My Alpina Roadster S (supercharger conversion @ ESS)
- Thread starter FemmeT
- Start date
oke: 
Hi there Femme
I love what you have done to the car. Absolutely stunning.
I have a standard Alpina Roadster S, and I love the sound of it, but would like to make it just that little bit louder. Can you tell me, does the removal of some material inside the muffler result in a louder but still 'Alpina' sounding exhaust note?
Also, I love the way the exhaust on this car 'pops' on cold starts... is there anyway to increase this popping sound that you know of?
Thanks for any advice,
Kris
I love what you have done to the car. Absolutely stunning.
I have a standard Alpina Roadster S, and I love the sound of it, but would like to make it just that little bit louder. Can you tell me, does the removal of some material inside the muffler result in a louder but still 'Alpina' sounding exhaust note?
Also, I love the way the exhaust on this car 'pops' on cold starts... is there anyway to increase this popping sound that you know of?
Thanks for any advice,
Kris
s2thoudriver
New member
Hi
I am very interested in this thread. I have an 05 Alpina Roadster and as the current market is a bit poor, i would consider doing the conversion as an alternative to a 911 tubo or SLK55 AMG. However, i need to get an idea of prices and details of tuners in the UK (preferebly north west) who would carry out the conversion.
Having looked at this car, i would be interested in prices for:
and finally, the overall cost for parts and labour to undertake the supercharger work. I know this has been quotes once by Simpson but wondered if there are any alternative people who would do the work.
Also, any discount for a group buy???
Many thanks in advance
Rob
I am very interested in this thread. I have an 05 Alpina Roadster and as the current market is a bit poor, i would consider doing the conversion as an alternative to a 911 tubo or SLK55 AMG. However, i need to get an idea of prices and details of tuners in the UK (preferebly north west) who would carry out the conversion.
Having looked at this car, i would be interested in prices for:
- The front 3 point strut brace (and who supplies them)
The adjustible coilovers (and who supplies them)
An induction kit (any ideas? can a 3.0 Z4 one fit?)
Brake upgrade costs (and who supplies them)
LSD parts and fitting costs.
and finally, the overall cost for parts and labour to undertake the supercharger work. I know this has been quotes once by Simpson but wondered if there are any alternative people who would do the work.
Also, any discount for a group buy???
Many thanks in advance
Rob
Well, you can do the supercharger work anywhere, it's a kit afterall, and the 3.0 Z4 kit is 'developed' so should be possible in 9hrs as their website says. So, find a garage you trust and take their hourly rate x9 I would guess. Maybe £700 + vat?
What it comes down to is, would you want someone doing it who is familiar, or someone who is unfamiliar, with these cars. I'd just pay Simpson to do it and get it back perfect first time, because I honestly haven't heard of anyone else doing so much work to Z4's in the UK. They are also very experienced in general car work/modifying.
If I bought one I'd do it all DIY, but I like doing this kinda stuff. If you are not familiar with car tinkering, the worst thing you could do is then trust someone else who isn't familiar and has to do the work down to a quoted price/time!
Dave
What it comes down to is, would you want someone doing it who is familiar, or someone who is unfamiliar, with these cars. I'd just pay Simpson to do it and get it back perfect first time, because I honestly haven't heard of anyone else doing so much work to Z4's in the UK. They are also very experienced in general car work/modifying.
If I bought one I'd do it all DIY, but I like doing this kinda stuff. If you are not familiar with car tinkering, the worst thing you could do is then trust someone else who isn't familiar and has to do the work down to a quoted price/time!
Dave
The Alpina engine is not the same as a 3.0 Z4 engine. This was the first time they've done such job on a Alpina. I don't know the difference exactly but the engine is based on the USA-spec E36 M3 engine. So they had to do some custom changes to fit it. And offcourse they didn't have any software for this car yet. I know Femme paid more than the standard Z4 3.0i kit.Mr Whippy said:
Tom said:
Ah yes sorry, I saw Alpina at the start of his post and then 3.0 Z4 induction kit later in the post.
