ALPINA Running Costs

[neil]

OK so we're keeping a check on Insurance and Oil usage. How's about we try to keep some real world ALPINA Running costs ?

I've already done mine :



Neil's B10 3.3 Running Costs

And Charles has posted his:


B3 s touring

It would help me if you have dates and approx mileage (e.g. in the format of my running costs) obviously the car and age etc... As complete as possible.

Thanks - I'm sure it will be a useful resource for owners and prospective owners....

Cheers

[Charles]

Haven't got round to doing a spreadsheet like Neil's, but just to let you know that I had an Inspection 2 yesterday and the result was as follows:

Inspection 2 costs (including a couple of filter changes, a new set of spark plugs and a ton of very expensive synthetic oil):

£292.33 + vat

Yes that is UNDER £300 before tax

This was done by BMW North Oxford and I was delighted at the price.

And in case you are wondering, the car has done just over 55,000 miles in just over 21 months and apart from tyres, replacement wipers, pads, a couple of discs and a couple of chipped alloy repairs, the service costs have been extremely cheap (relative to the car) and there have been no bits breaking or wearing when they shouldn't.

Spreadsheet to follow but the moral of the story is that - so far - the only expensive bit about running this car is the amount of fuel I purchase. But even then, over the lifetime of the car, I have averaged 25 mpg which ain't too bad either.

New set of front tyres soon (they've done 35k miles and are at 3mm) and going to do a full tracking and geometry once they have been changed (about £150 but worth every penny) to ensure the wheels are pointing in the right direction so that £400 of Michelin Pilot Sport 2's wear evenly for the next 40k miles.

Enough for the moment - apart from telling you that I had a wonderful time driving a 118d for the day (see my post soon in the BMW section).

Happy driving

C

[chrisb3]

Does anybody else have any experience of Alpina Service costs, particularly Insp II?? I'm pleased for Charles at the low cost of his recent Insp II - I've been quoted £750 by our local BMW dealer Preston Hall in Stockton - outrageous or par for the course??

[Charles]

Some more details to help you out:

The labour element of the bill was 21 units (approximately an hour and a half to 2 hours) and the net cost was £143.64

The parts element was for the following:
M52 Oil Filter (£6.60)
E46 Micro Filter (£22.56)
E36 Air Filter (£15.58 )
6 Spark Plugs (£39.60)

TOTAL PARTS = £84.34

The fluids element of the bill was:

6.5 litres of Castrol SLX = £64.35

TOTAL BILL (net of VAT) = £292.33


Some thoughts Chris -

Firstly, your car may qualify for BMW Four Plus scheme whereby any BMW over 4 years old gets a discount on parts prices (not sure about labour)

Secondly, the Inspection 2 follows a very specific Alpina checklist (which North Oxford had already printed out when I took the car in) and if it takes them 2 hours then it should take any other garage 2 hours also.

My point is this - I think your garage is trying it on.

At that price it would be cheaper for you to take a run down to Oxford to get the work done.

The only caveat is that you are running a B3 compared to my B3S but that shouldn't amount to any differences at all I would have thought.

I suggest you go back with a print-out of my Inspection 2 bill summary and ask them to think again.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

Take care

Charles

[chrisb3]

Charles,
thanks for the additional info - it has come in useful. I today telephoned another local(ish) dealer, Mill at East Boldon, and was quoted between £300-£370 for an Insp II on the B3( subject to me supplying the chassis number and the service department making enquiries, presumably with Alpina, as to what the Alpina specific service entails). A big drop from the £750 quoted by Preston Hall! I was however concerned that another main dealer had not heard of the B3 (is that the 5 series??) and apparently has not serviced one before. I use a specialist in Teesside for non service related work (currently fitting a new power steering pump - OUCH) who I wholeheartedly recommend but I feel for future resale value a full complement of dealer stamps in the book will put prospective buyers at ease. Is there any North East Alpina owners out there who could recommend a main dealer who actually knows the cars and their quirks or would it be more sensible to stick with the specialist and not worry too much about dealer stamps in the book.

[Charles]

Chris,

One of the first things I asked my friends at North Oxford when I got the B3S was whether any of their technicians were Alpina trained. A couple of the senior ones were and they now look after my car.

As for BMW stamps or otherwise, probably it is more important to have the Alpina service checklist signed off and filed away in your records. This shows that the service was done according to Alpina requirements. If you want a copy of the schedule then let me know and we can arrange this.

I'm glad that you have found a more appropriate price but, like you, am concerned that they didn't really know about the car. I would feel more comfortable using the people that you use for the other stuff.

