My 2008 Alpina B5S has done only 65700 km and it is still under warranty.
I took the car to the local Alpina/BMW dealer for couple of issues. After 3 days they told me “no issue, it’s normal”. I’d like to know if anyone of you has similar experience;
1. The car lost 1.5 L of engine oil in 5,000 km. Is that normal?
2. The steering noise has driven me crazy. I can hear a loud “clunk” from the front left side every time I take a sharp, near 90 degreee right turn. They first replaced the left wishbone. Did not fix the problem. Took the car back in and they replaced the steering rack and tie-rods. The problem did not go away. Now they don’t even wanna try and said it is normal.
When you’re driving a car that runs so fast and you don’t have the confidence that you next sharp right turn is going to be solid and smooth, that is awful.
If the oil consumption is due to the faulty radial compressor that will be the second time it needs to be replaced. That happened to the this car once. Here is the link posted by the previous owner.
Since I have 30 month or 45,000 km of warranty covered, I will wait and observe the oil consumption this time. They (dealer) told me any healthy engine, especially supercharged, would consume oil. I don't quite agree with that comment.
For the noise I don't think I am too demanding. I have owned more than a dozen of cars (my first was Pegueot 205) and 4 BMWs, I know something is no right, when I hear that kind of clunk from the suspension. Funny that it was my wife noticed that first. When your wife told you something wrong about this car, most of cases she is right. To find that "something" is really beyond me.
I will call Alpina on Monday and seek their advise. We love our car so much and is planning to bring it with us when we move back home. I know it might sound silly but I feel it is my obligation to keep the car in its best condition.
Spoke to Rimpler today. He said the oil consumption is not right and it is very likely the radial compressor fails again. As for the noise when turning right, he could only guess that if all steering/suspension parts are fine, check the brake and ABS, that might be the source of noise.
Spoke to Rimpler today. He said the oil consumption is not right and it is very likely the radial compressor fails again. As for the noise when turning right, he could only guess that if all steering/suspension parts are fine, check the brake and ABS, that might be the source of noise.
tell your dealer if they are not prepared to look at your car again you will send the car to alpina and all work carried out will be charged to them for loss of car incorrect diagnostics and causing you to lose faith in a product because of there incapabilities as a main dealer to deal with the problems at hand and also mention that alpina have told you the problems you are having are not meant to be there.....WATCH HOW QUICKLY THEY BEND OVER BACKWARDS FOR YOU........GOOD LUCK...also get them to liase directly with rimpler so rimpler can tell them what to do...
__________________
shes alpina blue with two turbos and kills m5s her name is m5 killer...then theres hartge e30 cab with a monster engine her name is bird and shes a naughty girl. then theres the other cabrio the 320 clk jasper blue with every extra available. oh yes and the 4x4 cossie she only comes out for a laugh.....and weve now got bird2 shes got 470 horses two turbos and is japanese (SUPRA)......also being added R1 yamaha and a monster 4wd japanese killer just for fun in the mountainsalso just added to the fleet is a 2002 porsche 996tt in silver full options and auto with the old tip-tronicjust arrived vw touareg v10 tdi diamond black, fully loaded tiptronic with 22" rims. just arrived gunmetal grey toyota celica gt4 2.0 turbo 4wd 360 bhp with t4 turbo, running out of space for cars, RS4 CABRIOLET IN PHANTOM BLACK JUST LANDED
Last edited by m5 killer; 12th September 2011 at 12:30.
tell your dealer if they are not prepared to look at your car again you will send the car to alpina and all work carried out will be charged to them for loss of car incorrect diagnostics and causing you to lose faith in a product because of there incapabilities as a main dealer to deal with the problems at hand and also mention that alpina have told you the problems you are having are not meant to be there.....WATCH HOW QUICKLY THEY BEND OVER BACKWARDS FOR YOU........GOOD LUCK...also get them to liase directly with rimpler so rimpler can tell them what to do...
Thanks for the advise. It's great to feel the support from the Alpina community.
My B5S is my weekend car (what a waste) and I am planning to bring it with me when I move back home.
I am observing the engine oil level. If I do 1,000 km per month it would take a while to see the oil level change.
Next service is due in 7,000 km or Nov 11. I shall ask the dealer to re-check my concerns then. A copy of Mr. Rimpler's email will definately help!
The dealership in Qatar is one of the best in the world. You should not have to go through all this.
Did you buy the car from the BMW Premium Selection?
Shaikh Hasan, good to hear from you.
In fact I bought the car from Graham, who you might also know. Graham and I worked in the same project and when I saw he post the car for sale I called him and eventually cut the deal.
When I bought car it was still covered by warranty and I got that extended to 2014 (6 year and 110,000 km) so I can sleep tight. I worked in Dubai, building Burj Khalifa for 5 years before I got relocated to Doha and I have my fare share of experience with AGMC. I agree with that Alfardan is far better than AGMC by ......miles.
For Alpina my SA is Alan who's very helpful. Alex from BMW Germany is the tech advisor who always test drive with me to verify the problems. Unfortunately the noise is still there. Oil consumption is being monitored.
Wish me luck!
1Likes
also just added to the fleet is a 2002 porsche 996tt in silver full options and auto with the old tip-tronic
just arrived vw touareg v10 tdi diamond black, fully loaded tiptronic with 22" rims. just arrived gunmetal grey toyota celica gt4 2.0 turbo 4wd 360 bhp with t4 turbo, running out of space for cars, RS4 CABRIOLET IN PHANTOM BLACK JUST LANDED 
Linear Mode
