Sterling Grey Alpina Roadster S
- Thread starter 2alpsade
- Start date
ZermattV said:
There is a Maldives Blue RS for sale, too
At least the black w/red leather is in Abz...and Martin would be very willing to take you a test drive
pvr said:
I've thought about changing for an M, but haven't for a number of reasons.
Alpinas are:
- close to an M for performance. 0-60 is .1 second off the M. (unlikely to notice) but top speed is higher (also unlikely to ever see it)
- more exclusive (not having a dig)
- have better fuel economy
- don't have an M tax on servicing at Inspection II time
And an LSD is a cheapish retrofit. Less than a decent set of genuine CSLs
Ms are probably a more exciting drive, perhaps more of a purists car
What else does an M have over a standard Z4 or an Alpina? (apart from 2 exhausts extra and hydraulic steering)
By the seaside...
pvr said:
Sorry, I couldn't disagree more... but I would say that, wouldn't I ?
The Alpina is a completely different animal from the M and you either get that and understand where it's coming from... or you don't - it's not something that you can easily explain to people
The Alpina is based on a 3.0 standard Z with Alpina bits and the older M3 engine. Not sure about the consumption as the M is more economic as far as I was aware with the newer engine?
The M has different suspension, brakes, engine, LSD, gearbox, de-gingered from factory, xenons and the obvious bits such as the bonnet which I really like and different front / rear of course.
The Alpina has very nice wheels, seats and other Alpina finishing bits.
The Alpina is more exclusive but having driven one, I found the idling very rough and harder work to drive than the M with the brakes feeling a little soft. To me, it was sitting between the 3.0 which I had at the time, and the M I was about to buy.
The M has different suspension, brakes, engine, LSD, gearbox, de-gingered from factory, xenons and the obvious bits such as the bonnet which I really like and different front / rear of course.
The Alpina has very nice wheels, seats and other Alpina finishing bits.
The Alpina is more exclusive but having driven one, I found the idling very rough and harder work to drive than the M with the brakes feeling a little soft. To me, it was sitting between the 3.0 which I had at the time, and the M I was about to buy.
pvr said:
Interesting to compare with an M driver without falling out
The warm up is very rough. It's like a bag of spanners when cold and I normally let her warm up before setting off unless I want to impersonate a pissed Kangaroo. Once warm though, lovely.
Brakes, known to be lacking a little. Oft commented on by reviewers. As I'm not driving on the limit, they're enough for my driving style. I'd upgrade if I thought it was needed, and might look at it when the disks finally need replacing.
The Alpina also has different suspension to standard (at the front anyway) and it's not expensive to upgrade as many standard and M owners also seem to do.
Bi Xenons would be nice, but not essential
De-gingered. I don't care. I like the look of the car as is although the Alpina front spoiler is a marmite thing, love it or hate it. The rear is probably the same. I love the rear, ambigous about the front
Love the wheels, love the interior.
The ALPINA has a HEAVILY modified unburstable US-spec M3 engine, which is capable of easily in excess of 32mpg in general running...not cruising: general. It won the International Engine of the Year award: and rightly so as it is an incredible unit.If there is one with a lumpy idle after the 1st minute of start-up, there's something wrong with it. The gearbox used is a very fine choice, and for a manual 6-speed of the era it works very well.
The front brakes are not dissimilar to the M and in fact use M3 pads on a 3.0Si disc - fine on a lightweight car. I find the brakes are ok, but I don't track it and I'm not an 'on brake driver': however, the stoppers on my D3BT are far superior for a direct comparison. Suspension is bespoke ALPINA front, stock 3.0Si rear. Front spoiler isn't a tacky add-on, but a fully-functioning aero-aid and I think makes the appearance of the front of the car. The rest of the styling of the original E85 is, IMO, classic and faultless, including the 'so-called' ginger bits. ALPINA took what was basically a great car, and made it look and drive brilliantly....note there is no current Z4 ALPINA :wink: Even within BMW gossip-circles it is seen as a bit of an error which even ALPINA couldn't put 'right'.
Interestingly, the 'buyer's guide' in last months' TBMW didn't really go through the ALPINA range, but it did cover the Z4M coupe, but not in detail. They do not recommend it, describing it, and I quote:-
""it's snappy, twitchy and uncomfortable - personally I think it was the worst M car ever made". And some owners agree, it seems . "I see examples that have got just 25,000 miles on the clock but have been through seven different owners because people just don't like them.""
