Humble Pie

The place to talk about ALPINAs.
e.g. News, Reviews, Insurance, Warranties, Running Costs, Sightings, general questions etc.

Moderators: Charles, neil, D4

ali
ALPINA
ALPINA
Posts: 2401
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:40 am
Location: Edinburgh

Humble Pie

Post by ali » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:13 pm

I'm going to eat a big chunk of humble pie here as I openly admit to being a bit snobby about the E9X D3 not being a "proper" Alpina.
Freshly back from an 1800 mile trip around the UK in the D3 Biturbo Touring and how wrong I was. :oops:
What a truly capable car.
4 adults and faaaaaaar to much luggarge the wee 4 banger soot chucker coped more than admirably.
The autobox suits the car so much better than the manual does.
Averaged just shy of 50mpg for the whole trip and sitting on the motorways between 50 and 80 most of the time.
I've always had 6 pot cars and how refreshing it is to feel the lighter front end turn in and grip and the perfectly balance chassis follow suit.
My car has the benefit of HSD coilovers all round and M3 control arms on the front.
On the bendy twist country lanes of Devon and Cornwall it was just so much fun and it wasn't really that much slower than my E46 B3 annd the way it carries it's speed once rolling is great.
Looks like I'll hold onto it a bit longer than anticipated as the reason I got it was I needed another family wagon while my E46 was going to go for paint but now I can't find a bodyshop willing to take the B3 in until next summer !!!
If anyone kows of a decent paint shop in Scotland do let me know.
Meanwhile I'll enjoy my humble pie........

Image
B3 3.3 Coupe #090
D3 2.0 Biturbo Touring #098

Bob
ALPINA
ALPINA
Posts: 5517
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:37 pm

Re: Humble Pie

Post by Bob » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:59 pm

Looking good ali, always good to broaden your horizons :mrgreen:
B3 3.2 TOURING #062

glennlud
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:16 am
Location: kent

Re: Humble Pie

Post by glennlud » Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:53 pm

Agree with your thoughts about the lighter front end of 4 pot D3 . It’s something I do miss on my f32 D4.

Frosty
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 565
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 3:24 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Humble Pie

Post by Frosty » Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:42 pm

Doesn’t t surprise me, look at the bhp, it is about what my old E28 M535i used to kick out and that felt quick!
D5 F11 Touring #107
B8 Touring #21 SOLD - but regretted

User avatar
JohnW
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 534
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:32 am
Location: Bolton
Contact:

Re: Humble Pie

Post by JohnW » Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:00 pm

I enjoyed my D3 BiTurbo, much the same as the 123d coupe I owned before, it was the timing chain issue that put me off keeping them, but I would love a D3 as a daily but vastly short of finances mainly due to the current global situation.

Not as ballistic as the current crop of probably the last fossil fuelled cars but the style of the E90/1/2/3 range fits me like a glove.

I’ll probably keep one right up to me hanging up my driving gloves if I can.
JohnW
2008 B3 BiTurbo Coupe #161
Previous: 2011 D3 BiTurbo Saloon #373, 2014 F30 320iX M Saloon, 2009 M3 DCT Coupe, 2008 B3 BiTurbo Coupe #074, 2009 E82 123d Coupe, 2006 E92 325i Coupe, 2002 E46 325iSE Coupe, 1998 E36 318iSE Saloon

164 coupe
ALPINA
ALPINA
Posts: 795
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:15 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Re: Humble Pie

Post by 164 coupe » Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:05 pm

Happy to hear you’re bonding with it Ali. They really are a great package.
Roy Allan
F31 D3 Biturbo #066
D3 BT Coupe #164 (sold)
Suzuki SV 650s

bobbly
ALPI
ALPI
Posts: 354
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 5:33 pm
Location: Where the bucks are.

Re: Humble Pie

Post by bobbly » Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:46 am

glennlud wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:53 pm
Agree with your thoughts about the lighter front end of 4 pot D3 .
JohnW wrote:
Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:00 pm
Not as ballistic as the current crop of probably the last fossil fuelled cars but the style of the E90/1/2/3 range fits me like a glove.
Spot on comments about these fantastic cars. The balance of the 4-pot chassis is what makes it a far superior steer than the 6-pot engines in the same chassis. Alpina got the mix amazingly well balanced. And who needs ballistic? Quick in this day and age is sufficient for safe egress and overtake potential. And yes, I do have ballistic in the garage but my right foot has been balanced and lightened to ensure it never will provoke full potential of such machines.

