E86 Z4 Coupe with Alpina badge

davidhoenig · Post by **davidhoenig** » Wed May 22, 2024 7:11 am

I recently purchased a 2007 E86 coupe 3.0i 6-speed that has an Alpina badge on the rear. It appears to be a stock E86, and not an official Alpina model, so I'm wondering what the Alpina badge means. Was there an appearance package? Or did a previous owner stick an Alpina badge on a non-Alpina car?

: PXL_20240521_210752843.MP.jpg (63.67 KiB) Viewed 447 times

Pondrew · Post by **Pondrew** » Wed May 22, 2024 10:37 am

It will be a stick-on after market 'extra'. And a very distasteful one at that. Take it off pronto!

Alpina didn't do an E86. Nearest was the E85 Roadster 'S'.

davidhoenig · Post by **davidhoenig** » Wed May 22, 2024 3:58 pm

Thanks for confirming what I suspected. My heat gun and plastic scraper will be used today to get if off pronto! I don't want a poser car.

firebobby · Post by **firebobby** » Wed May 22, 2024 4:02 pm

davidhoenig wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2024 3:58 pm Thanks for confirming what I suspected. My heat gun and plastic scraper will be used today to get if off pronto! I don't want a poser car.

Don't take any notice off him, it's the one and only E86 pina, rarer than a hen with a beak full of knashers.

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Wed May 22, 2024 8:26 pm

firebobby wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2024 4:02 pm Don't take any notice off him, it's the one and only E86 pina, rarer than a hen with a beak full of knashers.

Don't take any notice of him - he's just winding you up!

And welcome to Coupe ownership.

MikeyH · Post by **MikeyH** » Wed May 22, 2024 11:23 pm

It’s no worse than putting Union flags all over German BMW minis.

Arggggg!

Pondrew · Post by **Pondrew** » Wed May 22, 2024 11:54 pm

MikeyH wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2024 11:23 pm It’s no worse than putting Union flags all over German BMW minis. Arggggg!

Built in Cowley, though Mikey. As British as a Nissan; the Mini.

MikeyH · Post by **MikeyH** » Thu May 23, 2024 9:43 am

How very sadly true.

Fred Smith · Post by **Fred Smith** » Sun Jun 02, 2024 4:20 pm

davidhoenig wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2024 3:58 pm Thanks for confirming what I suspected. My heat gun and plastic scraper will be used today to get if off pronto! I don't want a poser car.

Interesting philosophical question...

Most people would agree that pretending your bog-standard car is an Alpina or M series model is pretty sad, pathetic, poor form and poserish.

What about the reverse - removing BMW / model badges and replacing them with meaningless custom badges, to make it harder to a non-enthusiast to know what you're driving?

Pondrew · Post by **Pondrew** » Sun Jun 02, 2024 6:32 pm

Fred Smith wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 4:20 pm

What about the reverse - removing BMW / model badges and replacing them with meaningless custom badges, to make it harder to a non-enthusiast to know what you're driving?

Surely a 'non-enthusiast' wouldn't give a toss? And anyone who knows about cars would know what it is anyway?

I do take the side 'essay' badges off the sides of my E89s, only because it looks so much neater without them.
I saw an Audi SUV 'thing' today with the three silly 'M' colour stripes in the grill. That just made it look even more stupid than a BMW with them.

Fred Smith · Post by **Fred Smith** » Sun Jun 02, 2024 7:10 pm

Pondrew wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 6:32 pm
Fred Smith wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 4:20 pm

What about the reverse - removing BMW / model badges and replacing them with meaningless custom badges, to make it harder to a non-enthusiast to know what you're driving?
Surely a 'non-enthusiast' wouldn't give a toss? And anyone who knows about cars would know what it is anyway?

I do take the side 'essay' badges off the sides of my E89s, only because it looks so much neater without them.
I saw an Audi SUV 'thing' today with the three silly 'M' colour stripes in the grill. That just made it look even more stupid than a BMW with them.

I went and had a look at a cheap 325i touring from 2006 a few days ago. To be fair the owner was pretty embarassed by his "M" colours on the grill... literally badly fitted bits of electrical tape with ten years of sun damage.

Fred Smith · Post by **Fred Smith** » Mon Jun 03, 2024 9:19 am

Pondrew wrote: ↑Sun Jun 02, 2024 6:32 pm Surely a 'non-enthusiast' wouldn't give a toss? And anyone who knows about cars would know what it is anyway?

I do take the side 'essay' badges off the sides of my E89s, only because it looks so much neater without them.
I saw an Audi SUV 'thing' today with the three silly 'M' colour stripes in the grill. That just made it look even more stupid than a BMW with them.

One more thing... there are non-enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts. Some people know nothing, and would barely notice that a passing Mk 1 Capri looked a bit different from the the rest of the cars on the road in 2024. Others know a bit but are not that interested. I suspect many non-enthusiasts might look at a de-badged Z4 Coupe with added custom badge and think "that's odd, I don't recognize that car and I have never seen that brand before".

I could be tempted to take the Z4 bade off the back of mine... one of the biggest reasons not to is the possible accusation that I'm trying to make people think it's an M

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