RE: Spotted: Alpina B10 V8 S

[E24man]

4star had that B12 5.0 car in for what, over 3 years, before they sold it so they did well with yours.

[TROOPER88]

Regardless of the market in any sector, how on earth is 'how long did they take to sell it?' an odd question?

The question may be put to someone selling a 10 million pound property, I am not concerned how long it took for people to view it but for the sale to take place.

Very simple really.

Gruber said:

How long did they take to sell it, or how long before someone came along wanting to buy it?

With respect, it's a slightly odd question at that end of the market. A lot of the stuff they sell is only of interest to a very small pool of people.

Some stuff goes in a week, other stuff seems to hang around. Everything sells eventually.

I think the 6er sold in about two months. The M5 has been with them since just before Christmas (not a great time to be selling!) and seems to have some interest already.

The long and the short of it... I have no complaints!

[Gruber]

TROOPER88 said:

Regardless of the market in any sector, how on earth is 'how long did they take to sell it?' an odd question?

The question may be put to someone selling a 10 million pound property, I am not concerned how long it took for people to view it but for the sale to take place.

Very simple really.

And I answered the question.

A couple of months or so for the 635. M5 still for sale a few weeks in, but Christmas got in the way.

[TROOPER88]

Gruber said:

And I answered the question.

A couple of months or so for the 635. M5 still for sale a few weeks in, but Christmas got in the way.

I am using them to sell one of mine.

It has so far taken them 5 weeks and it is not on the website yet...

I will reserve judgement.

[Gruber]

E24man said:

4star had that B12 5.0 car in for what, over 3 years, before they sold it so they did well with yours.

I don't think it was quite three years, but it must have been getting on for two.

The bork potential of that thing would be enough to frighten almost anyone.

[Gruber]

TROOPER88 said:

I am using them to sell one of mine.

It has so far taken them 5 weeks and it is not on the website yet...

I will reserve judgement.

Ah! I see. My apologies. Is it having work done before they put it up?

For what it's worth, I think they're in the process of some major refurb / relocation works. Not that that should justify significant delay.

[TROOPER88]

Gruber said:

Ah! I see. My apologies. Is it having work done before they put it up?

For what it's worth, I think they're in the process of some major refurb / relocation works. Not that that should justify significant delay.

I believe all the work needed was done promptly, just the norm, wheel refurb and bolster work. Apparantly the refurb work has slowed things down.

I spoke with them yesterday and they assured me it would be on the site next week...

[Chris Harris]

TurboBlue said:

I think you may be referring to this particular B10 3.3 Touring; I've owned this since 2006, it has done 151,000 miles now and is still lovely though it does now have a rust issue & an oil habit. Just the one buckled wheel but I do run 16 inch BMW turbine wheels & Avon Ice Touring tyres during the winter, which I think has helped.

I cannot tell you how good it feels to see that car still running. We had heaps of fun in it. Every journey felt special.

[Gruber]

TROOPER88 said:

I believe all the work needed was done promptly, just the norm, wheel refurb and bolster work. Apparantly the refurb work has slowed things down.

I spoke with them yesterday and they assured me it would be on the site next week...

FWIW, I'd encourage you to stick with them. They're good guys in my experience. And I know of two other PHers who have used them without complaint.

[sutts]

I was at 4 Star yesterday. They come across as genuine enthusiasts, very friendly, and have great cars in stock. Some people mention the high prices being asked, but the vehicles are probably amongst the best available. They know the market and the cars wouldn't be priced that way if (sooner or later) someone wasn't prepared to pay it.

[sutts]

Gruber said:

TROOPER88 said:

I believe all the work needed was done promptly, just the norm, wheel refurb and bolster work. Apparantly the refurb work has slowed things down.

I spoke with them yesterday and they assured me it would be on the site next week...

FWIW, I'd encourage you to stick with them. They're good guys in my experience. And I know of two other PHers who have used them without complaint.

Is it the Integrale?

[TROOPER88]

sutts said:

Is it the Integrale?

Yep

How did it look?

[sutts]

Lovely - wheel refurb is a perfect job, and (without knowing they'd been attended to) I thought the seats looked great.

Overall a very covetable car - you won't want to sell it! They are building a new photography studio at the moment which may also explain the delay as well.

[TROOPER88]

sutts said:

Lovely - wheel refurb is a perfect job, and (without knowing they'd been attended to) I thought the seats looked great.

Overall a very covetable car - you won't want to sell it! They are building a new photography studio at the moment which may also explain the delay as well.

Thats great news!

Did you see the reg plate!?

Thanks for the info

[MonteV]

Alpinas have an understated cool sophistication about them. I like their 400 hp, 3-series touring that does 185, too... and 30 mpg.

[Agent Orange]

For anyone wanting to own one a very shameless plug for a friend at work who is selling his B10 V8S.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

I'm not sure the paddle shift is original Alpina on that 4-Star car. I thought all B10s used the push button on the steering wheel? Wasn't the paddle shift something aftermarket offered through Birds?

Edited by Agent Orange on Friday 8th February 20:35

[Skodaku]

Bigchiefmuffin said:

I've had my B10 V8s now for 6 years - bought it second owner with 44K miles, now down 170K miles. Had a B10 3.3 and a E39 M5 before that.
The Alpina is a really lovely car - IMHO it is the sweetspot of the E39 range, which was probably the best 5 series ever. Reliable, comfortable, fast when you want it, relaxing when you don't. M5 is better at 10/10th's driving, but B10 far better the rest of the time. Finding the perfect car is a bit like finding a wife - you try out loads ( and I've owned Ferraris and Porsches in the past ) - until you find the ideal one, and then you stay with her for life.
The Alp is a bit like that - I have yet to find any other car I would replace her with.

Lovely write-up; thoughtful and informative. Thank you.

Not a particular BMW fan but always fancied an Alpina of some description. Seems to be the thinking man's BMW.

[sutts]

TROOPER88 said:

Thats great news!

Did you see the reg plate!?

Thanks for the info

I can't be 100% certain, but I don't think it had plates on. It's currently sitting adjacent to their Merc 2.3 16v Cosworth, which was also distracting me - its completely mint.

So many cars....so little time (and money)....

Edited by sutts on Friday 8th February 20:56

[E24man]

Agent Orange said:

I'm not sure the paddle shift is original Alpina on that 4-Star car. I thought all B10s used the push button on the steering wheel? Wasn't the paddle shift something aftermarket offered through Birds?

Edited by Agent Orange on Friday 8th February 20:35

That steering wheel is an E46 SMG paddle shift wheel with the lower Alpina trim bolted on. You are correct in that Alpina switch-tronic steering wheel had discrete buttons on the rear of the wheel, they also had Alpina blue and green stitching as well as green and blue stitched gear direction arrows.

The Birds system was 'Switch-logic' which utilised a converted cruise control switch and allowed a similar control over the early 4 speed switchable mode gearboxes fitted to E24, E28, E32 and E34 cars. Unlike the Alpina system nothing was changed on the transmission at all, save for the gear switching electronics.

[TROOPER88]

sutts said:

I can't be 100% certain, but I don't think it had plates on. It's currently sitting adjacent to their Merc 2.3 16v Cosworth, which was also distracting me - its completely mint.

So many cars....so little time (and money)....

Edited by sutts on Friday 8th February 20:56

Thanks again for updating me.