So yes, the Alpina ESS kit will be a bit more time consuming to fit I would imagine... Simpsons sound like a good bet still. Femme went to ESS themselves, so it makes sense that the next step down would be someone experienced with ESS kits and Z4 tuning at all
kris d said:
Hi Kris,
The sound won't be too far off the stock Alpina sound, just a bit louder and it 'pops' more when going off the throttle. I don't know exactly what they did to the muffler but it worked out very well. I liked the Alpina sound and I didn't want a completely different exhaust system. AFAIK they haven't touched the resonator midway down the exhaust.
s2thoudriver said:
The Alpina Roadster S TS2 supercharger is now on the ESS site. The system is a few thousand euros more expensive than the a Z4 3.0i TS2 and about the same price as the CFR500/525 systems for the Z4M, which has higher topend power but lower lowend torque (Roadster S TS2 @ 3000rpm = ~160hp, CFR525 Q 3000rpm = ~130hp).You have to decide for yourself if it's worth the money. In my case I already had invested a lot of time and money in the Roadster S so switching to a Z4M was no option.
The strut brace I on car is made by Strongstrut.com. Excellent build quality, high price. There are less expensive alternatives such as the BMW strut brace.
The coilovers were custom made by Reiger Racing Suspension. The price was about 900 euros ex VAT per damper (I have their low end damper) including measurements and setup. They do not sell to private persons. Intrax makes very good dampers too. The Intrax 1k2 sold by Simpsons should be good value for money (I believe Curtis uses these on his car).
I also have the suspension bushings upgrades from Turner Motorsport (also sold by Simpsons). The suspension upgrades made a huge improvement to the handling of the car. The Reiger dampers are in the completely different league to the stock Alpina suspension. Ride quality is much better too with the setup I have on my car.
The Mov'it 380mm 6 pistons brakes were very expensive, about 6000 euroes ex VAT. The problem with the brakes is that almost nothing fits unless you use different wheels. A Roadster S without Alpina Dynamics doesn't look like a Roadster S so I really wanted to keep the wheels. The only way we could make the calipers fit was by using a very large diameter brake disc. There is more space behind the spokes further from the center of the wheel. Otherwise the wheel would stick out of the fenders. The clearance between the brake calipers and the wheel spokes is just a few millimeters. We actually had to send one of the wheels to the Mov'it factory to make accurate measurements.
For street use the Mov'it brakes are not worth the money. They perform very well on the track and if you need to brake from 280km/h to 120 on the Autobahn you will be happy to have them on your car.
A less expensive alternative is the AP Racing kit on Simpsons site with a different set of wheels.
The Drexler LSD was another expensive part. 3500 euros ex VAT including a new E46 rear axle with 3.46:1 final drive ratio and shipment from Germany to the Netherlands. The price of a bare LSD was € 1850 ex VAT. Quaiffe is the cheaper alternative. A Quaiffe ATB differential kit with 3.46:1 final drive is just £829.06 @ Birds.
Hey Femme,
Amazing project!!!! I am doing some mods to my 3.0si coupe, but not even close to your scale and budget. I fitted an M grill and trimmed out the right side of the rear bumper for that dual exhaust look. Also fitted the M front bumper. I will post pics when it is finished. what type of side skirts are those? they are sweet!
Amazing project!!!! I am doing some mods to my 3.0si coupe, but not even close to your scale and budget. I fitted an M grill and trimmed out the right side of the rear bumper for that dual exhaust look. Also fitted the M front bumper. I will post pics when it is finished. what type of side skirts are those? they are sweet!
After many months of hard work I'm finally launching the Alpina Roadster S Supercharged project site. The site contains full descriptions and photo galleries of all mods on my car and features a video we shot on location in Norway after collecting the car at ESS Tuning. Check it out at http://modgarage.net/project/alpina .
Here are some pictures from last year (Tekarbon angel eyes were fitted about a year ago):
Here are some pictures from last year (Tekarbon angel eyes were fitted about a year ago):
paddy wright
Lifer
wow- first apina ve really liked above!
Looks great, love the video too. I said this last time but I really love the seats, the leather looks beautiful. New lights look great too :sweetheart:
that is one long yet fantastic project! good work!