My G31 B5 Touring has arrived....NOW WITH A FEW PICS!

[Lizard Lounger]

...and I’m bowled over with it. I’ll try and get some more photos in daylight but suffice to say I am very, very impressed. Also, much kudos to Gary Lott at Sytner who drove down from Nottingham to Cornwall behind the transporter (in a lovely B3 Touring) to do the personal handover. Looking forward to sampling the Alpina wine he brought with him, too! The car is way beyond my expectations. It features, apparently, a pre-LCI refresh which came about in 2019 and included a re-vamped digital instrument panel, a modified climate control system, the latest version of iDrive and - and this is the big change - the 800Nm of torque now kicks in at 2,000 rpm. Faintly ridiculous. Its interior is stunning, and the Alpina Blue paint looks vaguely purple in daylight. Gorgeous. I think this could be a keeper....

[PhillV8S]

Congratulations, the car looks amazing. Welcome to the club.

[Jonnywishbone]

Nice one. Fabulous machine. More pics in daylight essential!

[hap]

Congrats very very jealous only cos I’ll never afford one at your age lol

[ScooBeeFive]

Congratulations! Looks very moody lit like that. Can't wait to see some more photos in the light.

You will love the colour - it manages to change from bright blue to very purple depending on the light. It's superb. Here's to many happy Alpina miles.

[Metrics]

Beautiful, many congratulations!

[Bob]

Congratulations, you must be delighted!

Am I the only person wondering if you intentionally chose the registration? CVD delivered on the first day of Lockdown2!

[hashluck]

Fantastic - and great customer service

[Avtar]

Congrats, looks like you will have an active weekends driving!

[Jules Sunleu]

Congrats, I'm sure you will continue to love the experience and yes to more photos when able.

Let us all know what the wine is like too!

[Lizard Lounger]

Thanks everyone
The car is certainly living up to expectations. Biblically quick (ridiculously quick, if I’m honest), but I am of course running it in so haven’t explored more than 3000 rpm. Yet...

Photos to come...,

A couple of observations. I owned a G31 530d xdrive prior to the B5, and with adaptive suspension and on 18” wheels it gave a quiet, cushy ride. I realise the wheels and tyres on the B5 are fairly huge, but I’m finding that poor road surfaces kick up quite a lot of noise (and loose stones). The tyres are Pirelli P Zero ALP so are specific to the car. Am I correct in thinking Pirelli tyres are known for their excess noise and Michelin might be better (once these need replacing, naturally) or is the noise a trade off for a high performance car with big tyres? Should I just turn the stereo volume up?

The engine and exhaust note are fairly quiet too but I expect that once I can give it a bit more welly I will be rewarded with a suitably naughty soundtrack....

[Lizard Lounger]

Congratulations, you must be delighted!

Am I the only person wondering if you intentionally chose the registration? CVD delivered on the first day of Lockdown2!

Ha ha...yes, I chose the plate with that in mind. A bit of humour to alleviate some of the fear and worry....

[Jonnywishbone]

The Alpina-specific Pirellis are designed to have a particularly pliant side wall. On the B3 the suspension set up gives brilliant body control but somehow a comfortable ride as well and I believe the tyres are an integral part of that. I don’t know for sure but I assume the same would apply to the bigger car.

[Lizard Lounger]

The Alpina-specific Pirellis are designed to have a particularly pliant side wall. On the B3 the suspension set up gives brilliant body control but somehow a comfortable ride as well and I believe the tyres are an integral part of that. I don’t know for sure but I assume the same would apply to the bigger car.

The ride quality is actually, in the main, very good. It’s the tyre/road noise which enters the cabin which is a bit of a surprise.

[Metrics]

I suspect a fair amount of this will be due to the size of the tyre - big width, low profile and Pirelli compound.