RE: Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo vs Audi S4 Avant

[Ho Lee Kau]

Neither, or Alpina with petrol engine

[Onehp]

I really like the D3, there is appeal to it for actually being a diesel. Stonking performance, good sound but in a refined manner without howling high revs. Do it all day performance. And I do like a low fuel consumption.

My Leon Cupra estate isn't too bad either though, similar performance, bigger boot and real life figures for the 335d platform are around 35-40mpg, while I'm now averaging 30mpg gasoline in the last 10k. Apples with oranges, 6 pot stonking luxury diesel vs wheezy 4 pot budget gasoline and all that, just saying that the lower fuel bills did not get me very far in trying to justify getting a D3 when I was shopping for a quick family estate...

[Escort3500]

veevee said:

FN2TypeR said:

EDIT: No thank you on those alloys, come to think of it. Ghastly things.

Edited by FN2TypeR on Sunday 7th May 21:06

They really need to sort these out, they looked rubbish-but-just-about-OK on the squarer cars 15 years ago, now they just look crap. Same goes for the body kit, looks like they're trying to out-SE the SE kit.

And the decals. The wheels, body kit and decals make the car look like it's from the eighties. Shame as it's a great car, albeit ludicrously overpriced.

[anonymous-user]

B3MX5 said:

Loyly said:

People often come up with this 'drive across Europe' scenario but I vet a vanishingly small number of drivers do this, let alone blokes driving Alpinas. I dream of having a diesel S class to bomb from the Sierra Nevada to the Black Forest in short order but it's fantasy, really. Every time I've done a long drive, I haven't been that bothered about stopping for five minutes to fuel up, stretch my legs and get up etc etc.

Funnily enough I did the drive across Europe in my (admittedly petrol) Alpina B3 touring. For me it was perfect. Now sadly up for sale soon as it's too small for current needs, and there wasn't a B or D5 in my budget. Replaced by a soulless yet talented DMS'd E350cdi estate.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=10...

Sorry Loyly but I'm another one. Took my old B3 down to the Alps a few years back (via an Autobahn of course)

[Cotic]

Alpina for me, all the way. Although I do wish alternative alloys were offered; although I like the looks, they're an absolute b******d to keep clean...

[IJB1959]

The Alpina is a desirable car for sure (shame about the alloys though) and will get better MPG than the Audi, but for comfort, interior quality, and bad weather driving the Audi is far better. Horses for courses though, as there is clearly a market for both. One consideration these days is the bad press diesels are getting as an air polluter, so it probably won’t be long before you will get taxed to death by daring to own a 3.0lt oil burner. Once they were good according to the government so sales shot up, now they say they are bad, so current owners will probably have to stump up in future for their incorrect advice.

[Milemuncher]

I'm going to go against the flow here. I love the Alpina alloys.

Currently lusting after the new B7. Sadly the pricing and depreciation makes it financially ruinous as a new car and also means there will be very few nearly-new ones around when I'm next in the market for a car.

[ZX10R NIN]

The possible tax costs won't be retrospective so if you buy one it's not a worry, people seem to be making this a petrol vs diesel thing it's not it's taking two 350bhp Estates & deciding what ones best so interior wise the Audi wins handling/ride then it goes Alpinas way & for me that was the thing that swung it for me.

Another plus was that the interior felt more special (than my F80 M3) in every way I've changed the alloys as for the long trips to Europe it's not necessarily whether you stop or not it's whether you have to fill up.

To sum up it's a good allrounder, is an M3 quicker around a track? Yes (but not by as much as you'd think) of course would a 340i be quicker? I'd have to say no but you don't buy an Alpina for track work for driving around & doing the day to day with a bit of spirited driving thrown in then it's hard to think of a better car to do the job also you can get these with Xdrive for those that want AWD or those that want petrol buy a B3 (the set ups are almost identical) it's a choice to make dependant on your needs.

The other hard thing about buying an Alpina is the waiting time due to the limited numbers. price wise yes you can get 16-20% off of the list price on a regular BMW but they're not the same car & the resale of the Alpina is stronger but I'd advise to sell privately as dealers try to make it's limited numbers & niche market a bad thing even though they then go & price them accordingly for the said niche market which is smart on their part (not so much if you're a PX & go person) as that's how they make money after all.

[K50 DEL]

D3 for me please, in fact if they had been a little cheaper on the used market when I bought my X1 last year then I'd have one on the driveway right now.

Almost certainly my next commuter bus will be a D3 touring and I can't wait!

[Blue62]

I have had the pleasure of driving a D3, the ride and handling is sublime and the grunt from the engine is really impressive, I would struggle to know why you'd ever want to go faster. I am still weighing up a new D3 touring, but miserable discount and expensive finance costs are putting me off though if I was in a position to pay cash I would go for one.

To any doubters, look up Steve Sutcliffe on Youtube, he's had a long termer and reckons it's the best car he has ever driven (from an all round perspective). I get what people say about the alloys and decals (you can have them removed), but it's part of the charm. Alpina's have a very loyal following, they're not everyone's cup of tea but genuine enthusiasts understand why owners are smitten.

