumption test with BMW ( recommended by Alpina ) and am dipping every week now.
Car has only done 21k miles for info with full BMW history
Burt
Roadster S - 286 SOLD
B5 Saloon - 251 - SOLD
Roadster S Lux - 199 - SOLD
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Charles
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by Charles » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:05 pm
TBH I would expect you to get far better (lower) consumption from your engine than 630 miles per litre of oil. However, I only have my experience to go on.
Perhaps if other B3S and Roadster S owners could contribute then we could get a better feel for a rough benchmark for the 3.4 engine.
Note that ALPINA design the engine to use oil - but I've only seen such high consumption mentioned in relation to early 2000 B10 3.3 engines when there was a known problem.
Keep checking as you are doing but let's see what other 3.4 engined owners come up with.
To that end, I have started a new thread
here
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
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ALPB1033
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by ALPB1033 » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:42 am
Yesterday on my way back from the factory tour I had put a litre of oil into my car which had the Ins. II service done before all the excitement I had from last week. So this time was about 1700miles/litre of 0/30W. That included more than 100miles from Donnington track day, 8 laps in the Nurburgring(about 100miles as each is about 20km) and a few high speed runs on the Autobahn in the journey when the road conditions were right. I think it is not too bad for the oil consumption.
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Burt
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by Burt » Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:43 am
My consumption has gradually reduced over the past 6 months. I am now getting about 800 - 1000 miles per litre depending on driving conditions.
Whilst this is still high I guess its acceptable for an Alpina engine?
Burt
Roadster S - 286 SOLD
B5 Saloon - 251 - SOLD
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ALPB1033
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by ALPB1033 » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:17 am
Burt is your Roader S a 3.3 or 3.4? If it is a 3.4 then it is very high as I know the 3.4 doesn't drinks a lot of oil like the 3.3. So you better check it out.
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Burt
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by Burt » Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:02 am
Roadster is the 3.4S, engine being 3346cc
I have spoken to Alpina and they have stated that anything below 650 miles per litre is a problem, anything above that should be ok
Car is due an Inspection 2 next month so will see what BMW have to say
Burt
Roadster S - 286 SOLD
B5 Saloon - 251 - SOLD
Roadster S Lux - 199 - SOLD
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Richy_Boy
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by Richy_Boy » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:53 pm
Rather strange reading this topic. My car is 1800 miles from its next due service and the oil level is fine?! Granted, I don't drive it particularly hard all the time, but I do have the odd spirited run when alone down some twisties.
That said, I have no idea what oil the previous owner had put in the car at the last service, so I'll be asking some questions when I take it back in a month or so.
Rich
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Current Car: BMW e46 M3 CS SMG
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BMW 123d M Sport Coupe, no DPF, 275bhp and 520nm of torques.
Historical Alpina B3S Coupe #19 Owner
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Crombers
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by Crombers » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:10 pm
Done 4000 miles on the B10 since buying it and it hasn't used a drop. It's still crystal clear too.
Stuart
F10 550 / SOLD - Alpina B7 E65 SOLD - E89 Z4 3.0 SDrive - Alpina B10 V8 Touring / SOLD -
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Charles
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by Charles » Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:19 pm
The little yellow light flickered at me on Tuesady so I topped up with 1 litre of SLX 0w-30.
7289 miles since the last service so I remain delighted with the oil consumption - particularly as it is still the thin stuff and the engine has done 144k miles
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
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Richy_Boy
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by Richy_Boy » Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:36 pm
Had my oil service done at the 'usual garage' in Newbury... I highly recommend them - 'Car Clinic' in Newbury. BMW specialists.
They used the correct Castrol EDGE 0W30 oil as I had hoped ans the total cost came to £135 all in. They also confirmed it has had this oil for the last 3 years that it has been under their care. They seem to know the car well from when the old owner used to take it there for all manner of repairs (flywheel etc).
Having a chat to one of the mechanics he was offering to print off any missing history for the car which was a nice touch.
Anyway, back to oil usage about 2 weeks before hte service the oil light flickered on mine so I stopped off and grabbed some suitable oil and put in a litre - so I guess my oil usage is simular to Charles.
Inspection 2 next time around - whoopie, but it's nice to see 15,000 miles until it's time!
Rich
Richy_Boy
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Current Car: BMW e46 M3 CS SMG
Previous:
BMW 335d M Sport Coupe Highline
BMW 123d M Sport Coupe, no DPF, 275bhp and 520nm of torques.
Historical Alpina B3S Coupe #19 Owner
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knave_of_hearts
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by knave_of_hearts » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:03 pm
My Z4 alpina with the B3S 3.4l engine is pretty frugal except when i'm hammering it round Donington like 2 weeks ago. Great fun though!
Z4 Alpina - simply awesome!
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Bruce M
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by Bruce M » Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:19 pm
Oil light just came on.
car has done about 7-8k Since the last service.
however i have only done 1k since buying it
the test starts here!
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b10brian
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by b10brian » Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:44 pm
Hello
I have owned B103.3 touring n11 from 58k to now 118K and the oil consumption became 1l + every 600 miles despite going slx10-60 which does improve the situation. However I recently changed the oil vent valve and during a routing oil change and the dipstick is still showing as max after 300 miles this has definitely been the problem.
Deeeeeeelighted with this result.
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Richy_Boy
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by Richy_Boy » Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:51 pm
Good news Brian!
I'm of the firm belief that engines aren't designed to burn oil, things just break making them do so!
When my CVV was replaced last week it and all connecting pipework was rock solid with oil. The car is sweet as a peach now and performance has improved also!
Anyone with the 3.4L 'six' engine on the B3S and roadster will have the 'old' CVV design, which was changed on the later engines by BMW, as our engine was based on the E36 M3 block from the US.
Rich
Richy_Boy
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Current Car: BMW e46 M3 CS SMG
Previous:
BMW 335d M Sport Coupe Highline
BMW 123d M Sport Coupe, no DPF, 275bhp and 520nm of torques.
Historical Alpina B3S Coupe #19 Owner