Alpina D3 Bi-turbo 2009-2012
Printed From: Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum
Category: Regional & Specific Forums
Forum Name: Scottish Forum
Forum Discription: where Scottish regional members can discuss upcoming events
URL: http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=50113
Printed Date: 29-April-2024 at 07:20
Topic: Alpina D3 Bi-turbo 2009-2012
Posted By: jimbo34
Subject: Alpina D3 Bi-turbo 2009-2012
Date Posted: 14-January-2014 at 20:07
|
Hey folks. Hope everyone is well. Was wondering what your thoughts are on these cars. I really like the look of these as a saloon and they are very rare. There are a couple of red ones on bmw AUC national. Are they a good drive/ easy to maintain and would they make you feel warm and fuzzy when you look back at it after driving and think, your a keeper. Jim 
|
Replies:
Posted By: Cambell
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 06:45
| Hmmm, probably a hard step from the M3 bud. |
Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 08:29
|
I'm not just saying this because I hate DIEsels but I think the review of the D3 was that it should make you feel warm and fuzzy but it doesn't. Top Gear Mag had one for a while a few years back as a term car and they expected to get more from it than just economy. ------------- Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
Posted By: MAK
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 09:32
|
Had a look and the the two red D3's appear to be 2 litre diesels with almost poverty spec. Am I looking in the wrong place? P.S. I am amazed at how badly they have depreciated from the sky high new price! Also not keen on the wheels! Make a nice family car, ideal if you are keeping the M3. ------------- My Other Car is a SKODA.. really ! |
Posted By: johne46
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 10:15
|
Jim the D3 is one fine car but if theres anyway of having another BMW as every car id have one saying this coz i was looking at the touring, as Mak was saying ideal family car or good all round to me, i had a go in one fond it very nice, and i love the wheels too  -------------  M3 Evo 4 door |
Posted By: colb666
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 12:55
|
I'd recommend you try an Alpina and not listen to people who don't own or have owned one. I've had my D3 for a year and as an allrounder they take some beating. There was an article in BMW car a while back and they're opinion was the D3 was the 3 series BMW should have made. Economy is pretty good and they'll outperform many bigger engined petrol BMW's with ease. Those two red ones haven't dropped anywhere near what a similar priced new E90 will have and they will have been a similar price new to a 320D SE and cheaper than an M Sport. If you go and try an Alpina the first thing you'll notice is how much better the car handles than a normal BMW. TBH I'd have B3 before any M3 as the B3 isn't far away in the performance stakes,It's certainly more exclusive than the M3 and it'll be cheaper to run overall. Andy is and always will be biased towards the oil burners even when an Alpina D5 pisses all over his big V8 5's. The guy who owns Munich Legends did an article on the D3 which was very very good and his opinions on the D3 were surprising to say the least as he is certainly a dyed in the wool "M" man. |
Posted By: Cambell
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 13:19
Nobody is dissing the Alpina, Jim currently drives an M3 and recently commented that he'd "fell in love with it all over again" so moving to an Alpina may prove interesting. Alpina certainly produce fine machines but are deffinately in a niche.
|
colb666 wrote:Posted By: colb666
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 13:37
|
I'm not saying anyone here is dissing them Cambell, I recommend he goes and tries one out and makes his own mind up then he'll have a clear idea in his own head rather than listening to both people who haven't tried the Alpina and also people like me who drive one every day. |
Posted By: Andrew Rolland
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 15:19
 Don't you mean biased against the oil burners? I don't want to be seen supporting oil burners, just want to clear that up.
 I know a D5 would waste me but his engine will sound horrible compared to my big V8!
 Sensible head on and Col is right, go and try one, then make your mind up. Years ago I drove a couple of E39 530ds but wasn't set on fire by them and decided the next BM would be petrol powered.
