Why are BMW Alpina so fugly?

crótach

Ok so maybe this is a rant thread, but am I the only person who finds the Alpina styling fugly?

I'm in the market for a new car and I really really like the specs of the Alpina D3. It just ticks all the right boxes for me and I always wanted a sportier 3-series, but couldn't live with the fuel consumption of the bigger engines.

Why BMW don't offer the engine from 123d in the 3-series is beyond me, but at least Alpina realised it's a good match. With twin turbos you get a really decent 200bhp and 52mpg - sound perfect.

But then you see it

I mean what's the story with the fugly blue tinted dials, or the painfully knackerish alloys, or.. well.. the whole "package". I don't mind their badge, or BMW, or hell put anything you want on the badge I don't care, but I can't have the feeling that I'm walking into a knackerwagen every time I get into the car. And pay the premium for it!

Plug

Im not really a fan myself, just prefer there M models mmmmmmm.

Berty

I was looking at a 2010 Aplina the other day and my god its butt ugly. The wheels are all wrong for a start and they should really ONLY add the aplina vinyl on the front bumper if requested. :mad:

Voodoomelon

I like them, moreso than the M series. B7 is my lottery car, mmmm.

PaddyFagan

Is this the D3 you're talking about?

http://www.bmwtuner.net/2009/04/alpina-d3-bi-turbo/



Am I blind - it looks nice enough to me?

Paddy

Berty

For me paddy its the tacky splitter, tacky wheels and tacky rear splitter as well. That Alpina sticker just puts it altogether like somebody with a 1.9tdi Audi A4 throwing and RS4 kit at it.

Wrong IMO.

bmw535d

if you took off all the stickers and stuck an msport front bumper on i think it would be lethal. change the alloys too if ya wanted.. best of both worlds.

PaddyFagan

Berty wrote: »

For me paddy its the tacky splitter, tacky wheels and tacky rear splitter as well. That Alpina sticker just puts it altogether like somebody with a 1.9tdi Audi A4 throwing and RS4 kit at it.

Wrong IMO.

OK - I see where you're coming from - I like the alloys myself and think without the Alpina sticker and the nasty pin-striping on this one in particular it would be fine, but I can see that others might disagree -
this picture probably highlights the issue for me:



Paddy

Voodoomelon

Tacky wheels, they're incredible wheels! Look the business on 6 series.

Berty

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Tacky wheels, they're incredible wheels! Look the business on 6 series.

You're a BMW Whore. You will never be convinced. :eek:

kdevitt

Looks lovely to me, prefer the classic alloys to those ones though.



First time I ever heard of one being described as a knacker wagon!

PaddyFagan

Actually (what can I say you got me interested) the aplina uk site has an image of a D3 with the classic wheels and no pinstriping -



Paddy

Voodoomelon

Berty wrote: »

You're a BMW Whore. You will never be convinced. :eek:

There's plenty of BMWs I hate, nearly anything they built between 2002 and 2008!

robtri

knackerwagon describes them to a T

Its like a a car a spotty 17 year old with a burberry peaked cap would put together with his mates and think its "deadddlllllly"

Eoin

kdevitt wrote: »

Looks lovely to me, prefer the classic alloys to those ones though.

http://cdn.images.pistonheads.com/aimg/2163/2163361-1.jpg

First time I ever heard of one being described as a knacker wagon!

That looks much nicer than the white example - the front splitter looks a little more subtle. Agree about the alloys too - the others looks more suitable for an X5 or something.

no1beemerfan

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I like them, moreso than the M series. B7 is my lottery car, mmmm.

feck any ferrari etc....this is the car I need want.

PaddyFagan

eoin wrote: »

That looks much nicer than the white example - the front splitter looks a little more subtle. Agree about the alloys too - the others looks more suitable for an X5 or something.

I _think_ the image kdevitt posted is of a pre-facelift (mid-08) car - hence the different splitter - but I'm open to correction.

Paddy

alpina

no1beemerfan wrote: »

feck any ferrari etc....this is the car I need want.

Bloody porn everywhere these days..:o:o

ToxicPaddy

^^^

Nyom nyom.. need I say more..

Love that car, its a stunning piece of engineering.. that colour is perfect..

Over in Dubai and they are everywhere.. I nearly walked out under a rather large 4x4 watching one drive by..

sentient_6

The only bmw i think is horrible is the 1 series. The car thats supposed to be their take on an A3, or so i see it anyway. Everytime i see it i wonder did the designers sit down & say 'ha ha, i wonder how ugly we can make a car that people will still buy because of the badge?!'

