Leicester guy wanting an Alpina
- Thread starter JohnC
- Start date
By the seaside...
if you search, there's lots of info on z4-forum but...
Running and servicing costs are in line with the 3L Z4 (mine is booked in at BMW for an Inspection 2 plus brake fluid change tomorrow and they've quoted £460 inc. VAT), road tax is plg rates - currently £225 p/a - and 30+ mpg is the norm unless on a hoon. If any of the bespoke Alpina bits need replacing they can be quite expensive but that's also true of the ///M cars.
The B3S engine is hand-built by Alpina, the block is from the us-spec E36 M3 bored out to 3.4L with a single-vanos head, Mahle lightweight pistons, 362Nm of torque at 4800rpm, redline at 7200rpm, stong low-end torque (270Nm at 1krpm), 167mph top-speed and a Boysen stainless steel tuned exhaust system - Alpina quote a *minimum* power output of 300bhp but it's tuned for flexibility rather than outright power which makes it very useable in day-to-day driving.
In the main, the 'issues' tend to be 'normal' Z4 things such as rear springs breaking, 'sticky' steering etc. you can get info on most of those through the forum buyer's guide.
These are the pointers that I was given when I was hunting
Check the service history fully.
- Check it had the 1200 mile running in service as this is absolutely essential
- Subsequent services as per the service book schedule (if low-mileage, should have a service every 2 years even if hardly used)
- 2 yearly brake fluid changes.
Other things to note:
- Rear coil springs are standard BMW items and they snap on all Z4s
- Vanos can get noisy, and may need changing at some point
- Sticky Steering: the electric steering electronics on the E85 can suffer from heat degradation. Get her stinking hot around your feet for half-an-hour or so and see if the steering starts to 'grab' when you turn the wheel. If this happens, it requires a replacement steering column.
Test drive:
- Ask for the car to be cold when you get there. Start her up, and she will settle into a rough, loud, growly, idle. Let her sit on idle for 30-40secs and the noises will subside of their own volition and she will reach normal tickover. If all this occurs (including the noisy bit) then all is well.
- When she has warmed a little, find a 'suitable road', open the tap in 2nd or 3rd and let her go. She should rev from 'trundling speeds' to the red line with no flatspots or hesitation. Any hesitation; ask questions. Could be Vanos, cam position sensor, MAF or a headgasket issue.
- Be aware that they accelerate brutally fast (just like an ///M), so watch where you do it for license-preserving purposes.
- You should also find she sits at 30mph quite happily in 6th gear
Other than that, it's the normal Z4 checklist and the usual things that you look at on a car - panel gaps, signs of painting/repair work, overall condition etc. Bespoke Alpina parts can be quite expensive but some, such as the wind deflector, have direct BMW equivalents.
You won't notice it during an inspection, but oil consumption in the 3.4S engine is normal. You need to keep an eye on the oil levels because the E85 oil level sensor isn't fitted as it's incompatible with the 3.4S engine. Alpina quote 1L/1000 miles as normal consumption but it varies quite a bit, 2AlpsAde's car was drinking 1L/500miles and mine works out at roughly 1L/2500miles. Ade experimented with slightly thicker oils to control oil consumption and I think he settled on castrol 5w40.
As far as oil goes, BMW often fill them with TWS 10w60 (same as an ///M) but that's too thick and it's best to stick with the (Alpina recommended) Castrol 0w30 unless you experience a high burn rate. Mine had TWS in her when I collected her but I quickly changed it to 0w30 - a 30 minute DIY job with an oil pump - and I noticed the difference.
If you have any specific questions, just fire away and we'll try to answer them....
Running and servicing costs are in line with the 3L Z4 (mine is booked in at BMW for an Inspection 2 plus brake fluid change tomorrow and they've quoted £460 inc. VAT), road tax is plg rates - currently £225 p/a - and 30+ mpg is the norm unless on a hoon. If any of the bespoke Alpina bits need replacing they can be quite expensive but that's also true of the ///M cars.
The B3S engine is hand-built by Alpina, the block is from the us-spec E36 M3 bored out to 3.4L with a single-vanos head, Mahle lightweight pistons, 362Nm of torque at 4800rpm, redline at 7200rpm, stong low-end torque (270Nm at 1krpm), 167mph top-speed and a Boysen stainless steel tuned exhaust system - Alpina quote a *minimum* power output of 300bhp but it's tuned for flexibility rather than outright power which makes it very useable in day-to-day driving.
