Alpina Roadster S - Advice needed

MrP · Post by **MrP** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 10:18 am

Hello All,

I'm looking at buying my first Alpina and I have the opportunity of a 2004 Roadster S Lux.

What I know about the car so far:
-83,000 miles
-9 Months MOT
-Black with Red Leather
-Lux Pack
-Sat Nav map has recently been updated at BMW
-Bluetooth apparently requires an update as it won't work with new generation phones
-4 recent tyres (Michelin I believe)
-Wheels were refurbished 4 years ago but starting to go around the valve area, again
- Had recent clutch and flywheel (less than a year ago)
- recent shocks and springs
- head has been rebuilt recently due to a stem seal going so no worries about the dreaded headgasket issue
- Remapped
-current owner is fanatical and has had this 6 years, previously had a mag featured B3 as far as I'm aware.

He want's Â£11,000.

I'm unsure of the reg number (it has a private reg) or build number at the moment but I will try to find these out. I'd like to do my research on the car where available.

My concerns are:
- Mileage, I know these cars are relatively bullet proof but ideally I was wanting one with 40-60k. I know to buy cars on condition rather than mileage but could this effect re-sale and is there anything particular to look out for with this mileage as this seems to be the higher end of what I've seen for sale.

-Remap, Apparently this was done for smoothness and economy and there wasn't much of a power increase. I don;t know why one of these would need a remap in the first place?

What else should I be asking about or looking for and what are your thoughts so far?

Any help you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. This is my first serious car purchase so I'm naturally a little nervous.

PerryGunn · Post by **PerryGunn** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:20 pm

As long as it's been cared for, the mileage shouldn't be an issue per se, but the price should reflect the mileage and overall condition of the vehicle. Of course high mileage will affect resale value but it's one of those 'swings and roundabouts' things as you'll have paid less in the first place.

Clutch/flywheel/shocks/springs - replacement is not unexpected at the age/mileage, although I would want to know if they have been replaced with OEM parts

Corrosion around the valve area is due to the continued use of the original valves - there is an updated version of the valves available (about Â£6 each) which have a small plastic ring at the base to prevent the galvanic corrosion

Not sure about the bluetooth issue as mine (2005 build) works with modern phones - I've had it paired with recent Samsung phones and a Google Nexus 5

I'd be more concerned about the remap and the reasons for a remap - The RS isn't exactly uneconomical to start with (30mpg+ in normal use) and the B3S engine is very smooth (once past the 'bag of spanners' startup) with a wide torque band. It's also possible that the remap could have contributed to the need for the clutch/flywheel replacement.

It would be good if you can get the build# as there may be more info on the car available but it will be linked to the build#

Have you seen/test driven the car yet? If not, have a look at this thread. The E85 Z4 buyers guide is available on z4-forum.com and the items in that are also applicable to the RS

MrP · Post by **MrP** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:38 pm

PerryGunn wrote:As long as it's been cared for, the mileage shouldn't be an issue per se, but the price should reflect the mileage and overall condition of the vehicle. Of course high mileage will affect resale value but it's one of those 'swings and roundabouts' things as you'll have paid less in the first place.

Clutch/flywheel/shocks/springs - replacement is not unexpected at the age/mileage, although I would want to know if they have been replaced with OEM parts

Corrosion around the valve area is due to the continued use of the original valves - there is an updated version of the valves available (about Â£6 each) which have a small plastic ring at the base to prevent the galvanic corrosion

Not sure about the bluetooth issue as mine (2005 build) works with modern phones - I've had it paired with recent Samsung phones and a Google Nexus 5

I'd be more concerned about the remap and the reasons for a remap - The RS isn't exactly uneconomical to start with (30mpg+ in normal use) and the B3S engine is very smooth (once past the 'bag of spanners' startup) with a wide torque band. It's also possible that the remap could have contributed to the need for the clutch/flywheel replacement.

It would be good if you can get the build# as there may be more info on the car available but it will be linked to the build#

Have you seen/test driven the car yet? If not, have a look at this thread. The E85 Z4 buyers guide is available on z4-forum.com and the items in that are also applicable to the RS

Thanks for your input. Your thoughts echo mile to be honest.

I will enquire about the valves, that's useful to know. I am confident that the parts used will have been OE judging by the seller and his attitude towards the car. I think he said the head refurbishment cost him Â£2500-Â£3000 which seems in-line with OE prices. But it is definitely something I will be checking when I look at the car as it has comprehensive history.

He just mentioned that the bluetooth works with phones up to and around the iPhone 4/4s age but doesn't work with his brand new Samsung phone and advised that it needs the new BMW update?

The remap for me is a huge concern. I wouldn't have thought it would be possible to gain much on to the original Map as I would have thought Alpina already customised it to each car? He just mentioned that the re-map was done more for economy and smoothness and not to expect any more power over standard. He has achieved around 38mpg on a good run. I know sometimes people re-map to optimise for fuel efficiencey which would be a red flag for me. I mean who buys one of these for fuel efficiency?

I'll have to did a little more digging into this to see whats what. If it's a high quality real time re-map i'll be more comfortable. But worse case scenario how hard would it be to revert to the standard map?

Not seen or driven the car yet. Want to do my research so I go in armed first.

Build number is #026 - A nice and early one. Can't find any info on it, is it familiar to anyone?

PerryGunn · Post by **PerryGunn** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:53 pm

38mpg on a run is good but nothing special, I've managed that on a steady motorway run - although it does get a bit boring and I find I have to flex my right ankle a bit every now and then, just to stop it cramping up, you understand...

Perhaps you could ask him where he had the remap done and phone the company involved...?

MrP · Post by **MrP** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:30 pm

PerryGunn wrote:38mpg on a run is good but nothing special, I've managed that on a steady motorway run - although it does get a bit boring and I find I have to flex my right ankle a bit every now and then, just to stop it cramping up, you understand...

Perhaps you could ask him where he had the remap done and phone the company involved...?

That's exactly what I thought. I know these cars are achievable of high 30's on a good run.

The remap is ringing alarm bells to be honest. But I can push him further.

Peter&Janet · Post by **Peter&Janet** » Mon Jul 28, 2014 11:42 am

These engines are tough but have been bored out to maximum to achieve the 3.4 litre. They can and do suffer cylinder head gasket failures at these milages. A compression check is advisable and reasonable cost repair approx Â£1K from the independents (see many other threads on this subject).