Now, I've never driven the Z4M as it just doesn't tick my boxes for ownership. But, none of the statement I copied above describes my Roadster S: it has a couple of 'faults' but no car is completely perfect, and I'm thankful that ALPINA took the original seats and improved them for comfort as that is paramount to me due to a degenerative spine condition. Also, many RS's have only seen 2-3 owners: in fact many 1-owner examples have hit the market this year with the cars at least 7 years old. That says much about the cars and their appeal.
The front brakes are not dissimilar to the M and in fact use M3 pads on a 3.0Si disc - fine on a lightweight car. I find the brakes are ok, but I don't track it and I'm not an 'on brake driver': however, the stoppers on my D3BT are far superior for a direct comparison. Suspension is bespoke ALPINA front, stock 3.0Si rear. Front spoiler isn't a tacky add-on, but a fully-functioning aero-aid and I think makes the appearance of the front of the car. The rest of the styling of the original E85 is, IMO, classic and faultless, including the 'so-called' ginger bits. ALPINA took what was basically a great car, and made it look and drive brilliantly....note there is no current Z4 ALPINA :wink: Even within BMW gossip-circles it is seen as a bit of an error which even ALPINA couldn't put 'right'.
Interestingly, the 'buyer's guide' in last months' TBMW didn't really go through the ALPINA range, but it did cover the Z4M coupe, but not in detail. They do not recommend it, describing it, and I quote:-
""it's snappy, twitchy and uncomfortable - personally I think it was the worst M car ever made". And some owners agree, it seems . "I see examples that have got just 25,000 miles on the clock but have been through seven different owners because people just don't like them.""
Now, I've never driven the Z4M as it just doesn't tick my boxes for ownership. But, none of the statement I copied above describes my Roadster S: it has a couple of 'faults' but no car is completely perfect, and I'm thankful that ALPINA took the original seats and improved them for comfort as that is paramount to me due to a degenerative spine condition. Also, many RS's have only seen 2-3 owners: in fact many 1-owner examples have hit the market this year with the cars at least 7 years old. That says much about the cars and their appeal.
re wrote this post a few times.... i can't yet get my head around how i felt after a recen test drive.
I have always loved alpina's and recently drove a roadster S .. they certainly look stunning and have a modern classic look to them that Mcars have as yet not achieved.
I was disapointed by a couple of aspects in short the retrimmed multifunction wheel feels pretty thin in comparison to the m wheel i have in my 3.0 and i think i would miss my ZHP gear knob .
I found it quite a relaxed car to drive and perhaps for my sports car i want something a bit more immediate.
the info regarding brakes is intresting so they are uprated compared to the 3.0 i ??
Anyway making contact with the owner of the black one in aberdeen for a look at another example.
I have always loved alpina's and recently drove a roadster S .. they certainly look stunning and have a modern classic look to them that Mcars have as yet not achieved.
I was disapointed by a couple of aspects in short the retrimmed multifunction wheel feels pretty thin in comparison to the m wheel i have in my 3.0 and i think i would miss my ZHP gear knob .
I found it quite a relaxed car to drive and perhaps for my sports car i want something a bit more immediate.
the info regarding brakes is intresting so they are uprated compared to the 3.0 i ??
Anyway making contact with the owner of the black one in aberdeen for a look at another example.
I admire the passion you have for your alpina & I love how individual they are & they look distinctive & a few suggested I go for one instead of the M, I would have to drive one to see if I have made the wrong decision, but I do like my rear drivers to have a slippy diff & i am surprised they didn't put one on them, plus I am a sucker for four exhausts!2alpsade said:
It is a fairly similar discussion as we can have with the E89 lot. They target different markets to some extend.
The Alpina is perhaps more a cruiser than the M and is more individual.
Are you sure about the brakes being from a 3.0si as the si did not exist when the Alpina came out?
I liked the Alpina that I used to see a lot on the meetings from Simmer, he had the updated lights on his front, side and back and with the black car with red seats it looked fantastic.
He went the expensive route though - 3.0 to Alpina to M when that came out. So 3 new Z4s in 3 years.
The Alpina is perhaps more a cruiser than the M and is more individual.
