Just thought I would say hello to everyone as I will be picking up my new B3 Cabrio next week from Sytner.
Ever since seeing an Alpina at a motorshow at the NEC some 15+ years ago when I was in my teens I have wanted one. Looks like the dreams coming true!
Silver, Red nappa leather and options galore!
At last I have found a club on Alpina's!!!
As soon as I get pics and details I will post them. By the way, how do I get pics of the car online?
Why is it the Alpina's loose more money than say a regular 3 series cab or coupe. I got a good deal on mine as Synter are currently selling Cab's at list price with all options for free, which in my case is 10 grand of options. So this cushions the blow, but I see some cabs advertised privately at about 2 1/2 to 3 years old going for about 28 grand! Shame really as they are one hell of a car.
Thanks,
Ray.
Alpina B3S Cabrio
Congratulations !
Congratulations and welcome
Look forward to seeing the photos of your car - it sounds a great combination and the B3s engine is a definite corker.
Regards getting you car online just send me the following:
Alpina Production number (mandatory)
Model (mandatory)
Manufacturer year (& month)
exterior colour
interior colour
details - free form text - options/ descriptions etc....
ownername
owneremail
location
and of course lots of photos !
Email it to mycar@thealpinaregister.com and I will do the rest.
Interesting story - the 15+ year love affair ! even more interesting that Sytner are doing no cost options !! Amazing -
As for the residuals it is suprising and disappointing. There are higher running costs with the ALPINAs which tends to hit once the car gets a little older. But your are buy exclusivity and you'd have thought that would be worth a little extra ? Personally I am so used to seeing M3s about - so a B3 is a rare and welcome sight.
Congrats again and look forward to hearing more soon.
Cheers
Look forward to seeing the photos of your car - it sounds a great combination and the B3s engine is a definite corker.
Regards getting you car online just send me the following:
Alpina Production number (mandatory)
Model (mandatory)
Manufacturer year (& month)
exterior colour
interior colour
details - free form text - options/ descriptions etc....
ownername
owneremail
location
and of course lots of photos !
Email it to mycar@thealpinaregister.com and I will do the rest.
Interesting story - the 15+ year love affair ! even more interesting that Sytner are doing no cost options !! Amazing -
As for the residuals it is suprising and disappointing. There are higher running costs with the ALPINAs which tends to hit once the car gets a little older. But your are buy exclusivity and you'd have thought that would be worth a little extra ? Personally I am so used to seeing M3s about - so a B3 is a rare and welcome sight.
Congrats again and look forward to hearing more soon.
Cheers
Soon as I have all the details I will post them to you.
If you check out Synter.com and go to used cars, you will find about 10 un-registered b3S Cab ranging from reasonable kitted out 38,500 to fully kitted out 44,800. They claim to have 1000 miles on the clock, but mines got delivery as have all the rest (I think)!
Yep thats why I went for an Alpina, the long love affair and that for every 20 M3 CABs you see, you are lucky to see 1 B3.
Later in the year Im planning a drive over to Buchloe and then onto Como (just so I can drive through the Alp's). Do Alpina Buchloe allow visitors?
Also if anyone has done this route, what route do you recommend?
If you check out Synter.com and go to used cars, you will find about 10 un-registered b3S Cab ranging from reasonable kitted out 38,500 to fully kitted out 44,800. They claim to have 1000 miles on the clock, but mines got delivery as have all the rest (I think)!
Yep thats why I went for an Alpina, the long love affair and that for every 20 M3 CABs you see, you are lucky to see 1 B3.
Later in the year Im planning a drive over to Buchloe and then onto Como (just so I can drive through the Alp's). Do Alpina Buchloe allow visitors?
Also if anyone has done this route, what route do you recommend?
Welcome to the club Raymondo,
I can only claim 10 years waiting before my dream came true - you really have earned it
Can't really speak about the residuals for the cabriolet but it might be that there are a few more around than other body shapes (loook left please)
However this shouldn't have that much of an effect on depreciation...
As for running costs, I would like to disagree with Neil just a teeny weeny bit. As you may already have seen from this forum, I cover substantial mileage in my beastie (14 months and 37,500 miles as of today) and the running costs are no higher than a common or garden M3. In fact, given the rarity factor of a Touring shape, annual costs per mile are relatively low. So far I have had two services (oil @ 14k, inspection 1 @ 28k) and I am on schedule for another oil service @ 42k.