[IJB1959]

ZX10R NIN said:

The possible tax costs won't be retrospective so if you buy one it's not a worry, people seem to be making this a petrol vs diesel thing it's not it's taking two 350bhp Estates & deciding what ones best so interior wise the Audi wins handling/ride then it goes Alpinas way & for me that was the thing that swung it for me.

The point I was making is that maybe not 'retrospective' (or otherwise) on VED, but on diesel fuel costs. I have no particular preference for petrol or diesel, and have owned both over many years for different reasons, but the government has to now act under current EU pollution legislation or be heavily fined, so slamming a higher tax on diesel fuel is the simplest way they will encourage more petrol buyers/users. Also some UK cities are considering adopting a new tariff on diesels, and central London LEZ increasing the charge for diesel users. If you are therefore considering buying one of the two estates tested, for some these possibilities also need bearing in mind over and above how they drive & handle.

[ZX10R NIN]

I have both types too.the D3 doesn't have to pay anymore than the petrol under the proposed new ULEZ rules, in fact unfortunately I'm going to have to sell one of my petrols due to the ULEZ

So which would you buy? S4 or D3

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Monday 8th May 11:10

[culpz]

Blue62 said:

To any doubters, look up Steve Sutcliffe on Youtube, he's had a long termer and reckons it's the best car he has ever driven (from an all round perspective). I get what people say about the alloys and decals (you can have them removed), but it's part of the charm. Alpina's have a very loyal following, they're not everyone's cup of tea but genuine enthusiasts understand why owners are smitten.

I did watch a video of him doing a back-to-back review with the Alpina D3 and the F80 M3. The result being that the D3 was a much better car than BMW's proper M car, apparently. I've not got anything against Steve Sutcliffe but i do find many of his reviews some-what questionable, if i'm completely honest.

I do admire BMW's fast diesels. I spend a fair bit of time in a mapped E60 535D Touring and it left me feeling that it was pretty much the perfect, every day, do-it-all car. The bit that i struggle with is why you would need any more than that? In that respect, i don't really understand the Alpina brand but i do get why others might do. More [power] is never a bad thing.

Back to the Audi versus the Alpina, it would be the S4 for me every time, without a doubt; unless i was doing daft mileage that is. But, even then, i'd just save a fair wack of money and just get a regular 335D if it really needed to be diesel. I couldn't imagine spending 50k on any sort of oil-burner tbh. You clearly pay a premium for that Alpina badge. An S4 Avant though? Yeah, a much better proposition for me.

[Al U]

The real question here is, why Alpina have put plates with illegal font on their marketing car?

[W124]

IJB1959 said:

W124 said:

I delivered an S4 estate last week. It was dreadful.

Can you elaborate on such a decisive comment???

Sure. It was fast (though a bit tight as it was brand new) though in every other way it was, I thought, very poor. The steering was inert to a crazy degree - absolutely nothing through the wheel at all. Nothing, no feedback whatsoever. The ride was crashy even in comfort mode. The exhaust stupidly farty even out of sport mode. The LCD scree is a gimmick that loses it's shine after mere hours. I don't like A4's as a rule and, generally, modern Audi's at all. I drive an awful lot of them on a regular basis so I do have some idea what I'm talking about. The best Audi's are the cheapest versions of any particular model. With the least options. A basic A4 with the 1.4 turbo petrol, small wheels and a manual box is actually quite nice. It is what it is. But that chassis architecture cannot support a car that costs 55k. It's just a long wheelbase Golf with a big engine and, unsurprisingly, that's what it feels like.

[IJB1959]

ZX10R NIN said:

I have both types too.the D3 doesn't have to pay anymore than the petrol under the proposed new ULEZ rules, in fact unfortunately I'm going to have to sell one of my petrols due to the ULEZ

So which would you buy? S4 or D3

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Monday 8th May 11:10

Depends on where you live. If travelling into central London you may be ok with the D3...other cities who knows? and any diesel price increases are national irrespective of where you live.

Which one would I buy?.....I like them both equally for different reasons, so that is a hard call to make, but for an estate car I would just edge toward the D3 TBH and still suffer any potential consequences of owning a diesel these days. One main reason being that I tow a power boat from time to time, and diesels are more efficient for this purpose.

[PHMatt]

My arse does the D3 do 50-60mpg

My 2012 X3 30D averages around 28mpg when I drive it as slowly and sensibly as possible.
If I wanted a 60mpg average it'd have to be over a short distance, on a motorway, at 50mph, downhill.

[Jay964rs]

I'm lucky enough to own an F31 Alpina D3 Touring and I get 44mpg day to day driving.

[GTEYE]

Al U said:

The real question here is, why Alpina have put plates with illegal font on their marketing car?

That'll by S17NERs then....it's not even the right spelling!

[ZX10R NIN]

Averaging 48.2mpg admittedly mainly motorway on a run to Blackpool & back 54.6mpg according to the OBC 51.8mpg going by how much I put back in at the same garage as I'd filled up at.

I'd guess yours is being used mainly in town (steady 34's for the Alpina around Central London) don't forget it weighs more & has AWD which takes a toll economy wise.

So in the Lab I can see them getting high 50's.