Are you sure about the brakes being from a 3.0si as the si did not exist when the Alpina came out?
I liked the Alpina that I used to see a lot on the meetings from Simmer, he had the updated lights on his front, side and back and with the black car with red seats it looked fantastic.
He went the expensive route though - 3.0 to Alpina to M when that came out. So 3 new Z4s in 3 years.
LeeZ4MR said:I admire the passion you have for your alpina & I love how individual they are & they look distinctive & a few suggested I go for one instead of the M, I would have to drive one to see if I have made the wrong decision, but I do like my rear drivers to have a slippy diff & i am surprised they didn't put one on them, plus I am a sucker for four exhausts!
There is no right or wrong in this discussion, but I think the RS is often misunderstood. The list of changes over a standard car is extremely long, and I wish I had the number of changes to-hand to further enlighten readers (I'll have to see if I can find it). I know people who have driven both, and opted for the choice that suited them, and don't forget only 167 RS's were sold between Feb 2004 and March 2006. A slippy diff can be fitted to an RS for £1200 from Birds if it's an absolute necessity. As an *ahem* sometimes enthusiastic driver :evil: I've never lost drive or traction on the rear of my RS, and as I don't track my cars, I don't see I would benefit from it on a daily driver basis. The last slippy diff I had was on my 1990 E30 325iSport
pvr said:
Cruiser? Yes, 30mph in 6th is easy, but drop the gears and floor her and she's a raging madman. A seriously quick car with lightening engine responses.
Brakes are definitely same as an Si, yes. Part number is 1 166 071 taken from my original discs - give it a check out and you will find it's right. I service my own brakes and have bought and fitted the correct parts - I hope
. These discs probably came from an earlier 3-series M, hence were in existence prior to the E85.
It is never a straight comparison between cars.
If I had applied the same logic when buying my classic Golf at the time when it was not classic (bought in 1995 for a 1993 car), I could have bought the new shape Golf III convertible but wanted the older shape, less powerful, MKI convertible.
It is very obvious what is the classic now though
If I had applied the same logic when buying my classic Golf at the time when it was not classic (bought in 1995 for a 1993 car), I could have bought the new shape Golf III convertible but wanted the older shape, less powerful, MKI convertible.
It is very obvious what is the classic now though
That's not bad at all then to put a slippy on it, I like them had one on my TVR & 200sx I just like to drive like a child every now & again & it's makes sliding the rearend a little more controllable!2alpsade said:LeeZ4MR said:I admire the passion you have for your alpina & I love how individual they are & they look distinctive & a few suggested I go for one instead of the M, I would have to drive one to see if I have made the wrong decision, but I do like my rear drivers to have a slippy diff & i am surprised they didn't put one on them, plus I am a sucker for four exhausts!
There is no right or wrong in this discussion, but I think the RS is often misunderstood. The list of changes over a standard car is extremely long, and I wish I had the number of changes to-hand to further enlighten readers (I'll have to see if I can find it). I know people who have driven both, and opted for the choice that suited them, and don't forget only 167 RS's were sold between Feb 2004 and March 2006. A slippy diff can be fitted to an RS for £1200 from Birds if it's an absolute necessity. As an *ahem* sometimes enthusiastic driver :evil: I've never lost drive or traction on the rear of my RS, and as I don't track my cars, I don't see I would benefit from it on a daily driver basis. The last slippy diff I had was on my 1990 E30 325iSport
I adore how rare the RS is I have never seen one in the metal & I really respect alpina as a company & sometimes I just want to get a hammer to the gearbox in my M its such a pig to use!! With regards to your 325i I used to have a little play with those in my Old XR4x4 back in the day...I always lost! Lovely looking cars the E30
Lovely to see a good, well put discussion, great read guys 
There are plenty of owners of all variants happy to show off their cars. On tapatalk so can't see where you are but if it's vaguely SW then let me know
Ade, you're right. #69s bag of spanners lumpy idle clears in a minute or under, it's just the usual warm up cycle. But then you've driven her so you know. It was interesting how the cars have a different character, even noticing the differences between yours and mine
Ade, you're right. #69s bag of spanners lumpy idle clears in a minute or under, it's just the usual warm up cycle. But then you've driven her so you know. It was interesting how the cars have a different character, even noticing the differences between yours and mine