Descrizione
Up for reluctant sale is my supercharged Alpina B7. It is a LHD Japan import and as such, the condition really does defy the age of the car by UK standards.
Feartures:
- 4. 4 Supercharged V8
- MOT until 29 March 2024
- 69, 900 miles
- Heated front and rear seats
- Minidisc player and 6 disc CD shuttle
- Electric rear and side blinds
- Electrically adjustabvle front seats and steering
- Automatic bootlid
- Soft close doors
- Adaptive Xenons
- Ice cold Air Conditioner
I have maintained the car to a high standard during my two and a half year ownership and taken it to various shows and events where it is always very well received.
The car has covered 69, 000 miles and I have used it pretty sparingly during my ownership, as I own quite a few cars and the B7 was never purchased for daily duties. All dials and onboard systems have been converted to UK and English.
I am a huge 7 series fan, owning 4 at the moment and I have been the 7 series register chair for about 4 years now - writing for the Straight Six magazine where I often shared updates on the B7.
Exterior
The car looks pretty much immaculate from a few feet away, and after a good clean this is absolutely the case. It is however, a 16 year old car and is certainly not perfect. Up close you will find a few minor marks here and there. There are not many, and none are very significant or worth noting.
Wheels and Tyres
The 21 inch wheels are in generally very good condition but on account of me curbing a couple of them - would need refurbishing to be perfect. I would have thought a wheel specialist could probably even just repair the lip rather than the whole wheel. My intention was to have them done when the tyres next needed replacing - which is not quite yet. The tyres are 4 premium brand - Bridgestone from memory and all with good tread. I would expect to get a good few thousand miles out of them before needing replacement.
Interior
Certainly my favourite part of this particular cars features (aside from the torque) is the Alpina specific cherry wood trim and Alpina green and blue details on the seats and door cards. As someone who was new to the world of Alpina before this car came along, I was quite surprised to find that not many of these B7's have the blue and green detailing, or even the gorgeous wood trim - and in fact some of the US examples interiors are quite bland and standard-looking on all accounts. The seats show very little wear, with the backseat looking almost new. It has the feel of being a single professionals car.
Inside everything is working perfectly from the glass sunroof, heated front and rear seats, rear electric blinds to the parking sensors and MiniDisc player. Yes, MiniDisc player - so if you have some of those laying around in a box in the loft, you just stumbled on one of the best Minidisc players money can buy, with Alpina details and 700nm of torque.
The headlining is covered in hand-stitched alcantara, the carpets are beautiful black deep pile and the leather soft and smooth.
The only thing to note as regards to the interior is that the Sat Nav does not work. I did have the whole system converted to English/ MPH etc however the hardware for the SatNav was Japan specific and I've not been able to get the UK version working even with the correct hardware. The rest of the iDrive features and functions all work perfectly.
Engine and Suspension
The engine is incredible on this car and has clearly been very well maintained. Free from any smoke or coolant loss (2 N62 'quirks') having had the coolant transfer pipe replaced a couple months ago and it's second service during my ownership - at an excellent specialist using BMW parts. I own 3 N62 powered sevens and so long as the oil is changed regularly the valve seals hold up well. I think it is a common misconception that they fail at a certain age, like the timing chain guides on the M62. The valve seals only need to be replaced if they have failed - and they generally only fail if the engine in poorly maintained.
Last year I was invited by one of the local BMW owners groups to attend a rolling road session - where to my surprise the B7 was recorded as having 540bhp at the wheels. I have the printout in the paperwork. I had heard that Alpina published BHP figure of ~490 were a little lower than real life figures and was expecting to see a few horses had fled the stable - so this was a great surprise. Also, testament to a healthy engine.
Suspension-wise the car is all running beautifully and feels very tight, with absolutely no looseness or knocks etc. It rides very comfortably albeit a little more planted and firm than a standard E65.
Paperwork & History
The B7 comes with a folder of paperwork and a full history, including original service book and invoices. I have kept all paperwork. It has 2 Alpina keys and a valet key.
Please note the registration will not come with the car, and will be sold with the reg 'BM56 BMW' - which is a reg I have on retention.
I encourage any interested parties to call or email me, viewing can be arranged - I am based in Guildford. Thanks for reading my ad!