The alpina looks pretty snazzy to me.

crótach

I have nothing against the bodywork of the Alpina D3. The alloys look horrible, I'd much rather have the original BMWs.

I mean seriously:


And the instruments:


And they don't go much into luxury either. The spec is pretty basic, no fancy m-sport steering wheel, just the standard muck with the alpina badge. No i-drive system, no satnav.. Just a nice engine.. really nice engine.


Actually these alloys look nice, but they must be 18" ones. Someone posted them above:

NewApproach

Alpina are the dogs bollox. I think they look class tbh

sean1141

the white one looks really nice.. one of the few bmws that i like.. interior/clocks look crap do.. alloys suit the white one

kdevitt

crótach wrote: »

And they don't go much into luxury either. The spec is pretty basic, no fancy m-sport steering wheel, just the standard muck with the alpina badge. No i-drive system, no satnav.. Just a nice engine.. really nice engine.

They're a fixed spec so as to keep the pricing down. Search hard enough and you'll find some nicer spec ones.

SpannerMonkey

:cool::cool::cool:DREWL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool::cool::cool:

no1beemerfan wrote: »

feck any ferrari etc....this is the car I need want.

bijapos

crótach wrote: »

Ok so maybe this is a rant thread, but am I the only person who finds the Alpina styling fugly?

Are these fugly?









Subtle they ain't but they aren't fugly either.

johndaman66

sentient_6 wrote: »

The only bmw i think is horrible is the 1 series. The car thats supposed to be their take on an A3, or so i see it anyway.

Agreed that the BMW 1 seires is a pretty horrible car for what it is or at least what its supposed to be. But is it not a very similar story with the Audi A3 for that matter? To me the A3 looks like a very budget cut price attempt at an A4. Something aside from the boot and a few doors got lost in translation or something.

johndaman66

crótach wrote: »

And they don't go much into luxury either. The spec is pretty basic, no fancy m-sport steering wheel, just the standard muck with the alpina badge. No i-drive system, no satnav.. Just a nice engine.. really nice engine.

Correct me if Im wrong and hey theres every chance I could be but was the original concept of the Alpina models to be lighter and without all the unnecessary gadgets, and more emphasis on them being a drivers car? Much akin to a Peugeot 106 Rallye versus a Peugeot 106 GTI. As I say though I am open to correction.

Voodoomelon

no1beemerfan wrote: »

feck any ferrari etc....this is the car I need want.

And thats the ugly brother E65.

F01 all the way!





€10,000 21" turbine rims!

kdevitt

johndaman66 wrote: »

Correct me if Im wrong and hey theres every chance I could be but was the original concept of the Alpina models to be lighter and without all the unnecessary gadgets, and more emphasis on them being a drivers car? Much akin to a Peugeot 106 Rallye versus a Peugeot 106 GTI. As I say though I am open to correction.

No - that was never the case with Alpina.

johndaman66

kdevitt wrote: »

No - that was never the case with Alpina.

Thanks kdevitt, that clears that one up for me.;)

VolvoMan

johndaman66 wrote: »

Correct me if Im wrong and hey theres every chance I could be but was the original concept of the Alpina models to be lighter and without all the unnecessary gadgets, and more emphasis on them being a drivers car? Much akin to a Peugeot 106 Rallye versus a Peugeot 106 GTI. As I say though I am open to correction.

johndaman66 wrote: »

Thanks kdevitt, that clears that one up for me.;)

If I'm not mistaken, Alpinas were traditionally supposed to be more refined and luxurious alternatives to regular BMWs. They had the performance of the top models, but delivered more smoothly and also had better appointed interiors.

johndaman66

VolvoMan wrote: »

If I'm not mistaken, Alpinas were traditionally supposed to be more refined and luxurious alternatives to regular BMWs. They had the performance of the top models, but delivered more smoothly and also had better appointed interiors.

Ok, guess I was very wrong if thats the case:)

unkel

VolvoMan wrote: »

Alpinas were traditionally supposed to be more refined and luxurious alternatives to regular BMWs. They had the performance of the top models, but delivered more smoothly and also had better appointed interiors.

And that's exactly what appeals to me in what Alpina is supposed to do with powerful BMWs. The ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing. All the power and none of the fast looks. And of course with a leading edge auto gearbox.

The current line up of Alpina doesn't really take me to the fair though. A bit less bling would be appreciated