Alpina Roadster S

[ChrisG89]

Hey,

I'm looking for a new car and quite fancy a Z4M, but as these are slightly over budget, I got thinking about the Alpina Roadster S. Does anybody have any experience of these?

What's the servicing like?
Are parts more expensive then say a normal 3.0 or Z4M?
How can you tell if it's a genuine Alpina?

Thanks in advance

[Legacywr]

I was looking last summer and had one lined up, but it failed an inspection by a very helpful guy on here (Roofer!)

The engine is an overbored M3 engine, and as such they seem to suffer from head gasket failure!

I would still like one though!

Whats your budget?

[ChrisG89]

Thanks,

I've got upto £12k, but want to spend as little as possible, buying my first house.

There is one local to me that is sort of advertised on the z4 forum. It got me thinking of them.

[Legacywr]

Most owners wont realise they need to let thier cars go for 12k!

[ChrisG89]

The one I was thinking of is advertised at £12k. Z4m is abit more ambitious though. Well for a good one.

[Legacywr]

Link?

[ChrisG89]

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&a...

Not the only one for less than £12k

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3517750.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3454371.htm

[Fox-]

Legacywr said:

The engine is an overbored M3 engine

No it's not? I thought it was an overbored M54. It's designation is M54B34.

[Legacywr]

Fox- said:

Legacywr said:

The engine is an overbored M3 engine

No it's not? I thought it was an overbored M54. It's designation is M54B34.

Sorry, my dyslexia, it's a US spec E36 M36 block!

[Fox-]

Are you sure? I might be wrong but as I said I thought it was M54 based?

[Legacywr]

Soory, I only meant a good Lux with reasonable mileage on it, which the Z4forum car looks like IMO!

I wouldn't by a non Lux car, but again that is IMO!

And the grey car has been for sale for a very long time... What I was trying to say is that 12k is the market value for a really good, average mileage Lux at the moment, and most owners wont realise that.

[Legacywr]

Fox- said:

Are you sure? I might be wrong but as I said I thought it was M54 based?

A BMW peado gave me that info!.. personally I wouldn't have a clue?

[TX1]

Wow a lot of car for 12k, how much where these new ?

[bulldog5046]

The Z4 is a genuinely nice car, i had one for around 18 months and it was fantastic. 54 plate 3.0 convertible with M-Sport seats and suspension and a few other toys, i loved it.

I sold it for £7300ish in April 2011 so i'd be careful how much to spend on one, i know you can pick up the early models from around £4k now.

[Zwolf]

Fox- said:

Are you sure? I might be wrong but as I said I thought it was M54 based?

As with the various B3s before it, the block itself goes back to M50, but with the heads of the current generation (whether M52 or M54) at the time.

ALPINA have access to BMW's entire parts catalogue, so their engines are usually a mixture of different parts from different generations, plus their own custom manufactured components where BMW do not produce a part sufficient for the particular task.

A shared block pre-machining does not make it a "bored out M3 engine" of any generation, the lack of duplex timing chains and ITBs for a start denote it being a Mxx engine rather than a Motorsport Sxx engine, although in principle the S50 block + M52 head does indeed make for the US market S52 3.0 engine, the 240bhp one that was also available with a torque converter autobox, unlike any European M3s.

That's why as I understand it, ALPINA engines have their own designations, rather than the BMW ones we're used to discussing, to account for them being effectively a "mongrel" spec, although that does them a dis-service, they're more the cherry picked results of the best of all worlds - that said, ALPINA's own bespoke head gaskets have come in for flak in several models, both straight six and V8 variants.

To the OP, try both the Roadster and the Z4MR. From previosu comments from prospective owners of both who have done so, they're quite distinctly different in overall feel as cars in ways impossible to quantify without the seat of the pants frame of reference to factor in.

[roofer]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3517750.htm

Thats a nice looking car that appears to have been looked after. Check it has the correct tyres on it, they get twitchy with cheap rubber.(PS2's) Guys on the Alpina forum are a wealth of knowledge and will assist. a 10.5k bid for that if its all correct would be fair imo. As far as i know its got a 3.4 based on the M54,but could be wrong. Easy to service.

[ChrisG89]

Thanks for the replies.

I had seen that one, but I'm not sure on the colour. Is it that gold/grey? If it was just normal grey, I would like it. But not really a fan of that colour. Hard to tell from the pics.

[roofer]

Think you'll find its a silver grey and the light is making it look bronze. Thats a tidy car, even has Alpina mats in it. Someone has cared for that.

[Zwolf]

Looks like Sterling Grey, which is a shade of browny-grey metallic.

[ChrisG89]

It does look a brilliant car and well looked after, but the bronze/brown hints in the paint isn't to my taste, although without seeing it in person I can't be sure. I'm guessing it's a standard Z4 colour though?

If it was closer to me, I'd go and see it in person, but I'm not going to waste a day driving to see a car that i probably wont like the colour of. It's about 2 and a half hours each way.