Alpina D3 | The Brave Pill
This week we're pitching a derv ball...
Last week's leggy Porsche 993 received one of the warmest responses of any Pill so far, with much love for its combination of air-cooled awesomeness and an enticing price tag, as well as acknowledgement of the sizeable stones that would be required to take it on and make it great again.
We're taking a bigger risk this week, if only in terms of the likely severity of the critical response. This is a choice that threatens the sort of flaming normally reserved for Burger King's patties. Pill has featured diesels before - in V8, V10 and even V12 flavours - but this is the first time we've expended valuable pixels on a four-cylinder one.
It's not just any old four-cylinder oiler, of course. When the history of the gradual rise (and spectacular fall) of compression ignition engines in passenger cars is written - a book with likely limited mainstream appeal - it seems almost certain that the first Alpina D3 will be remembered as one of the finest examples of the genre. This is a car that didn't so much capture the zeitgeist as lock it in a dungeon and successfully ransom it. The D3 was a smash hit by Alpina's standards.
Diesel sales expanded throughout the 1990s by appealing to the sensible and the miserly, those in search of minimal cost-per-mile transport. But turn of the century saw the arrival of a new type, one aimed at enthusiasts, the so-called performance diesel. And as the Germans did most of the early running when it came to punchier compression ignition powerplants, it soon turned into a bit of a sausage swinging contest of swelling outputs and increasing cylinder counts.
The E46 BMW 330d, launched in 1999, was an early pinnacle. This combined the 181hp M57 six-cylinder engine as seen in the E39 5 Series with the lighter 3 Series to serious effect - a youthful Jenson Button was collared by the French police travelling at 141mph in one on his way to the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix. Button's 5,000-franc fine was a small price to pay for the huge publicity this dramatic proof of the 140mph diesel 3 Series earned BMW. The successor E90 3 Series moved things on even further, slotting the option of a 282hp twin-turbocharged 335d above the 330d.
For tiny Alpina, this escalating arms race posed a serious problem. European buyers were demanding the tuner create a diesel model, but it lacked the engineering resources to extract a meaningful increase in power from the six-cylinder engine. So instead it chose a radically different path, building a less complex and more agile model based on the junior 320d. The base M47 2.0-litre engine was combined with the injectors, turbo and intercooler from the 330d, with a retuned ECU taking peak output to 197hp and 302lb ft of torque.
The D3 was slower than both the six-cylinder 3 Series diesels and its B3 sister, but it was also lighter and more agile. A 0-62mph time of 7.4 seconds was eminently respectable for a diesel at the time, as was a 145mph top speed. The engine was vocal when worked hard, and a bit laggy at lower commitment levels, but enough of Alpina's magical handling fairy dust had been applied to the chassis to mean that mattered little. The D3's suspension was firm without ever being harsh - despite what were then-massive 19-inch wheels - and its steering was incisive and full of feel. Grip was plentiful, and although the balance between axles could be turned amusingly rear-biased, the D3's lack of a limited slip differential prevented tyre-smoking hoonery. Yet despite the agility it was also superb at cruising, feeling planted and unflappable at serious speeds.
It was a combination of virtues that created something close to warfare when Alpina gave a long-term test car to the magazine I worked for at the time. Every Friday afternoon staffers would try to gazump each other with reasons why they should get the D3 for the weekend, even when the car park was full of more exotic machinery. Those without fuel cards fought particularly hard: the Alpina could be beaten like a red-headed mule and still return better than 40mpg.
It was also a bargain, even by the standards of a much cheaper age. When launched the diesel Alpina cost £26,995 - £500 less than a 320d M Sport, although with considerably less standard kit. It was possible to equip the D3 with pretty much anything from the 3 Series options list, as well as some Alpina goodies, but many early buyers were evidently keener on the driving experience than creature comforts, with some even failing to upgrade the upholstery to leather, or the manual air con to climate control.
Early enthusiasm kept D3 residuals as solid and rock-like as Dwayne Johnson; they only started to slacken when the punchier Bi-Turbo replaced it in early 2009. But buying any D3 secondhand has always been made difficult by the simple fact that owners tend to hold onto them for years, many racking up starship mileages - frequently in excess of the 180,000 odometer reading of our Pill. This car is wearing Alpina's trademark combination of metallic blue and those 'seventies style pinstripes. It has the half leather seats, full climate control and what would have been the extra cost option of rear parking sensors, but it doesn't have cruise control, and in-car entertainment seems to be limited to that provided by BMW's boggo single-CD head unit.
A £3,750 asking price makes it one of the year's cheapest Pills, and - as you'd expect - it's not cosmetically perfect. The pictures show scuffs and chips on the front splitter and some minor dings elsewhere. The straight-spoked alloys are in obvious need of a refurbishment - the nearside rear seeming to have lost most of its paint. At least one of the tyres is a Landsail, so not exactly the sort of premium rubber that gives reassurance of unstinting care. The vendor also reports rust on the front offside wing; E90s are generally pretty corrosion resistant, so this isn't a reason to panic about more serious hidden issues. On the plus side, although less powerful the single-turbo D3 doesn't suffer from the infamous chain-snapping issues of the N47 engine that formed the basis for the Bi-Turbo.