All Alpina parts are listed on the BMW computer and probably the most expensive bit is the oil itself.
But enough about the money side of things - I am sure that you will enjoy the rarity value alone.
That said, I joined the M4 at Newbury yesterday afternoon and arrived at the same time as a B3S coupe. I eased up alongside and waved and .... nothing. I eased ahead, pulled inside and slowed up and when he drew up alongside I waved and ... nothing. I then let him pass, pulled out and eased alongside and waved and ... nothing. Given that you don't see many Alpinas on the road you would have thought he might have noticed but he was clearly in a world of his own cruising the middle lane at the mandatory limit completely oblivious to everything around him. Who let him have an Alpina?
How depressing
I can only claim 10 years waiting before my dream came true - you really have earned it
Can't really speak about the residuals for the cabriolet but it might be that there are a few more around than other body shapes (loook left please)
However this shouldn't have that much of an effect on depreciation...
As for running costs, I would like to disagree with Neil just a teeny weeny bit. As you may already have seen from this forum, I cover substantial mileage in my beastie (14 months and 37,500 miles as of today) and the running costs are no higher than a common or garden M3. In fact, given the rarity factor of a Touring shape, annual costs per mile are relatively low. So far I have had two services (oil @ 14k, inspection 1 @ 28k) and I am on schedule for another oil service @ 42k.
All Alpina parts are listed on the BMW computer and probably the most expensive bit is the oil itself.
But enough about the money side of things - I am sure that you will enjoy the rarity value alone.
That said, I joined the M4 at Newbury yesterday afternoon and arrived at the same time as a B3S coupe. I eased up alongside and waved and .... nothing. I eased ahead, pulled inside and slowed up and when he drew up alongside I waved and ... nothing. I then let him pass, pulled out and eased alongside and waved and ... nothing. Given that you don't see many Alpinas on the road you would have thought he might have noticed but he was clearly in a world of his own cruising the middle lane at the mandatory limit completely oblivious to everything around him. Who let him have an Alpina?
How depressing
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!
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!
Wow
What can I say what a car. The engine, which is not even broken in yet is amazing, but the thing I love the most is the suspension. How can a car grip the road so firmly yet glide along when the road conditions are not exactly perfect. I used to own a 330 Ci, and although the car share the same shell, they are two totally different cars - amazing!
I will email some pics over to Neil to post later on today.
I will email some pics over to Neil to post later on today.
Pics
Thanks Neil, the pics look great!
With regards to my initial concern about residuals - I don't give a damn! When a car is this good to drive (and I mean good) and exclusive, then who cares if it looses (example) 2k more than an m3 over 3 years.
Alpina's are the dog's wotsits! If you are reading this and in two minds to buy an Alpina, then go ahead and do it, you won't regret a single second!
Happy motoring fella's!
With regards to my initial concern about residuals - I don't give a damn! When a car is this good to drive (and I mean good) and exclusive, then who cares if it looses (example) 2k more than an m3 over 3 years.
Alpina's are the dog's wotsits! If you are reading this and in two minds to buy an Alpina, then go ahead and do it, you won't regret a single second!
Happy motoring fella's!
By God, he's got it
Regarding the resiuals versus M3's - just think how much they have to pay each month going to see the osteopath to sort their back's out.
Car looks great Ray - let's just hope that you have a summer full of sun
Take care
Charles
Regarding the resiuals versus M3's - just think how much they have to pay each month going to see the osteopath to sort their back's out.
Car looks great Ray - let's just hope that you have a summer full of sun
Take care
Charles
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!
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!
B3 Questions
Charles just a few quick questions:
In your running in costs, you mention that the 1200 service is FOC, is this for all Alpina's or a deal you haggled?
After 350 miles I am noticing that the engine is bedding in a little, but the salesguy says after the 1200 service I will notice a hell of a difference! Is this true? Do they do anything to the ECU on this service to make it fly even more??
Im getting about 22-24.5 mpg (Mixture of a,b and motorway) at the moment, what are you getting out of your's now that its well and truly bedded in?
Thanks,
Ray
In your running in costs, you mention that the 1200 service is FOC, is this for all Alpina's or a deal you haggled?
