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      12-10-2014, 12:07 PM   #1
ChiTownM
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Alpina B6 vs. M6 GC cross shopping

I understand the main differences in setup, such as DCT and rear wheel drive vs. all she'll drive and automatic, etc. has anybody looked at both and what are your observations?
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      12-10-2014, 03:21 PM   #2
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I understand the main differences in setup, such as DCT and rear wheel drive vs. all she'll drive and automatic, etc. has anybody looked at both and what are your observations?
They are very different actually, when all wheel drive is a must Alpina is first choice any other M6 is a much better one.
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      12-10-2014, 03:26 PM   #3
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I've seen the Alpina B6 and sat in it at my dealership on the day I was picking up my M6.
I couldn't understand why a glorified 650xi was almost the same price as the M6.
If AWD is a must, I'd rather get the Audi RS7 over the Alpina B6.
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      12-10-2014, 03:35 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by speedracerlo View Post
I've seen the Alpina B6 and sat in it at my dealership on the day I was picking up my M6.
I couldn't understand why a glorified 650xi was almost the same price as the M6.
If AWD is a must, I'd rather get the Audi RS7 over the Alpina B6.
Alpina is a much better looking girl!
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      12-10-2014, 03:58 PM   #5
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There is no comparison between B6 and M6
You better compare the B6 with 650i XDrive with $6K Dinan tuning including stage3 and Ehhaust and I still pick 650i over B6
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      12-10-2014, 07:44 PM   #6
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Oh wow....not much love for the B6. I agree that the price is rather high, but it is a looker too.
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      12-10-2014, 08:23 PM   #7
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i vote for the M6 but if you were choosing between 650 and B6 then i'd say B6
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      12-12-2014, 10:34 PM   #8
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The Alpina is going to be a lot quicker around town - especially here in Chicago (AWD + the extra torque are going to be very very nice). The car is also very rare.

The Alpina does however depreciate like a rock and worse, dealers are much less likely to deal on them compared to the M6GC - so pricewise, it will be hard to beat the M6.

I do however happen to know a dealer with a black black Alpina 6GC inbound if you are interested
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      12-22-2014, 01:18 AM   #9
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This seems like an appropriate thread to add my own questions to the mix.

My M6GC has a manual tranny. I love it, but my wife won't touch it. Currently, she drives the CLS55. We were thinking about getting a replacement for the MB (it's getting quite long in the tooth), and a new CLS63 (or even an Audi RS7) is a definite possibility, but the possibility of getting a B6 came up.

We tried to work a deal with the dealer who sold me my M6GC, since they have three in stock, any of which would work. However, like Doug said, they just don't want to deal at all (a little over $1K off seems silly to me on a $130k car). That seems odd to me, for if we must pay MSRP we would much rather order a 2016 B6 with the 6-series LCI (SOP on 3/15).

Anyway, here are my questions: According to the B6 brochure, the B6 focuses on luxury as well as performance. It implies that the B6 is quieter than the M6, and that seems to be implied by the reviews I have read as well. My wife would like that. Anyone have any real-world experience with these cars? Mr. Nguyen?

Also, who works on Alpina cars? It took me 5 hours to get the 1200-mile service done on my M6GC from an M-certified dealer in the Boston area because the tech couldn't properly reset the service memory, and I am somewhat frightened about what may happen if we tried to get an Alpina serviced.

Does anybody know what parts availability is like for Alpinas when the warranty runs out? 10 yrs? 20 yrs? The extremely limited production of these cars (I understand 300/yr for the US market) is somewhat worrisome to me. I would hate to have to drop a 650i engine in there because nobody can find the proper parts to fix the modified engine the car came with or because it costs $10k for a set of piston rings.

Finally, Doug - what info do you have about depreciation? Why do they depreciate so much? Because the M6 is preferable to most people in that price range? Because it costs too much to fix after the warranty runs out?

We can always think about his 'n' her M6GC's, or a 650xi GC w/Dinan, but we really want to give a B6 a fair hearing, since we do get snow where we live.

Thanks in advance to all for any insight.

Jim

Last edited by JimM6GC; 12-22-2014 at 01:46 AM..
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      12-22-2014, 02:34 PM   #10
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Jim
My comment about the depreciation was based on the original residual numbers BMW had posted for the B6 (low 40s if I remember correctly for a 3 year/36K lease)

That has since been updated to match the rest of the lineup. I'm still pretty sure that you don't want to own one of these out of warranty (see picture below for an engine replacement on a B7 at my dealer). No matter what, most BMW dealers should be able to service both the M and B models (might be time for a new dealer?).

I believe Mr. Nguyen either bought one or drove one and reports it to be quieter.

Oh and on the parts thing - BMW just replaces the whole damn engine when something goes wrong (that's what is going on in the picture). So as long as that is avail, you are fine (although once again, if out of warranty, Oh God...)

