1st four door: Golf GTI mk6 VS BMW Alpina D3 E90

[Gehan-m50xe]

Hi all,

This is my first post on this forum and I'm just seeking advice from fellow petrolheads. Usually I would post this sort of thing on a car specific forum but this goes beyond that.

My son was born nearly 20 months ago and I've managed to keep my S2000 this long which is largely thanks to my wife owning a Ford Mondeo. However, I'm starting to feel the pressure to have something with back seats and more doors now that I am mostly responsible for taking the little man to nursery in the mornings.

Being a Honda fan since 2003 my ideal car would be a Honda Civic Type-R (FD2 import) but the prices on these thing never seem to go down and are possibly on the rise. So looking outside of this brand has led me to either a VW Golf GTI mk6 or a BMW Alpina D3 e90 (both under £10k).

Which do you think is best and do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Gin

[f1nn]

Discount the D3 in my opinion as although I can see the point when they were new for company car tax reasons, 10 years later they are bettered by BMW's own 6 cylinder models as a used proposition in my opinion.

[fatboy b]

Our experience of a mk6 Golf (cabrio) bought new last March gas been utter crap. Worst car we've owned. Awful quality. Some may say we have been unlucky, but all the Golf mk7 courtesy cars we've had have been much the same. VW are on their way down cuttently owing to the accountants. Who knows when they will realise and turn the corner.

[scherzkeks]

I'd take the D3. Great suspension, good motor, lovely place to sit, and a bit special.

[spookly]

fatboy b said:

Our experience of a mk6 Golf (cabrio) bought new last March gas been utter crap. Worst car we've owned. Awful quality. Some may say we have been unlucky, but all the Golf mk7 courtesy cars we've had have been much the same. VW are on their way down cuttently owing to the accountants. Who knows when they will realise and turn the corner.

I've not tried a Mk6, but my Mk7 R Estate has been driven fairly hard and hasn't had a single issue yet, except the god awful Nav system. Seems reasonably well screwed together.

[Ginzilla]

I had feeling this would be the right place to post this question. Thanks for all the replies so far and please keep them coming.

The D3 does seem light on options but the performance and economy interest me with the added bonus of exclusivity (and it looks like the sort of car a fast dad would own).

It's hard to determine reliability of either car so experience of these cars is really important.

[TurboFlorio]

I've never understood why someone would think this gen alpina d3 is something special, just buy a 320d and put on coilovers and a remap, same thing.