Hope you get a solution

Take care

Charles

[Raymondo]

Booked in for my oil service on Saturday, so here are my costs upto date:

1000 Mile service: FOC
Oil Service (reached at 14.5k miles): £154
Insurance: £1150
Fuel (14.5k miles @ 25.9mpg): £2,300 (approx)

[jezza]

I have just phoned a couple of BMW dealers to get prices for services on my B10 V8 (registered in 2000). The results are as follows. All prices inc VAT:

Barons:
Oil service - £165
Insp 1 - £335
Insp 2 - £484
Loan car available for free but £1,000 insurance excess - so any dings and it works out as a mighty expensive service!

They based this price on the 540i, said the ALPINA service wasn't much different (although they didn't seem absolutely certain). When I asked about the 4+ discount thay said this would apply (approx 10% discount).


Second dealer was Vines:
Oil - £200
Insp 1 - £390
Insp 2 - £530(!)
Loan car available for £15 + VAT with £250 insurance excess.

They said 4+ doesn't apply to M cars or any V8 but when I commented I had much lower quotes from another dealer they then said they would give the discount. So it seems these numbers are liable to negotiation.

Quite a variation between the two, of course the most expensive is the one nearest to me. Does anyone else have recent figures to compare, do these seem reasonable?

[Charles]

Oil Inspection at North Oxford Garage for the Touring (68102 miles):

Labour £27.36
Micro filter £22.56
Oil Filter £6.60
Castrol SLX £64.35

Subtotal £120.87
VAT £21.16
TOTAL £142.10

Parts still the same price, labour slightly increased, apart from that extremely good value in my book

[graeme73s]

So far I have only had to have the inspection 2 service carried out at around 80,000 miles. My local dealer about a mile away Scothall BMW quoted £960 including v.a.t. explaining that they treat servicing on Alpina's as an M Power service. I rang a friend who is on his fifth BMW and although he had not used them himself he suggested Altwood at Tring. They quoted £320 including v.a.t.. Suprise they carried out the service.
They also recommended I changed a ball joint on the nearside suspension, driver side door rubber as it was slightly worn so they appeared quite thorough and would recommend them.

[neil]

Woah a 3 times premium ! that's steep - £960 seems a ridiculous amount.

Glad to see you got the price and service you deserved !

[Charles]

Just to summarise the last 2.5 years of maintennce on the car, these are the approximate costs of a "standard" service at each of the intervals:

Oil Service - approx £140
Inspection 1 - approx £220
Inspection 2 - approx £340

As you can probably tell, these are the sort of prices you would pay for a 330i. As such, there is no reason to accept a premium because the car is an Alpina.

I was amused that some dealers charge a premium for an "M Power" service - can't quite work out what is more expensive.

[Geoff]

Just paid for the Inspection 1 done on the B10 before I sold it - £152.28, I supplied the oil.

Service carried out by my local independent BMW specialist - Bruce Cousin Motors.

Good job, good price IMHO.

Didn't have the spark plugs changed.

[bmw virgin]

Hi All!

Bought my B3s Coupe just over a year ago and around that time I started making note of various posts & recommendations for future reference to things such as service costs.

Last Friday I took the car to BM Euroservice in Wolverhampton, on Chrislux's recommendation, for it's first Inspection II in my owner ship.
I also had them carryout a Brake Fluid Service.

A few days previous to that, I went to Sytner's Solihull to get an Inspection II itinerary plus of course, their pricing and I thought I’d share my findings with the forum & fellow e46 B3s owners!

Sytner's BME

Inspection II Service £199.92 £96
Oil £84.44 £77.68
Oil Filter £9.69 £8.30
Air Filter £23.02 £15.58
Pollen Filter £31.52 £28.79
Screen Wash £1.89 £1.60

These prices exclude vat.

Brake Fluid Service £75 £56.23
(Both inclusive of vat)

Although BME are not as plush & polished as Sytner's, they carried out the work to the same standard and at over £160 cheaper!

Thanks to Chris for the recommendation!


Does this compare well, you tell me!

PS: I had the figures all lined up nicely when I was compiling this but the spacing hasn't come through on the final edit.....but I'm sure you can work them out!?

[Easy-pd]

Just to summarise the last 2.5 years of maintennce on the car, these are the approximate costs of a "standard" service at each of the intervals:

Oil Service - approx £140
Inspection 1 - approx £220
Inspection 2 - approx £340

As you can probably tell, these are the sort of prices you would pay for a 330i. As such, there is no reason to accept a premium because the car is an Alpina.

I was amused that some dealers charge a premium for an "M Power" service - can't quite work out what is more expensive.

Charles, how do you find her for massive miles? I got the d3 because I do 150 per day. Is it massively more on fuel etc? I have everything except the beautiful noise and would love to get something a bit throatier next time round. Are you crippled by petrol costs? Other running costs seem very similar otherwise