Intro and some Qs - New Owner Alpina B6

[racer2086]

Brand new to this forum, which I found during my research and quest for an Alpina B6. It took me a year or so, but I finally found the Alpina Blue with Amaro combo with all of the options that I've been looking for. Bought it from a BMW dealer sight unseen other than a few pics via text from the sales guy. Car looked to be in great shape and had under 30k miles, so I would assume so. Took a leap of faith, and snagged it before it could get away like one other did on me before. Nothing more exciting than seeing it in person for the first time off the delivery truck and it did not disappoint! Wow these B6s are incredible! The power and torque is just jaw dropping.

I am brand new to this chassis, but not BMW. The 6 series GC seemed like the only BMW that interested me as a follow-up to my E38 (which I still have and love). I have done just about everything to that E38, which is my daily and recently passed 300k miles. I spent a lot of time in years past on the E38 section of BFc, and credit much of my knowledge and love for cars to forums like these.

I am 1 week into ownership, so I'm still learning the ins and outs of the car. Every now and then, I'll hear a pop coming from the rear of the car when I go over a certain bump or uneven road. Very odd and seems uncharacteristic for a car like this. Is this normal?

Something that seems obvious...it does not seem like this vehicle is going to be anywhere as easy to work on as my E38. I mean, hopefully I don't have to do any work, but just trying to see the belts on the front of the engine is near impossible. There are also so many tubes, pipes, wires, and connectors, that the thought of the inevitable crumbly BMW plastic is giving me anxiety.

Since everything on these new cars needs a computer to do, I'm looking for recommendations as to what everyone uses to diagnose and repair these newer BMWs. It's going to need pads and rotors in the near future...can you even do something like that anymore without a computer?

Even though the car is low miles, it's still missing some things. I ordered a replacement compressor and tire repair for the trunk along with the missing Alpina supplement owners manual. It did come with a "tool roll" comprised of a tow hook and screw driver. From what I can tell, I think that's all it is supposed to come with. The rest of the tools are at the dealer service department.

The other thing I noticed is that my Alpina only has BMW all-weather mats in it. Kinda bummed because I know Alpinas came with their own floor mats.
I would like to get a correct set before they become impossible to find, but it seems RealOEM only has one part number. Can any Alpina owners tell me if the mats in USA cars were only black and didn't differ based on the interior color?

Thanks for the help, and I hope to become a contributor to this forum as I learn more.

[Oris4]

Congrats, I firmly believe the b6 is the gentleman’s version of the 6. For diagnostics, coding, etc I believe nothing beats ista. I have bimmerlink and bimmercode along with a bm3 adapter which is nice to use on the fly and does what is intended to do along with service functions (parking brake, etc) without having to get out the laptop every time but if you plan on long term ownership and doing most of your own service then dealer level is the way to go. I do pretty much all of my own service and from the sounds of it you will have no issues servicing your b6. People make these cars sound like they are complicated machines, they are not and there is a wealth of knowledge on these boards and in the Facebook groups. Enjoy the car in good health!

[Luftpost]

14 years ago I looked at an E38 and an E39, ended up buying the E39 (still have it, 540/6 with 285,XXX miles). The E38 has always had a soft spot in my heart, particularly the 2001. One of BMW's timeless cars.

Congrats on the Alpina, and welcome to the group!

L

[djacinto]

As a fellow e38 owner who’s looking into alpina b6’s, I’m with you there!

[Opie55]

ISTA is the gold standard in diagnostic tools. You need a laptop for it and the learning curve can be steep. But yes, you can do brakes without it, although it's handy to have at least Bimmercode (downloaded to your phone and a OBDII dongle) that allows you to retract the electronic emergency brake without doing it manually. But manually is not all that difficult either. But otherwise, doing brakes on a $130,000 car isn't really any different than doing brakes on a $30,000 car.

[Oris4]

Originally Posted by Opie55

ISTA is the gold standard in diagnostic tools. You need a laptop for it and the learning curve can be steep. But yes, you can do brakes without it, although it's handy to have at least Bimmercode (downloaded to your phone and a OBDII dongle) that allows you to retract the electronic emergency brake without doing it manually. But manually is not all that difficult either. But otherwise, doing brakes on a $130,000 car isn't really any different than doing brakes on a $30,000 car.

Bimmerlink*

[racer2086]

Thanks for the welcome!

Feel bad that I didn't throw on some pictures, so here she is after a fresh wash before sending for a light tint and PPF.

Had been looking for a fully loaded blue B6 with a brown Merino leather. I missed the Tanzanite Blue one on Cars and Bids last year, but finally found this Alpina Blue with Amaro (even more preferred to me than the darker Cohiba).

Originally Posted by djacinto

As a fellow e38 owner who’s looking into alpina b6’s, I’m with you there!

Beautiful 750! Love the anthracite color!

Originally Posted by Opie55

ISTA is the gold standard in diagnostic tools. You need a laptop for it and the learning curve can be steep. But yes, you can do brakes without it, although it's handy to have at least Bimmercode (downloaded to your phone and a OBDII dongle) that allows you to retract the electronic emergency brake without doing it manually. But manually is not all that difficult either. But otherwise, doing brakes on a $130,000 car isn't really any different than doing brakes on a $30,000 car.

Awesome info thanks. I have multiple laptops with diagnostics, but all for the older cars. The challenge is always locating a good version. Bimmercode sounds very convenient. I asked about the brakes because I was talking with someone whose friend couldn't do a brake job on his newer truck without a computer to retract the calipers or something. Maybe it was for the e-brake like you mention. I didn't go into details with him, but I could believe these manufacturers want to make it has hard as possible to work on your own cars.

Originally Posted by Luffpost

14 years ago I looked at an E38 and an E39, ended up buying the E39 (still have it, 540/6 with 285,XXX miles). The E38 has always had a soft spot in my heart, particularly the 2001. One of BMW's timeless cars.

Congrats on the Alpina, and welcome to the group!

L

The E39 is such a great car. BMW nailed it with the late 90s early 00s cars.