Cheers,
Bobbly

James_G
ALPI
ALPI
Posts: 335
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 10:33 pm
Location: Guildford

Re: Humble Pie

Post by James_G » Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:57 pm

How do these sound when compared to the equivalent 6 cylinder BMW diesel?

Whilst no diesel is ever going to sound amazing, the 6s have a nice sound of their own and are, in my experience, smooth and refined whereas my experience of the normal BMW 4s is that they sound very rattly. My neighbour's 2013 X3 sounds dreadful as it goes past for example and the noise it as real odds with her car.
Currently:
1992 Alpina B2.5 #026, Lagoon Green with Parchment Cloth

Previously:
2013 BMW M135i 3dr, Mineral Grey with Red Leather
2001 Alpina B3 3.3 Coupe #170, Orient Blue with Grey Leather
2006 Z4MC, Silver Grey with Red Leather
2001 E46 330i Sport, Silver with Red Leather
1997 E36 323i SE Touring, Calypso Red with Grey Cloth

Wellsy
ALPI
ALPI
Posts: 466
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2019 5:53 pm
Location: South Bucks

Re: Humble Pie

Post by Wellsy » Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:24 pm

James_G wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:57 pm
How do these sound when compared to the equivalent 6 cylinder BMW diesel?

Whilst no diesel is ever going to sound amazing, the 6s have a nice sound of their own and are, in my experience, smooth and refined whereas my experience of the normal BMW 4s is that they sound very rattly. My neighbour's 2013 X3 sounds dreadful as it goes past for example and the noise it as real odds with her car.
My D3 Biturbo sounds alright, clearly it's no V8 and it does have the Diesel rattle on tick over, but once moving off it has a deep note and when pushing on isn't to offensive. It does have a nice exhaust with no back box so does help a little.
E90 D3 Biturbo 2009 No114
Black with Gold Decals
Piano black interior trim (looking for trim with Gold inlay, watch this space :P )
Upgraded Stereo system

User avatar
MikeR
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 709
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:33 pm
Location: Near Cambridge

Re: Humble Pie

Post by MikeR » Tue Aug 03, 2021 1:22 pm

James_G wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:57 pm
How do these sound when compared to the equivalent 6 cylinder BMW diesel?

Whilst no diesel is ever going to sound amazing, the 6s have a nice sound of their own and are, in my experience, smooth and refined whereas my experience of the normal BMW 4s is that they sound very rattly. My neighbour's 2013 X3 sounds dreadful as it goes past for example and the noise it as real odds with her car.
I went from a D3 BT to an F31 335d. If I recall the 335d had "engine sounds through the speakers" influencing the noise, and for me this combination sounded considerably better than the D3 BT.

But for handling the D3 was much, much better than the 335d :dance
Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription Pro. 2018.
Honda S2000. 2003. SOLD
F31 MSport+ 335D XDrive. 2014. SOLD
No. 097. D3BT Saloon 2010. Manual. Black Sapphire. SOLD
No. 389. D3MT Saloon 2007. Manual. Black Sapphire. SOLD

James_G
ALPI
ALPI
Posts: 335
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 10:33 pm
Location: Guildford

Re: Humble Pie

Post by James_G » Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:58 pm

Wellsy wrote:
Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:24 pm

My D3 Biturbo sounds alright, clearly it's no V8 and it does have the Diesel rattle on tick over, but once moving off it has a deep note and when pushing on isn't to offensive. It does have a nice exhaust with no back box so does help a little.
Thanks for this - presumably the exhaust with no back box is an after market addition?
MikeR wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 1:22 pm

I went from a D3 BT to an F31 335d. If I recall the 335d had "engine sounds through the speakers" influencing the noise, and for me this combination sounded considerably better than the D3 BT.