If the D3 was a 6pot then go for it, but I will always struggle to see the attraction of a 4pot engine regardless of fuel type. ------------- Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
Posted By: jimbo34
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 18:18
|
The reason I ask is that I do have a soft spot for how these cars look and how alpina have fettled with them to improve performance/handling etc over the normal 320d msport, but have not driven one yet so can only comment on looks and rarity. I currently have no intentions of selling the M3 but the alpina as a family car does tick boxes for me. Being realistic here I commute 40 miles a day, getting married in a few months and can't ignore the fact that kids might start to become a topic of discussion sooner than later. It looks a car that could also attend a show/ monthly meet and I would enjoy giving it a good clean and valet. Hope this explains things a little better. |
Posted By: Robin814
Date Posted: 15-January-2014 at 18:37
|
No need to explain yourself mate. As long as it's BMW we are all happy lol ------------- E46 318Ci M Sport 2001 Light Gelb E39 530I Champagne I Individual Edition 2002 |
Posted By: johne46
Date Posted: 16-January-2014 at 08:21
Good one Robin  , as long as he dis not turn up in a Saab 1.9tid?  ------------- M3 Evo 4 door |
Posted By: MAK
Date Posted: 16-January-2014 at 09:14
Or a Skoda  ------------- My Other Car is a SKODA.. really ! |
Posted By: gary
Date Posted: 16-January-2014 at 10:19
|
This club is going "slowly" downhill ------------- http://www.bmwccscotland.co.uk/cars/e30/sportevo.html" rel="nofollow - E30 M3 Sport Evo III |
Posted By: bluebro
Date Posted: 19-January-2014 at 21:02
|
Uphill slowly Gary, my wee diesel flies downhill! *cough* beeftub *cough*
-------------  F22 Estoril Blue M235i |
Posted By: Topblag
Date Posted: 21-January-2014 at 11:52
| I've driven one of these, they are magic for a diesel. They are never high spec in my experience, but what you lose in toys is made up for in power, torque and handling. I'm going to be replacing my daily soon and one if these is a definite option, if I don't buy another Skoda..... |
Posted By: colb666
Date Posted: 21-January-2014 at 14:59
|
Thats very true about the spec on the D3, they came with fixed spec which covers all of the basics. Most think of the D3 as a remapped 320D but,so far from the truth as Alpina changed lots of the mechanics on the base 320D SE it started life as on the BMW production line, from memory the intercooler is larger(330D)injectors larger(335D)turbo is a Garret hybrid,suspension shocks and springs unique to these cars and developed with Bilstien and Alpina engineers,Exhaust system is by Boysen the D3 will go from 0-62mph in under 7 secs which is a pretty quick car but,the best is when they are on the move as between 30 & the legal limit is effortless and pretty swift to say the least. Economy is good more so when you take in how it performs,with a mix of town and country driving my D3 averages 41mpg. Insurance is fairly low but,I'm a mature driver according to the insurance market???? The most expensive thing I've had to shell out was afor tyres as they run on Michelin PS2's and a set will cost you around 1k,you can fit cheaper but, I tried it and it kinda spoils the car if you do.My car was registered in January 08 and now has only covered 27k from new so I paid top dollar but,I looked for a D3 for a long time and could not find a car with low miles for my budget so had the choice of budget= higher miles or increase the budget and wait for a car with low miles to come along. When the D3 was new it cost slightly more than a standard 320D SE but,lower priced than a M Sport so IMO they were good value at the time and pretty rare cars. I think that there was only around 800 D3's made on the E90 model and that includes saloons,coupe's and touring's. If your ever through Glasgow Jim give me a shout and you can have a close nosey around mine and maybe even a wee drive in it. http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3772_zps08bb7d29.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: johne46
Date Posted: 21-January-2014 at 18:04
Now that is one sweet looking car above lovely pic  ------------- M3 Evo 4 door |
Posted By: MAK
Date Posted: 22-January-2014 at 09:16
|
Makes good reading, perhaps I should look at one of these as well, still not sure about the wheels though, look like they would take ages to clean! ------------- My Other Car is a SKODA.. really ! |
Posted By: jimbo34
Date Posted: 22-January-2014 at 10:17
|
Great post Col and thanx for the email on the d3 article. Having done a good bit of research over the last week on D3s there are very few negative comments on these cars. Am I right in saying also that the new D/B3s have now bigger engines and are north of £50k, so there won't be anymore 2lt diesels produced in the new shape? |
Posted By: colb666
Date Posted: 22-January-2014 at 15:12
|
Yeh the current model is a 6 pot with a price to match and TBH why buy a 3 based car when for not a lot more you could have the 5 based machine? I think Alpina has missed a trick here as the D3 sold well for a limited production car and was fairly well priced at the time. They've put the D3 and the D5 a bit close in the consumer market nowadays for my liking. My only negative (and its a wee one) is the ZF manual box in the D3 is a little bit notchy but,you do get used to it.
|
Posted By: colb666
Date Posted: 22-January-2014 at 15:17
Nah a wee spray of TFR (not alloy wheel cleaner) and a power washer works a treat on them and a wheels off clean every few months to clean the backsides and they stay in good nick.Also when you have the wheels off remember to lube the locks of the centre caps
|
Posted By: colb666
Date Posted: 22-January-2014 at 15:19
|
A few more pics of the D3 with some showing the basic(ish) interior http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3810_zps71a90177.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3778_zps019acaba.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3772_zps08bb7d29.jpg.html" rel="nofollow"> http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3805_zps4f81aa7d.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3789_zps23fc070f.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  http://s7.photobucket.com/user/colb666/media/alpina%20d3/IMG_3780-Copy_zps0fbf64e6.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: jim-beamer
Date Posted: 18-February-2014 at 21:49
your not driving it right then...  ...let the handbrake off... -------------  E53 X5, 2003 318i SE, Suzuki GSXR www.jgrecovery.com |
Posted By: gary
Date Posted: 19-February-2014 at 07:47
|
That's a low bowler. Lol ------------- http://www.bmwccscotland.co.uk/cars/e30/sportevo.html" rel="nofollow - E30 M3 Sport Evo III |