This isn't a particularly sensible time to be buying an elderly diesel for more than banger money. Life for those examples incapable of meeting Euro 6 standards is going to get considerably tougher, with a wave of ultra-low emissions zones set to banish them from many urban areas. It likely won't be many years before cars like this are endangered species. But Brave Pill isn't about being sensible, and this D3 is still cheap enough to be used and enjoyed with an eye on a medium-term horizon rather than being treated as a forever car. In terms of sales, the E90 D3 was Alpina's Mont Blanc, and even in its dotage a well-used example remains a compelling alternative to more mainstream alternatives.
Can’t see much of a case for this - with a diesel (especially a 4 cylinder) it’s somehow not special enough to be a proper Alpina, so it becomes just a high-miler BMW diesel. At which point why not get a 6 pot one, which by virtue of not being an Alpina will also be better value.
Secondly as to why the D3 and D3biturbo were made. Alpina were financially stricken, and not being VAG, Peugeot, BMW, or that Merc tribe etc they are true independent and need to sell cars to survive and not run on government bailouts, shifty shareholders and similar. The D3 quite simply saved Alpina by shifting these at low profit margins, whilst their other more expensive cars could be developed and sold in mediocre numbers. Checkout the worldwide and UK build numbers on the alpina archive and you'll see what it did for them. And that in turn gave BMW some proper r&d input for the other models you may think so superior: the backbone of many is alpina r&d.
Thirdly: the article mentions a turbo taken from elsewhere in BMW range. It wasn't: it's a hybrid/ mongrel made up of various off shelf and Alpina special parts and a pita to repair if it fails. Beware.
Fourthly: all D3 are manual and standard 320d. All are prone to crank oil leaking into clutches, bearing failures chucking grease into clutches, clutch judder and flywheel cracking. And the brakes from the 320d are marginal at this power output, so pushing too hard is for the foolhardy.
Buy one. Then get it. Superb.
When I looked there were loads of poorly spec’d D3’s which was a complete turn off.
EVO have used them in comparisons with the 350Z and old M3 and rated them as a drivers’ car
Secondly as to why the D3 and D3biturbo were made. Alpina were financially stricken, and not being VAG, Peugeot, BMW, or that Merc tribe etc they are true independent and need to sell cars to survive and not run on government bailouts, shifty shareholders and similar. The D3 quite simply saved Alpina by shifting these at low profit margins, whilst their other more expensive cars could be developed and sold in mediocre numbers. Checkout the worldwide and UK build numbers on the alpina archive and you'll see what it did for them. And that in turn gave BMW some proper r&d input for the other models you may think so superior: the backbone of many is alpina r&d.
Thirdly: the article mentions a turbo taken from elsewhere in BMW range. It wasn't: it's a hybrid/ mongrel made up of various off shelf and Alpina special parts and a pita to repair if it fails. Beware.
Fourthly: all D3 are manual and standard 320d. All are prone to crank oil leaking into clutches, bearing failures chucking grease into clutches, clutch judder and flywheel cracking. And the brakes from the 320d are marginal at this power output, so pushing too hard is for the foolhardy.
Buy one. Then get it. Superb.
Glad you mentioned the hybrid turbo as well as I was sure these didn’t have an off the shelf 330 jobbie. Pretty sure if that was the case it would be incredibly laggy to the point of redundancy.
My brother currently has a 123d coupe and the twin turbo engine is quite honestly amazing for what it is. It sounds like an old 8 valve petrol engine unless it’s being ragged (or the window is down). The torque is impressive in delivery and duration when we have the odd play. I have a (torque light) e46 M3. The 123 is plenty fast for the road.
In an ideal world this car would be the twin turbo model and then you’d buy it and drive it with a huge grin. But this isn’t an ideal world. Still like it though.
Engine sounds like a cement mixer, awful gearbox, and hideously unreliable. The combination of diesels and manual gearboxes don't make happy bedfellows.
Avoid
I loved it. Low MPG, handling was superb, and pushed quite well.
only annoyance the lack of cruise control and very basic interior.
I love Alpina and at some point I'll buy a Touring F31D3.
Fantastic cars,
I loved it. Low MPG, handling was superb, and pushed quite well.
only annoyance the lack of cruise control and very basic interior.
I love Alpina and at some point I'll buy a Touring F31D3.
Fantastic cars,
If you wanted any options, such as I drive, you had to pay a premium just to be able to change the spec.
This was not the case on the superior Bi turbo which is why these cars come with better, more varied spec. Sadly, they are therefore a lot more expensive.
Covered many miles in a B10 and a B10V8s. The latter in particular was a lovely car.
Alpina bits can be expensive and the wheels are a pain.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff