Alpina Roadster vs ///M

M

mitch

Member
 Worcester
coming up to the end of my agreement with BMW and cannot make my mind up what to go for next.

Has anybody here gone from an Alpina to a ///M ?

At the moment I can buy my car outright or get an '07 ///M but....

12 months tax is £190
It does about 26mpg work and back 10 miles each way
Insurance is around the same
Services are at 3.0 rates

I really need to hear from someone who has had both and can give me the realistic differences between the cars

mitch
 
Keep your Alpina. It is more special. I think you will lose more (high fuel and maintenance cost) than you gain (very little increase in power and acceleration) if you have the M. You better wait for a used sDrive35i.

Do you really want to sit in a very similar environment after changing the car?
 
just wanted a newer car to be honest - quite happy with the shape and enviroment

hope I don't break any forum rules, but anybody know what happened to www.zed-cars.eu ? - I know a few members on there had swapped from Alpina's to ///M,s and would have been grateful of their advice

mitch
 
Sorry i cannot advise on either Alpina or M but my mate was round yesterday who is a Tech for BMW and we were discussing M running costs :o much more than my 3.0 but i guess you have already looked into that one think you would have to find a good independent
 
mitch said:
just wanted a newer car to be honest - quite happy with the shape and enviroment

hope I don't break any forum rules, but anybody know what happened to http://www.zed-cars.eu ? - I know a few members on there had swapped from Alpina's to ///M,s and would have been grateful of their advice

mitch
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I heard in May that the site wasnt expected to last the year, can only assume this is what has happened.
 
I know a couple of members having moved from the Alpina to the M, and the main reason were:

- Alpina does not have LSD
- Alpina is not an M with the M related "bits".

Never heard of any regret of either of them, the Alpina was always seen as the stepping stone to the "real" thing.
 
ksher said:
Keep your Alpina. It is more special. I think you will lose more (high fuel and maintenance cost) than you gain (very little increase in power and acceleration) if you have the M. You better wait for a used sDrive35i.

Do you really want to sit in a very similar environment after changing the car?
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Sensible advice IMHO. I'd keep it for another year maybe, see how you feel then.
 
GAZA62 said:
we were discussing M running costs :o much more than my 3.0
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Gosh, I guess opinions on what is "much more" is subjective. Having gone from a 3.0Si to an M, I'm amazed how low the overall costs of ownership are of an M for the performance it offers.

If you are considering an M go into it with your eyes open but costs are not prohibitive.
 
I went from an alpina Roadster to M coupe and have never looked back since. The alpina is more of a GT cruiser, great straight line speed, comfy, and generally an easy soft ride - show it some twisties and the car just simply can't cope compared to the M.

Depending on what you're looking for in a car, they are each great in their respective fields. The Alpina has great straight line speed (weighs c1380kg) and will do the UK-Nice-Monaco trip with ease. Whilst the M will also do the same trip but your journey will be an adrenaline packed one, seeking a twistie route rather than Auto route.

The question is what are you looking for from the car?
 
Z4coupebeaver said:
GAZA62 said:
we were discussing M running costs :o much more than my 3.0
Click to expand...

Gosh, I guess opinions on what is "much more" is subjective. Having gone from a 3.0Si to an M, I'm amazed how low the overall costs of ownership are of an M for the performance it offers.

If you are considering an M go into it with your eyes open but costs are not prohibitive.
Click to expand...

Going on BMW prices Inspection 1 is double what i pay and 2 is more than double.

To be honest for me using my car only at weekends and only doing around 5k a year would not be horrific as long nothing went wrong my 3.0 has only just had inspection 1 but i do give the car a service on my drive between as inspection 2 is not due for 15k.
 
flatout said:
I went from an alpina Roadster to M coupe and have never looked back since. The alpina is more of a GT cruiser, great straight line speed, comfy, and generally an easy soft ride - show it some twisties and the car just simply can't cope compared to the M.

Depending on what you're looking for in a car, they are each great in their respective fields. The Alpina has great straight line speed (weighs c1380kg) and will do the UK-Nice-Monaco trip with ease. Whilst the M will also do the same trip but your journey will be an adrenaline packed one, seeking a twistie route rather than Auto route.

The question is what are you looking for from the car?
Click to expand...

I am looking for exactly what you are suggesting... :evil:
 
It sounds like you want a different car and not just keep the one you have now. I'd go for the M as the price second hand for an '07 M is a steal for what you get at the moment.

Do your homework on the running cost differences yourself, don't just listen to posts on here. Tires will be cheaper but everything else will be way more!

For me, the M wasn't different enough to the car I had. By that I don't necessary mean the outright performance, but for what I used the car for and also the interior and looks would be almost the same. I just fancied something different. Ended up with a 35i. Now that is different!

I see your in Worcester. I was at Rybrooks the other day and they have a nice Z4M Roadster in the showroom. 2006 model but very low mileage (around 7,000 I think!). No Nav though. It's up for just over £22,000 at the moment! Go give it a test drive! At least you will get an idea if it's the car for you. :wink:
 
I also swapped from the RS to the MC. As said the lack of slippy diff always annoyed me. It's a very capable car but the M is better. Not a huge difference between the 2, but very different characters. The RS is more of a GT cruiser, softly sprung with plenty of power in a straight line. The MC is more of an animal, the engine sounds miles better too.
 
mitch said:
flatout said:
I went from an alpina Roadster to M coupe and have never looked back since. The alpina is more of a GT cruiser, great straight line speed, comfy, and generally an easy soft ride - show it some twisties and the car just simply can't cope compared to the M.

Depending on what you're looking for in a car, they are each great in their respective fields. The Alpina has great straight line speed (weighs c1380kg) and will do the UK-Nice-Monaco trip with ease. Whilst the M will also do the same trip but your journey will be an adrenaline packed one, seeking a twistie route rather than Auto route.

The question is what are you looking for from the car?
Click to expand...

I am looking for exactly what you are suggesting... :evil:
Click to expand...

That's that then.... sold :topicclosed:
 
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