Now finally, if you are serious about getting one of these, I would recommend you reach out to Brett Midgley at Autohaus BMW in St. Louis. When I was last down there, he was prepping a car for someone in California. It was just easier for them to order from Brett and have the car shipped than deal with the dealers in Calif. I'm 99.9% positive that he can easily beat the number you are getting and that is with the car shipped to you!

Brett Midgley (brett.midgley@bmwautohaus.com)
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      12-23-2014, 02:40 AM   #11
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Ho ho ho even Santa Claus and me take this classic B6 over s550 anytime...your wife will love this seating and the feeling of driving ultimate machine for sure...like said it not too noisy in the cokpit, you can enjoy music anytime like concerto!
b6 take off like a jet if you want anysecond.
All in 1 word is Beautiful!!!
From 13yrs old kid to old folks gotta look at B6 like a gems last few days...
i will let all of you know next few days if i dont like B6...
My pleasure sharing b6
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      12-23-2014, 10:35 AM   #12
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Go i8 for the money you are planning to spend. In my opinion this is the best looking BMW. M6 gran coupe is #2.
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      12-23-2014, 11:44 AM   #13
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Go i8 for the money you are planning to spend. In my opinion this is the best looking BMW. M6 gran coupe is #2.
I think there is an 18 month wait on the i8s right now - and even then, finding one at sticker is a bit tricky
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      12-23-2014, 12:03 PM   #14
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Good point Doug on the wait, not sure it is that far out though. I am 2nd on the list at my dealership. I have been waiting for 6 months now. They are telling me January 2015 it should be ready.
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      12-24-2014, 10:21 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrainv23 View Post
Good point Doug on the wait, not sure it is that far out though. I am 2nd on the list at my dealership. I have been waiting for 6 months now. They are telling me January 2015 it should be ready.
Well you were smart and ordered 6 months ago I think it is from today, how long it would take. But I agree, if you are tricky and find the right dealer, you can get one in 2015. Please post pics when you get it! (here )
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      12-25-2014, 01:55 PM   #16
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If awd is a must get an RS7.
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      12-27-2014, 03:04 PM   #17
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Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Doug – Thanks for the info on depreciation. It definitely helps us make our decision based on as many factors as possible. As for owning the car outside of warranty, we had a similar eye-opening experience when, in 2001 and with 11k miles on the odometer, the engine of our 2000 E55 blew up 18 miles outside of Elko NV (it swallowed a valve, destroyed a piston, and trashed the block). The car had to be towed 200+ miles to Salt Lake City. When we returned a few weeks later to pick the car up, the service rep said it was a good thing that the engine was under warranty, for a new engine costs $40k – about half the cost of the car at the time. As for the parts thing, I know that the days of taking things apart, replacing a broken part, and putting the assembly back together again, seem to be long gone. My question about parts availability was for my own purpose. I have always done much of my own out-of-warranty work. I have a well-equipped garage (including both four-post and two-post lifts), so I can compensate for much of the cost of out-of-warranty repairs. I even hope to get into coding someday (one of my former jobs was as a computer programmer, and I still build my own PC’s from basic components).

As for dealer servicing, my wife and I were in Southern California earlier this week, and we decided to spend a couple days to see if any good deals could be had on either a B6 or a CLS63. We stopped in at a dealership that had an Alpina Blue B6 (with red sycamore trim) on the showroom floor, and my first stop was to the service department. I asked the question I posted previously to one of the service writers, and he said that whether a dealer services an Alpina is up to the service department’s discretion. Then two of the service writers spontaneously called the service departments of the two dealers nearest to me (one is 1.5 hours away, and the other is 4+ hours away). Both dealers said that they would service an Alpina. The closest dealer definitely would service a B6 because apparently the General Manager of the dealership owns one. So I guess that answers that question as far as it goes, although the actual competency of the mechanic, as in any dealership, would remain to be seen.

We then went over to see the blue B6 in the showroom and quickly noticed the sticker quoting a $20k added dealer markup. I always ignore those things, so we simply offered the TrueCar target price for the vehicle as equipped ($10K off of MSRP). The “deal” the salesman offered was MSRP and not a penny below, so that made for a quick exit on our behalf.
We did find another dealer (McKenna) who, after an hour of the usual high-pressure, time-wasting BS, finally agreed to $10K off MSRP. By that time it was 8:30 PM, so we told the salesman we would be back the next day to discuss the trade-in value of our CLS55. He said the deal was available for that night only, which guaranteed our prompt exit. I live by the maxim of never doing a deal you are not willing to walk away from, and I mean it. In reality, the trade-in value of the CLS55 was a non-issue because we had already gotten an appraisal from Carmax (as we always do when purchasing a new car), and we simply sell it to them if we can’t agree on a trade-in value at the dealership. So basically McKenna blew a guaranteed $120k sale because of an unsavory salesman. For more info on what went down there, see the one-star rating we gave them on Yelp.