But for handling the D3 was much, much better than the 335d :dance
Interesting, thanks Mike. As I recall the F3x 335d models ran SE spec springs and dampers even in MSport guise due to them being 4wd, which might explain some of the handling delta. I heard a number of people went down the ACS springs route to correct this, so presumably the drivetrain can handle the drop so I'm not sure why BMW did what they did.

FWIW where I live there is very little opportunity to exploit any handling benefits, whereas engine sound is there all the time so it's risen up my list of desirable attributes.
Currently:
1992 Alpina B2.5 #026, Lagoon Green with Parchment Cloth

Previously:
2013 BMW M135i 3dr, Mineral Grey with Red Leather
2001 Alpina B3 3.3 Coupe #170, Orient Blue with Grey Leather
2006 Z4MC, Silver Grey with Red Leather
2001 E46 330i Sport, Silver with Red Leather
1997 E36 323i SE Touring, Calypso Red with Grey Cloth

User avatar
MikeR
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 709
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:33 pm
Location: Near Cambridge

Re: Humble Pie

Post by MikeR » Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:02 pm

James_G wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:58 pm

Interesting, thanks Mike. As I recall the F3x 335d models ran SE spec springs and dampers even in MSport guise due to them being 4wd, which might explain some of the handling delta. I heard a number of people went down the ACS springs route to correct this, so presumably the drivetrain can handle the drop so I'm not sure why BMW did what they did.

FWIW where I live there is very little opportunity to exploit any handling benefits, whereas engine sound is there all the time so it's risen up my list of desirable attributes.
I fitted the ACS Springs - nice improvement.

By the way, the 335d was very rapid, but I then had it remapped also! To about 350BHP and something like 680 torque if I recall - tremendous acceleration dry or wet! And with the "engine noise" and it's willingness to rev, it was a pleasure to push on too.
Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription Pro. 2018.
Honda S2000. 2003. SOLD
F31 MSport+ 335D XDrive. 2014. SOLD
No. 097. D3BT Saloon 2010. Manual. Black Sapphire. SOLD
No. 389. D3MT Saloon 2007. Manual. Black Sapphire. SOLD

User avatar
MikeR
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 709
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:33 pm
Location: Near Cambridge

Re: Humble Pie

Post by MikeR » Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:14 pm

My previous steed with winter wheel set up - pre-ACS Springs so huge wheel arch gaps...

Sorry - touch of nostalgia there! :(
Attachments
IMG_0343.PNG
IMG_0343.PNG (2.18 MiB) Viewed 1618 times
Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription Pro. 2018.
Honda S2000. 2003. SOLD
F31 MSport+ 335D XDrive. 2014. SOLD
No. 097. D3BT Saloon 2010. Manual. Black Sapphire. SOLD
No. 389. D3MT Saloon 2007. Manual. Black Sapphire. SOLD

User avatar
JohnW
ALPIN
ALPIN
Posts: 534
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:32 am
Location: Bolton
Contact:

Re: Humble Pie

Post by JohnW » Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:22 pm

James_G wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:58 pm
Thanks for this - presumably the exhaust with no back box is an after market addition?
That’s the “standard” D3 exhaust😀
JohnW
2008 B3 BiTurbo Coupe #161
Previous: 2011 D3 BiTurbo Saloon #373, 2014 F30 320iX M Saloon, 2009 M3 DCT Coupe, 2008 B3 BiTurbo Coupe #074, 2009 E82 123d Coupe, 2006 E92 325i Coupe, 2002 E46 325iSE Coupe, 1998 E36 318iSE Saloon

DogWagen
ALP
ALP
Posts: 295
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:18 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire

Re: Humble Pie

Post by DogWagen » Sat Aug 07, 2021 8:09 am

MikeR wrote:
Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:02 pm
James_G wrote:
Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:58 pm

By the way, the 335d was very rapid, but I then had it remapped also! To about 350BHP and something like 680 torque if I recall - tremendous acceleration dry or wet! And with the "engine noise" and it's willingness to rev, it was a pleasure to push on too.
I see you're in Cambridgeshire @MikeR - where did you get your re-map done? (have a 335d and am thinking about a bit of additional torque)

Post Reply