Piston Heads -BMW M340d vs. Alpina B3 vs. Birds 340i Touring

[yamyam20]

Please remove if this posted in the wrong place:

https://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph ... ring/43419

[ScooBeeFive]

Cheers for the heads up - that sounds like a great triple test. Very interested to see how the Birds set up compares with Alpina as they are highly regarded.

[Lizard Lounger]

The Birds set up is excellent - I had an M140i which I specified with adaptative dampers. It was rubbish so I had the Birds springs and dampers fitted and it transformed the ride and handling. Fantastic! Wish ALPINA made a B1....

[Jonnywishbone]

The Birds set up is excellent - I had an M140i which I specified with adaptative dampers. It was rubbish so I had the Birds springs and dampers fitted and it transformed the ride and handling. Fantastic! Wish ALPINA made a B1....

I have an M240i and away from a larger forum where this view would upset some people, I can say I agree with you the stock suspension is crap (mine is adaptive too). The car is still likeable because when it's dry and warm the thing is fast, it's a decent cruiser and an OK second family daily (at least when I only had one parasite, err I mean child). Having driven it, the new B3 - and I'm sure your B5 - are compelling because they manage to combine a smooth ride with precise handling and control i.e. they can do everything well dynamically.

I saw an interview with Andreas Bovensiepen recently, though can't remember where, where he said that Alpina had briefly considered making a B2 (though not a B1) but that ultimately they felt the BMW solution (M2 Comp) was a much better car than they could manage without having to make it at such a prohibitively high cost as to make it a pointless exercise.

[churchie386]

Hopefully the new Alpina D3 S Touring will sit somewhere between the M340d ("Its faults are negligible") and the B3 ("a palpable genius about the car").

[Metrics]

Hopefully the new Alpina D3 S Touring will sit somewhere between the M340d ("Its faults are negligible") and the B3 ("a palpable genius about the car").

I'm sure it will, will be a fab machine