After 350 miles I am noticing that the engine is bedding in a little, but the salesguy says after the 1200 service I will notice a hell of a difference! Is this true? Do they do anything to the ECU on this service to make it fly even more??
Im getting about 22-24.5 mpg (Mixture of a,b and motorway) at the moment, what are you getting out of your's now that its well and truly bedded in?
Thanks,
Ray
Hi Ray,
The 1200 mile service is part of the schedule and should be covered FOC by Sytner.
As I understand it, this service is to replace the oil and check that everything is still in the right place. I am not sure whether they put a slightly different oil into the car to start with but my advice is to treat it very gently until 1200 miles and then start stretching it.
Because the engine is hand built, each one has slightly different characteristics, but my experinece was that the engine didn't fully loosen up until about 5000 miles. The most important aspect of running in the engine is to wait until the tempereature gauge is well and truly in the middle and then set yourself a rev limit for each 500 miles. Occasionally blip past it but don't hold it too long. Think of it as the same as stretching exercises before a run - steadily stretch the muscles and you warm them up and you won't get a twinge. Overdo it too soon and you are asking for trouble.
Given that the car will sit at about a true 85 (my speedo indicates 89 and the GPS says 85) at 3100rpm in top, this should give you an idea for your rev limits. Start at 3000 until the oil change and then increase by 500 - 1000 revs every 500 miles or so - be patient, it will be worth it.
My fuel consumption is pretty stable at 25mpg. Before the 1200 mile service, I seem to remember that it was nearer 20 but since then it has got a level that I am happy with. My driving is a mix of everything so this is a good representative figure for my car. Again, hand built engines differ but you should expect about the same.
A few other observations from my experience:
Keep a careful eye on the oil consumption. Because the engine has low friction piston rings it is designed to burn a bit of oil. The first 14000 miles used up 1.5 litres and since then I am adding a litre about 10k miles after the service. Perfectly acceptable.
Service intervals are coming up regularly at about the 14k mark - not bad at all for a performance car and the costs are very gentle
Learn how to take the hubcaps off. This may sound strange but they only go on one way and if - god forbid - you need to take them off and replace them in the middle of the night on the side of a motorway in the rain then you will be glad that you had practiced the technique. Once off, keep a careful check on tyre pressure. The tyres run at fairly high pressures (3 bar at the rear if I recall) and slight differences have a marked effect on handling. Also, when you do need to change a tyre, remember that the rim design on the alloys mean that the tyre MUST be fitted from the inner rim first. This ensures that the tyre bead fits correctly into the outer rim - it also protects the alloys from damage.
The alloys are a beautiful thing, but they attract brake dust like it was going out of fashion. I have just tried Autoglym products on the car and the wheel cleaner is great (get it at Halfords - thanks to Simon Davey for this tip). If you keep on top of cleaning the wheels then it is a quick job. Leave it too long and it gets tiresome. I use a large round head paint brush to work into the crevices. Make sure the bristles are soft and don't go at the muck too aggressively - let the product do the work.
Talking of alloys - count the spokes. You should have 20. The reason I mention this is that after market fit Alpina alloys only have 19 spokes (or so I believe) so you can spot the real thing by checking that the spokes are symmetrically placed around the wheel. A VERY anorak thing but then that is what Alpina ownership is about for me.
I hope that this has been helpful. If anything else comes to mind just post me a question and I will see what I can do.
One question for you - I assume that you are running Michelin Pilot Sports on the car, but are they the new generation PS2's? You can tell by seeing whether they have a single direction tread on them or not. I guess you will be on PS2's. I ask because I managed recently to find some original PS's but I will be changing all four in about 10k miles (3-4 months at the rate that I am going) and I would be interested to discuss tyre performance with you - once, of course, you have run in the engine.
Enough for the moment - I ought to get back to my work
Take care and happy motoring
Charles
The 1200 mile service is part of the schedule and should be covered FOC by Sytner.
As I understand it, this service is to replace the oil and check that everything is still in the right place. I am not sure whether they put a slightly different oil into the car to start with but my advice is to treat it very gently until 1200 miles and then start stretching it.
