Going for a bit of a cosmetic refresh.

[Simon B]

Ok a little bit embarrassing that the last post on here was 2021. I know I havn't been updatng but didnt think it was that long.

i haven't been completely idle though. There was a brief wobble where we almost parted company with "The Alpina" (Only a matter of a few days in my defence before we came to our senses) . What that did do was make me take notice of the advisories on the MOT and get them sorted.

So I put a new seal on the petrol cap, which had been an advisory for many years, and then got Colin Woods to do the rest of them. He went over the suspension and replaced some parts, along with everything else on the previous advisory list. A couple of new Michelin Pilot Sports were added and a few hundred (many) pounds later we then had a fresh MOT which had no advisories .

So I could then get back to the minor cosmetics which albeit petty were really bugging me. First one on the list was the indicators on the wings which were a bit yellow and cloudy and I thought made the car look old despite how small they are so I changed both of those.This actually made a big difference although the pictures don't show that very well.


Before

alpina indicators.jpg (231.61 KiB) Viewed 71 times

After

Alpina new indicators.jpg (269.99 KiB) Viewed 71 times

I was still struggling with who I can get to do the wheels and that's a large part of why I haven't really moved on. I then managed to kerb the wheels on my other car and the guys who did it did a great job. I spoke to them about the Alpina and they even asked about the colour. I said I wanted them the original Alpina colour and could probably find the details on here . I think I have seen it on a post before so will look back. They go in a couple of weeks to be done. I am still nervous as the wheels are a big deal for me and need to be perfect. I will see how it goes and if it goes well I will put some pictures on and tell you who did them.

I am also going to invest in some new wheel centres to finish them off. I have bought some new ones already but when I went back and found the old ones, and the receipt, I discovered I bought them in 2007 so I probably cant complain that I need some more. They are part number 3613117. Sadly the price has gone up since 2007. Brand new from the BMW dealer in 2007 they were £10 each. I think they are more like £30 each now so £120 but I think they need to be right to finish them off. I have seen you can get replica inserts which could go in the old ones but I am not keen on that I don't think, unless anyone has tried it and had a good experience.

Lastly the inner part of the rear lights that had gone cloudy, and that I had tried to sand and polish are not as good as I want them to be so I am going to replace them with new ones. I expect that to cost another couple of hundred quid but haven't checked yet.

Once that is done I will do the ceramic coat albeit 3 years later than I thought. Hopefully that will get me back to my target of replicating this picture I took in 2007 and seeing if it looks the same.

Alpina2007.jpg (803.25 KiB) Viewed 71 times

[hap]

Hi Simon did the side repeaters pop out plug and play
Be good to hear regarding wheel refurb
Centre badges u can get replica more hard wearing but darker in colour I’d always go oem factory
Ps did u replace the ash tray cover when you did the phone console

Ps was there a mini Alpina meet at woods yesterday ? Someone on Facebook saw a D3 tourer & x2 xd3 wragby to lincs rd
Ta

[Simon B]

Hi Hap

Yes the side repeaters are essentially plug and play. You need to free the clip with a screwdriver and then it just pops out and then unplugs. I think they were about £40 each and are OEM.

I am going to get the OEM centres again. Just need to find the best place to get them from. Have you changed yours recently?

I will update on the wheels when they come back.

Not sure about a meet at Colin Woods but would be interested to going if there was one. I think they might do one regularly according to Facebook. I will check

[Simon B]

Sorry forgot to answer the other question

I didn’t change the ashtray just the phone/coin tray surround and the surround of the rear tray