BMW and M Power Owners

naefeart said:
A 320d for example will be both a bit cheaper and better spec'd. However the Alpina will have more power and give you better ride and handling. It's also rarer. Not everyone will want these things or see it worth the extra money. The options are expensive and initially there was an additional cost to pay if you wanted to add options. Thus many D3s are a poor spec compared to the average 320d.

AlpinaBT.jpg


Not a great picture, but the weather has been rubbish. Drive one and you will see what you get over the standard BMW.
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That looks great. Never seen one of them on the road.

What is the spec?
 
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GinG said:
That looks great. Never seen one of them on the road.

What is the spec?
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The prefacelift ones are 2 litre turbodiesel, 200bhp. The facelift ones are twin turbo 2 litre diesel, but not a huge amount more power.

Almost all of them have a totally dire spec as Alpina used to charge a £2k fee if you wanted any options - on top of the price of the options. So most have cloth seats, no climate control, no cruise control, no nav..

They did recently released a 'Lux' pack which added back all the stuff you'd expect but these are expensive.

Personally I think the entire thing is an insult to the Alpina heritage and people should just buy a 330d (Heck or even a 325d) instead.
 
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Reading today's Jalop' article about the end of BMW's M brand as seen through the eyes of an enthusiast, I kind of feel I agree having read the article and following comments:

http://jalopnik.com/5924573/the-death-of-bmws-m-brand

In reference to the new Lime Rock edition M3 (and following on...swiftly)..

And I'm guessing there is a Lime Rock track map sticker somewhere or a plaque on the dash that tells you this is something special. But that's just it. This isn't something special. It's simply a marketing exercise. A fraud. Not unlike pumping a fake engine noise through the car stereo like BMW does with the M5.

It's for guys who want to be associated with racetracks but don't actually go to the track themselves. It's for the modern poser racer. A luxury version of those fast and furious Honda civics with race seats and belts but stock engines that kids drive around on the street.
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Can<>Worms, perhaps :)

If I ever (when? :p) own an M car it's only really going to be an E46 M3. Personally I've never felt like I have desired any newer M powered car (regardless of affordability), they just don't burn the same feeling into the retinas.
 
You must understand that people will ***** about anything and everything.

Nothing will ever be good enough for everyone.

That's why BMW will continue to do whatever they want and whatever they think is the forward way of doing things.

The more you try to please everyone, the quicker you go down.
 
A great car is a GREAT car, no matter how much the whole 'stick on M bits' industry continues to thrive.

You could argue that the dilution of a brand only annoys elitist snobs who want their particular model to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the line up.

As an M3 owner i do wonder how much of the ownership experience is down to the (ever dwindling) head turn factor as you drive past in your M division car. Only last week my mate was arguing that his 'amg sport' SLK 200 was an actual AMG - Which goes to show that there is probably more money to be made in the upselling of marginal performance gain bits and trim, than there is in trying to shift their premium models which struggle to sell.

At the BMW/Merc/Audi level i think they realise this. Above that and into Porsche territory i think it's a different kettle of fish.
 
I'd say the majority of M car owners have them because they are the best and because they wish an own an M car. Only a minority purchased them for the ability the car offers. BMW is a profit driven company, if it feels it can make more money by tailoring M cars towards the people most likely to buy them whilst still keeping the heritage alive, it will do so.
 
[TW]Fox;22315093 said:
Personally I think the entire thing is an insult to the Alpina heritage ...
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Come now Foxy, I had expected better from you :p

ManLoveRulesOK said:
That plate must have been transferred recently I was looking at it about a month ago and the DVLA had it registered to an E46 M3
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It was transfered recently, but it hasn't been on an E46 M3 for about 8 years.
 
Actually, it was never on my E46 M3 as I didn't have it long. I don't know where the DVLA is getting that from.

Saying that, they do think my car is silver :rolleyes:
 
So its on your car?

How strange I was looking out of curiosity as I fancy an E46 m3 in a couple of years and wondered if there plate was available as I would have wanted it.
 
shoes said:
If I were you I'd drop the whole read subframe off and then strip it apart for rebushing etc. at that point, particularly if you intend to mess about with the diff too.

I thought you were looking at the lower control arms, but the rear trailing arms should come away without having to remove the handbrake cable at all. as far as I can remember it's only the one bolt at the hub end and three bolts on the body. Do the ones on the body first and then have a look at the RTA. You won't need to do anything with the diff to get the RTA out.

You will, however, need to move the diff if you intend getting the lower arms or upper spring carrier arms off - again though, if you're doing all of the bushes in the rear subframe then just fetch it off the car and you'll have lots of room to work on it then.

Where are you based out of interest (sure I've asked you before actually).

EDIT: Are the bushes in the arms knackered? I didn't bother re-bushing mine as they seemed fine, I only did the subframe to body bushes and the rear trailing arm front bushes.
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Im rebushing all of the arms at the rear. Trailing (already had poly) lower camber arm and upper spring arm. Im putting ball joints in both locations on the hub and putting an adjustable camber arm on.
The arm has the three bolts to the body and then the lower camber arm and upper spring arm both join to the hub. I have the CV joint out the hub too and the brake lines off but its on the handbrake cable stopping me… friggin thing wont come out of its hole under the transmission tunnel, so im a bit bummered.
Im based in south east essex, where abouts are you? This thing will be a little stunner when its done :D

Id like to get the whole subframe down, refurb it and the diff.

The reality of it is that house stuff has made this little project drag on for months without anything happening. If I get the subframe down, the car will NEVER get back on the road. When the garage is built I will go nuts on the car but until then I just want it on the road in as good condition as possible with the least amount of time available to do it.
 
In which case forget about the refurb, get it on the road, buy another (evo) subframe to rebuild in your garage when it's done, swap over, live happily ever after.

Being completely honest I've driven shoes car before and after poly bushing the rear and and I can't tell any difference.
 
Drove around the lake district over the past few days as working around Cumbria. Some stunning views and lovely roads. A6 (Shaps Road) from the M6 to Kendal was a favourite. The 530i was a joy to drive.
 
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