Because the engine is hand built, each one has slightly different characteristics, but my experinece was that the engine didn't fully loosen up until about 5000 miles. The most important aspect of running in the engine is to wait until the tempereature gauge is well and truly in the middle and then set yourself a rev limit for each 500 miles. Occasionally blip past it but don't hold it too long. Think of it as the same as stretching exercises before a run - steadily stretch the muscles and you warm them up and you won't get a twinge. Overdo it too soon and you are asking for trouble.
Given that the car will sit at about a true 85 (my speedo indicates 89 and the GPS says 85) at 3100rpm in top, this should give you an idea for your rev limits. Start at 3000 until the oil change and then increase by 500 - 1000 revs every 500 miles or so - be patient, it will be worth it.
My fuel consumption is pretty stable at 25mpg. Before the 1200 mile service, I seem to remember that it was nearer 20 but since then it has got a level that I am happy with. My driving is a mix of everything so this is a good representative figure for my car. Again, hand built engines differ but you should expect about the same.
A few other observations from my experience:
Keep a careful eye on the oil consumption. Because the engine has low friction piston rings it is designed to burn a bit of oil. The first 14000 miles used up 1.5 litres and since then I am adding a litre about 10k miles after the service. Perfectly acceptable.
Service intervals are coming up regularly at about the 14k mark - not bad at all for a performance car and the costs are very gentle
Learn how to take the hubcaps off. This may sound strange but they only go on one way and if - god forbid - you need to take them off and replace them in the middle of the night on the side of a motorway in the rain then you will be glad that you had practiced the technique. Once off, keep a careful check on tyre pressure. The tyres run at fairly high pressures (3 bar at the rear if I recall) and slight differences have a marked effect on handling. Also, when you do need to change a tyre, remember that the rim design on the alloys mean that the tyre MUST be fitted from the inner rim first. This ensures that the tyre bead fits correctly into the outer rim - it also protects the alloys from damage.
The alloys are a beautiful thing, but they attract brake dust like it was going out of fashion. I have just tried Autoglym products on the car and the wheel cleaner is great (get it at Halfords - thanks to Simon Davey for this tip). If you keep on top of cleaning the wheels then it is a quick job. Leave it too long and it gets tiresome. I use a large round head paint brush to work into the crevices. Make sure the bristles are soft and don't go at the muck too aggressively - let the product do the work.
Talking of alloys - count the spokes. You should have 20. The reason I mention this is that after market fit Alpina alloys only have 19 spokes (or so I believe) so you can spot the real thing by checking that the spokes are symmetrically placed around the wheel. A VERY anorak thing but then that is what Alpina ownership is about for me.
I hope that this has been helpful. If anything else comes to mind just post me a question and I will see what I can do.
One question for you - I assume that you are running Michelin Pilot Sports on the car, but are they the new generation PS2's? You can tell by seeing whether they have a single direction tread on them or not. I guess you will be on PS2's. I ask because I managed recently to find some original PS's but I will be changing all four in about 10k miles (3-4 months at the rate that I am going) and I would be interested to discuss tyre performance with you - once, of course, you have run in the engine.
Enough for the moment - I ought to get back to my work
Take care and happy motoring
Charles
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!
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!
My wifes been driving the car for the last few days and she just sent me an email which contained:
gosh, alpina is just a dream car to drive, absolutely beautiful.....need to
learn how to use the manual gear now!!!
Looks like my wife is sold on it too!
BTW does anyone know the PSI for the tyres on the B3, all the manual quotes is bar.
Charles, thanks for all of the info. Much appreciated!
Ray.
gosh, alpina is just a dream car to drive, absolutely beautiful.....need to
learn how to use the manual gear now!!!
Looks like my wife is sold on it too!
BTW does anyone know the PSI for the tyres on the B3, all the manual quotes is bar.
Charles, thanks for all of the info. Much appreciated!
Ray.
For conversion from Bar tp Psi - multiply by 14.5.
Therefore, 3 bar is equivalent to 43.5 psi.
As for using the manual gears - just remember that the arrows stitched on the steering wheel mean that the wheel can only be turned in that direction
Finally, regarding the info - my pleasure
Take care and enjoy a weekend of hood down motoring
Charles
Therefore, 3 bar is equivalent to 43.5 psi.
As for using the manual gears - just remember that the arrows stitched on the steering wheel mean that the wheel can only be turned in that direction
Finally, regarding the info - my pleasure
Take care and enjoy a weekend of hood down motoring
Charles
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!
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!