The next day we visited another dealer who had three B6’s in inventory (none of which would do it for us) and offered them $5K off of a 2016 B6 when they begin production circa 3/15 (and assuming they can get an early production slot). Without hesitation, a 2016 was ours if we wanted it. If we get it, we’ll probably option the car identical to the blue one we saw previously.

So we can’t get an end-of-model-year blue 2015 B6 that is sitting on the dealer’s floor for less than MSRP, but we can custom-order a blue 2016 B6 for 5K off and have a car that includes the 6-series LCI (insofar as it applies to the B6 line). We’re willing to wait.

Although somewhat off-topic, we didn’t fare much better with the Mercedes dealers, even with cars that were acceptable candidates. The experience varied from very courteous and professional (MB of Beverly Hills) to lose-the-sale-before-you-even-discuss-price (Fletcher-Jones). Just for the hell of it, we stopped in at MB of Sacramento on our way home and offered them $5K off of a newly-ordered CLS63 (better than the TrueCar estimate, and in line with the average price paid). The offer was accepted without haggle, even without a commitment from us, and they proved to me that they had a 2/15 production slot. Isn’t car buying fun? We don’t care if we don’t pay the lowest price, but we definitely prefer not to pay the highest price if we don’t have to.

Mr. Nguyen – thank you very much for your input. How is tire noise compared to your previous M6? Have you driven over any grooved pavement? In my M6GC the tire noise is somewhat loud on grooved pavement, maybe a little more than our CLS55, but acceptable. Nowhere nearly as bad as it was in the ’06 Z06 that I owned for 11 months (I just couldn’t take it anymore, even with Dynamat and ditching the run-flats for decent Michelins).

Mrainv23 – I saw an i8 at the BMW dealer in Scottsdale, AZ during a recent trip there. Wow. Just Wow. Looking forward to the pics when you get your ride! I would get it in a heartbeat. Problem is, the new car is mostly for my wife, and it is just a little too wild for her tastes.

Trez – I know the RS7 won C&D’s comparo with the CLS63 and M6GC, but we don’t have an Audi dealer near us. We would have to drive about 5 hours to get it serviced, alas.

So at least we have two acceptable options. Now we have to decide which car we want.
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      12-27-2014, 03:25 PM   #18
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It cracks me up when dealers pull that "only avail until tonight". If and when they call you back, tell them the new deal is $11K off because obviously the $10K is off the table as it expired

Alas, I do have a friend who got crushed by coming back the next day. What he had not realized was that none of the bosses were in the night he made a deal on the car he wanted and they had appraised his trade-in much higher than they should have (he had not done any research). So when he returned a day later, the deal had gone up $10K. Of course had he done any research (like yourself) he would have snatched up that original deal.

PS Get the blue one with red
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      12-27-2014, 11:11 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
PS Get the blue one with red
My wife is definitely leaning in that direction.

This morning, I received an email from the sales manager of McKenna with the subject line "How Are We Doing?" I responded by referring him to our Yelp review. In response, I received the following email from Dan:

Good Morning James,

I am completely dumbfounded. I thought I was extremely nice and pleasant showing you and your wife around the vehicles, staying late to accommodate you and I ended up getting the deal that you and your wife asked for. I guess my excitement and amazement at the fact that they agreed to the deal on the B7 for you excited me so much and I was excited for you that I wanted you to take advantage of the deal...especially after you had explained to me that Irvine was asking $20,000 over sticker and here I was saving you $30,000! I was excited for you that you would get the car you wanted at the price you had requested. Instead, for some reason, I was saving you $30,000 off of another dealer's price and I turn out to be the bad guy...because I was "pressuring you to take the deal."

I'm very sorry if you took my good intentions in a bad way.

Warmest Regards,

Dan Rowand
Internet Sales Manager
(XXX) XXX-XXXX
McKenna BMW

A real upscale and mature guy, eh? Aside of the fact that the deal was for a B6, not a B7, when I contemplate the concept of a salesman who can't close a deal with someone who is ready, willing, and able to buy the product from him at the stated price, the term "winner" does not immediately come to mind.

Last edited by JimM6GC; 12-27-2014 at 11:39 PM..
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      12-27-2014, 11:39 PM   #20
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I would tell him that you agree with him - he was very nice and stayed late. But then he played the "salesman" - and that is not cool on a $130K purchase. I still think the two of you could work something out (and damn, I personally want to see pictures of that car!)
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      12-27-2014, 11:58 PM   #21
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The problem is, the car he had was white with a black interior, so he was comparing apples to oranges. There's no shortage of white ones around.

The one we are thinking about is blue with a black interior and red sycamore trim, available from BMW of Irvine.

Last edited by JimM6GC; 12-28-2014 at 12:07 AM..
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      12-29-2014, 01:49 PM   #22
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These car salesmen stories never ceases to amaze me.. Do they even want to sell cars?
Glad to hear you got a good deal at another place after all that! =)

Regarding the B6, I love that thing. IMO it is nothing like a glorified 650, rather just as special as the M6. You guys will love it!
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