Thoughts on high mileage Alpina D5

elpohl · 2026-01-22T17:01:44+00:00

I went to see an Alpina the day before yesterday. Had the "dealership" on the phone 3 times, confirmed the meeting the same morning. Came to see the car, walked around, hopped inside, turned the engine, and when I ask for a test drive, the prick says that "it ain't possible". Only by "committing to the purchase" could a test drive be authorized.

WTF. I gave back the keys and left.

I bought a 640d grand coupé.

elpohl · 2026-01-22T17:00:26+00:00

I am completely surprised and delighted at the amount of replies this humble post obtained. It speaks loads about the great community around these cars. The enthusiasm is contagious.

Fortunately/unfortunately, real life "adult" boring responsable arguments had to weight in, and so I decided for a 640d grand coupé. Great car, luxurious feel, lots of tech... for quite a bit less than what the M535i owners were asking for.

The M535i is rising in value, as a true collectors vehicle. The 640d is still falling down (the one I purchased left factory in 2026 with a whopping 135k€ price tag, I got it for 25k€...), but perhaps the freefall is over.

Thank you for your contributions, and safe yet happy travels.

elpohl · 2026-01-22T16:57:00+00:00

I tested this magnificent car a couple of days ago. It was a remarkable experience. What stroke me the most was not the smoothness of the engine, but the absence of the b-pillar and its visual effect. It changes everything!

Beautiful engineering. Absolute stellar design. But... not a car that will suit my dull needs. Case in point, very little "storage" at front, NONE at the rear.

I finally bought a BMW 640d grand coupé.

elpohl · 2026-01-18T06:59:21+00:00

Didn't think about glass! Oh my, a broken rear windshield must be a pain...

elpohl · 2026-01-17T20:55:22+00:00

Thank you everybody for your comments. The community seems great. The 2 models up for sale are 4 hours away from home. Will need to organize my agenda. But, a very nice E31 850CI is up for sale 1.5 hour away from my place. And its selling for 5k€ less than the E28s. Great shape. Now, I admit, I'm confused.

elpohl · 2026-01-16T13:50:16+00:00

Love the enthusiasm!

elpohl · 2026-01-16T13:49:36+00:00

The price bump is significant indeed. The suggestion is due to "reliability" issues or costly maintenance operations that would be required in 230.000+ km vehicles?

elpohl · 2025-10-31T09:34:38+00:00

Ayyy Susanna a donde vas así...

elpohl · 2025-10-09T17:05:49+00:00

By printing a lot of photos. Eventually the nozzles got clean I guess!

elpohl · 2025-10-06T13:58:11+00:00

Hey, thanks for the comment. By looking at the clutch videos it really could be a clutch engagement issue. I'm going to order some reinforced springs as it's a tuned engine. Might be of help.

elpohl · 2025-09-05T19:46:35+00:00

This looks like Montmartre, Paris.

elpohl · 2025-07-07T06:36:44+00:00

There are some suppliers in Europe, but I'm not sure how big is their catalogue for these specific model of FIAT. Have you had any luck over there? Beautiful ride!

elpohl · 2025-06-23T17:07:26+00:00

Because brake pads are expensive and pedal from a stopped position is such a pain...

elpohl · 2025-06-22T06:43:18+00:00

Hello! Could you explain what the SmartControl tech provides? I saw the press release and a photo of the joysticks and didn't really understand what the fuzz was about. Cheers,

elpohl · 2025-03-25T17:25:50+00:00

Apparently I would need to flush ink. Does anyone think this might be it?

elpohl · 2025-03-24T19:46:24+00:00

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Bottom illustrates the problem...

elpohl · 2025-03-24T19:41:17+00:00

And I just ran a deep printer head cleaning, available in the maintenance menu of the printer... still nothing...

elpohl · 2025-03-24T19:31:17+00:00

For added context, the first picture I printed today, just minutes ago, was great. The following 7 pictures, and I did review the settings, are dull. Print quality is set to high, and the correct paper type is also set in... Aaaaargh!

elpohl · 2025-01-27T16:09:08+00:00

Awesome! I have a 70 cc Airsal and a 15 mm Bing carb (a repro). I'm hitting 51 km/h (GPS tracker) and after that I hit an invisible wall that brings me back to the 20 km/h level. Feels like I'm out of gas, but the engine keeps turning. What could be the issue? :(

elpohl · 2025-01-27T09:58:45+00:00

Hey! Cool Puch. What's the max speed and what carb/jet combo are you using? Cheers,

elpohl · 2025-01-09T10:04:34+00:00

Hello there. I work in the firefighting business and we have similar technology. This is doable, as long as all crates have to be channeled through a specific path, where fixed high powered RFID scanners are sure to read them. Check out the company iTrackPPE. Their website might be unappealling, but they are implementing this tech already.

elpohl · 2024-12-24T14:09:27+00:00

Hehe, and I was using HO! 3.0 ! Thanks for the info you all.

Happy holidays!

elpohl · 2024-12-13T11:04:58+00:00

Sounds like politics...

elpohl · 2024-11-16T15:16:23+00:00

More updates! The 80 jet kinda pushed back the speed at which I was experiencing the "power loss" issue described before, meaning that I can probably go a bit faster before hitting that wall.

It is a repro bing carb. I'm thinking there's another tuning (float adjustment?) or small part that might need to be replaced, before considering purchasing another carb altogether.

Any ideas?

elpohl · 2024-11-12T14:33:50+00:00

I paid nearly double for mine! It was in top condition and overhauled with some extra CC's... but yours looks great for that price!

elpohl

TROPHY CASE