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  #1  
Old 01-08-2012, 06:36 AM
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Default How to identify a true Alpina?

How to identify a true Alpina? And what’s are the area and signs that you must look for before you purchase a genuine Alpina?

There are many times that people ask these questions but I always hear anecdotal answer such as, the front spoiler and rims, or car should have Alpina strips, or the color of the engine should be gray, or the interior should be Alpina upholstery, in which all those items could be bought over the eBay and put them on any regular BMW and make them look like one.
But what do you think in terms of technical and registered numbers that we should look for? (I will provide answer latter).

Last edited by AlpinaMan; 01-08-2012 at 07:10 PM.
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Old 01-08-2012, 09:38 AM
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The VIN number is always a good thing to check. However, I'd want to physically see the VIN on the car or have someone I trust check it out because it would be easy for someone to find an authentic VIN and claim that is the VIN of the car (if they are trying to sell a fake). I'm not sure about other Alpina's, but my B8 also has an Alpina plate attached in the engine bay.
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Old 01-08-2012, 10:18 AM
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I would have said the plate with the production number on the inside of the cabin, or the Alpina VIN on the chassis, but I see in Alpina parts catalogs that these can be purchased. So I'm looking forward to the answer that AlpinaMan is promising for us!

As an aside, I have to say that Alpina has been the most customer-service oriented car company I have dealt with. They are always helpful and if you send them a VIN they provide so much information. Very impressive.
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Old 01-08-2012, 02:51 PM
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I would check to makes sure the Alpina VIN matches the plate in the engine bay, the stamp on the shock tower, the engine and also the plate in the cabin.

I'd also cross reference the BMW VIN on the firewall which is crossed out to the Alpina VIN and verify this with Alpina in Buchloe.
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Old 01-09-2012, 02:59 AM
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http://www.m5board.com/alpina/recalp.html
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Old 01-09-2012, 07:47 AM
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Good reference there , but I don't agree with the upholstery one. While I'm sure most cars got the Alpina marked upholstery, not all of them did, so I don't believe it would be sufficient to say a car isn't an Alpina because it doesn't have "Alpina marked" upholstery.
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Old 01-09-2012, 11:38 AM
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Well, all the answers in above are perfectly right, So far we established that the shell or the body is from Alpina, however the most important thing is to find out if the engine is belong to the reference numbers that we point out in above posts such as chasse #, cabin # and the registration # plus the Alpina cosmetics.
How do we establish and cross reference above # to make sure that the engine and other hidden components that we don
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Old 01-09-2012, 05:53 PM
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Okay, Firstly to identify the block you should prepare an mechanic’s extension mirror and a flash light to lit the area and look for the stamp marking of your car designation, for example B10 3.5/1 which would be located on top the flat surfaces of engine block where starter motor will be bolted to the opening on engine block.

Secondly, after determining that the block is Alpina, know we should see if the engine’s head is Alpina as well, reason for this is that many times happened that the head must be rebuilt due to over raved engine, etc…., and many mechanics would do the core exchange for a already rebuilt head or other reasons……., so we should know that.

Thirdly, to identifying an Alpina head, you should look for a stamped 5 digit # on the side of the heads facing up just bellow the valve cover between the distributor cap and the breather hose on valve cover. And if you sent that # to Alpina it should correspond with car that they used that particular head.

Finally, the exhaust should have Alpina stamp and part# on headers, down pipes, on catalytic converter, and the silencer as well as the muffler.

The prepuce of this exercise was to provide as much information with the help of other members and making sure when an enthusiast is looking for an Alpina car to purchase, so they could easily identify the real deal.

Sia
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Old 01-09-2012, 06:02 PM
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Great post Sia. Now when the auction broker in Japan asks me what I want the inspector to check on the car, I can point him to your post!
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Old 01-09-2012, 07:53 PM
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Lots of good info there Alp1na!!!

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Originally Posted by Stirling View Post
Great post Sia. Now when the auction broker in Japan asks me what I want the inspector to check on the car, I can point him to your post!
Good idea, but I think you would have to get an independent inspector to look for that much detail. I'm pretty sure the inspectors at the auctions will only look for generic things. I could be wrong, but that's what I would guess.
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