Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

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ScooBeeFive
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Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by ScooBeeFive » Fri Sep 11, 2020 4:21 pm

Hi All,

I'm due to collect my first Alpina tomorrow - an F11 B5 Touring. It's Number 135 which I've seen is already featured on the register section of the site.

I've been a huge BMW and Alpina fan since I was a kid - I had a picture of Frank Sytner in an Alpina 635 in my room back in the day. I've had a couple of BMWs before - a 130i with some mods from Birds and I'm now swapping from a manual F11 535i Touring - probably as rare as the B5 in the UK!

To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'd never driven an Alpina before my test drive, and despite the 540bhp V8, it was the ride and handling that really blew me away. It was unbelievable.

Are they many other F10/11 B5 owners on the forum? I can see there were only 7 Tourings registered in the UK. It would be great to get any tips/advice/information that you could offer.

Cheers,

Paul.
Paul

2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue

Frosty
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by Frosty » Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:25 pm

Congratulations Paul, I did also check that car out and test it, but in the wet with merely vapour in the tank;-)

Enjoy the ride.
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B8 Touring #21 SOLD - but regretted

Jules Sunleu
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by Jules Sunleu » Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:34 pm

Congratulations Paul, I've got the old Touring (B5 E61 #007) and I'm sure you will love yours.

Handling and ride is what it's about as much as the monster torque and the previous owner of mine had suspension from Birds as part of the big restoration project to bring her back to feeling like a new car.

Sadly this year of course Alpina gatherings at various events have been cancelled but I hope to get a nose at yours in the near future. I'm not far from Reading if you are down this way having mentioned Birds doing work on your previous car.

Have a great weekend, but then how could you not with the new arrival! Fast estates rock.

Cheers, Jules
Alpina B5 E61 2005 Touring #007 Special Toy Malachite Green with Caramel Merino Leather. Quaife LSD upgrade
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ScooBeeFive
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by ScooBeeFive » Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:13 pm

Cheers Guys.

Frosty - did you drive it recently then, or when it was for sale a previous time? I had an alert set on Autotrader but for some reason it hadn't emailed me when it was listed. I check manually every few days anyway so didn't think it had been listed for long, but we were away at the time so I couldn't view straight away.

Jules - nice to hear from another B5 Touring owner! I'm based in Shropshire, but obviously Birds are one of the go to places for BMW. They fitted a Quaife LSD along with carbon intake and BMW M Performance exhaust to my 130i. Was a cracking car. My B5 doesn't appear to have been specced with an LSD so will have to see how that goes - another visit could be in order. It was also virtually silent - not sure if there are settings to open the exhaust valves at all, or that's just how they come? Must admit, it would be nice to have a bit more V8 rumble.

I'm definitely looking forward to attending some Alpina events - hopefully the world resumes some kind of normality next year. I've been to the BMW owners club day at Gaydon a few times in the past - it's always a good event. Do you have any/many Alpina Register get togethers?

Paul.
Paul

2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue

PhillV8S
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by PhillV8S » Fri Sep 11, 2020 7:20 pm

Congratulations on your new Alpina, looks great. I am in Worcestershire so just the next county to you. Not too many in these parts, there is a few regulars in the West Midlands but you’re not likely to run into too many Alpina’s and even less B5 tourers! Enjoy.
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Simon Rose
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by Simon Rose » Fri Sep 11, 2020 11:51 pm

Enjoy your new motor . I love the wagons....
Simon Rose Msc Bsc Hons MCOptom
Alpina F31 D3 Bi Turbo Touring #218, build 01/06/2016
Mediterranean Blue/Oyster Dakota Leather, black trim, Registered April 2018
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ScooBeeFive
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by ScooBeeFive » Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:02 am

Thanks both! Yeah they are certainly a rare sight although to be fair there’s a guy just down the road with a nice E91 D3 Touring. I’ll have to try and say hello.

Not long now - I can’t wait!
Paul

2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue

ScooBeeFive
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by ScooBeeFive » Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:55 pm

I collected it this morning from Sytners in Coventry. It’s amazing - I’m so happy! Looked fabulous all cleaned up.

I already love it’s dual personality - on the motorway home, I left in in Comfort and Auto and just wafted along. It returned just over 30mpg. But then select sport and show it a B road and it really goes. Body control is amazing despite retaining a supple ride and the mid range over taking ability is breath taking! I can’t believe I own it - every journey is going to be such an event.
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Paul

2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue

PhillV8S
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by PhillV8S » Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:58 pm

Welcome to the magic that is Alpina.
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hashluck
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by hashluck » Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:30 am

Brilliant and welcome!

simon13
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by simon13 » Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:59 am

Congrats she looks alot better there than the Sytner pictures, they need a new camera man! A beast.

Got any more on the old manual 535i wagon? What have you done with it?
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BTCC_racer
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by BTCC_racer » Sun Sep 13, 2020 12:36 pm

lovely machine that!

ScooBeeFive
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by ScooBeeFive » Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:09 pm

Thanks for the comments!

To be honest, Sytners just hadn’t cleaned it properly since they’d had it. It’s a pet hate of mine, but no main dealers seem willing to prepare a car before it is sold. In contrast, specialists detail them to within an inch of their life which surely helps with the sell. There were some sticky marks on the leather etc which surely would have been easy to sort before you let potential customers out in it.

I went to view an S6 at an Audi main dealer about 6 years ago and that was a complete mess. I’d driven 2.5 hours to get there and they had made no effort. I walked away and it was just after that my 535i came up, so was obviously meant to be.

Speaking of which, it’s back up for sale.....

https://www.rucars.co.uk/vehicle/bmw-53 ... 3400fb4798
Paul

2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue

simon13
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by simon13 » Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:06 am

wow, that must be literally the only one. A unicorn in the modern motoring world. That will have the N55 engine? You could tune that up to decent power. It wouldn't be an M5 but then it wouldn't have the F10's chocolate engine either
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ScooBeeFive
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Re: Hello! New F11 B5 Owner

Post by ScooBeeFive » Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:46 pm

Yes, it was the N55. Was a cracking car - very different character to the B5. Felt more highly strung - really liked to rev to the limiter through the gears, almost didn't feel turbocharged in its power delivery. The B5 is just a mid range sledgehammer in comparison.
Paul

2013 F11 B5 BiTurbo Touring #135 - Alpina Blue
2017 F33 B4S BiTurbo Cabrio #235 - Tanzanite Blue

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