In the main, the 'issues' tend to be 'normal' Z4 things such as rear springs breaking, 'sticky' steering etc. you can get info on most of those through the forum buyer's guide.
These are the pointers that I was given when I was hunting
Check the service history fully.
- Check it had the 1200 mile running in service as this is absolutely essential
- Subsequent services as per the service book schedule (if low-mileage, should have a service every 2 years even if hardly used)
- 2 yearly brake fluid changes.
Other things to note:
- Rear coil springs are standard BMW items and they snap on all Z4s
- Vanos can get noisy, and may need changing at some point
- Sticky Steering: the electric steering electronics on the E85 can suffer from heat degradation. Get her stinking hot around your feet for half-an-hour or so and see if the steering starts to 'grab' when you turn the wheel. If this happens, it requires a replacement steering column.
Test drive:
- Ask for the car to be cold when you get there. Start her up, and she will settle into a rough, loud, growly, idle. Let her sit on idle for 30-40secs and the noises will subside of their own volition and she will reach normal tickover. If all this occurs (including the noisy bit) then all is well.
- When she has warmed a little, find a 'suitable road', open the tap in 2nd or 3rd and let her go. She should rev from 'trundling speeds' to the red line with no flatspots or hesitation. Any hesitation; ask questions. Could be Vanos, cam position sensor, MAF or a headgasket issue.
- Be aware that they accelerate brutally fast (just like an ///M), so watch where you do it for license-preserving purposes.
- You should also find she sits at 30mph quite happily in 6th gear
Other than that, it's the normal Z4 checklist and the usual things that you look at on a car - panel gaps, signs of painting/repair work, overall condition etc. Bespoke Alpina parts can be quite expensive but some, such as the wind deflector, have direct BMW equivalents.
You won't notice it during an inspection, but oil consumption in the 3.4S engine is normal. You need to keep an eye on the oil levels because the E85 oil level sensor isn't fitted as it's incompatible with the 3.4S engine. Alpina quote 1L/1000 miles as normal consumption but it varies quite a bit, 2AlpsAde's car was drinking 1L/500miles and mine works out at roughly 1L/2500miles. Ade experimented with slightly thicker oils to control oil consumption and I think he settled on castrol 5w40.
As far as oil goes, BMW often fill them with TWS 10w60 (same as an ///M) but that's too thick and it's best to stick with the (Alpina recommended) Castrol 0w30 unless you experience a high burn rate. Mine had TWS in her when I collected her but I quickly changed it to 0w30 - a 30 minute DIY job with an oil pump - and I noticed the difference.
If you have any specific questions, just fire away and we'll try to answer them....
Welcome!
Being a die hard TVR enthusiast I would say keep the Chim.
And buy a Z4.
Very different cars, but the Z4 is more useable everyday. Although my Griff has never let me down in 10 years and 35k. My Z4 died after 5 months and 2500 mile.
Perry's reply is very comprehensive!
Good luck with the search.
Being a die hard TVR enthusiast I would say keep the Chim.
And buy a Z4.
Very different cars, but the Z4 is more useable everyday. Although my Griff has never let me down in 10 years and 35k. My Z4 died after 5 months and 2500 mile.
Perry's reply is very comprehensive!
Good luck with the search.
There have been a number of reports of head gasket failure on the B3S engine at around 60-80k - it's something to be aware of rather than to panic about as it's not guaranteed to happen and a number of cars, I think markeg's is an example, have passed 100k without issues.srhutch said:
If it does happen, it's not catastrophic as, when it happens, there's no mixing of coolant/oil as the gasket tends to go between cylinders. The Alpina head gasket is fairly expensive but some people have sourced cheaper replacements from the US
Great choice of car.
+1 for everything Perry says, really helped me when I was buying mine. There are some very knowledgeable people around here who often know quite a lot about each Alpina RS that comes up for sale. The Alpina Register http://www.thealpinaregister.com/ also has lots of info if you haven't already found it.
Good luck with your search & look forward to seeing another RS on the forum.
+1 for everything Perry says, really helped me when I was buying mine. There are some very knowledgeable people around here who often know quite a lot about each Alpina RS that comes up for sale. The Alpina Register http://www.thealpinaregister.com/ also has lots of info if you haven't already found it.
Good luck with your search & look forward to seeing another RS on the forum.