Alpina in South Africa?

[Benji]

Alpina is conspicuous by its absence in South Africa. Does anyone know why? We used to get E34 and I believe some E32 and E30 and of course the 333i here back in the day, why did this stop? Looking at the sheer number of Brabus Mercedes and the sky high prices of used Alpina parts, there is definitely a market and following here for these high end cars.

Where do we apply to start lobbying BMW to import Alpina cars? I cant be the only one who thinks a B5 touring is infinitely cooler than an M5?

 

[AlexYannoulatos]

A little off topic, but check out M539 restorations on YouTube. Have a look at the Alpina B7 build

 

[Benji]

A little off topic, but check out M539 restorations on YouTube. Have a look at the Alpina B7 build

A bit off topic indeed but I have been following him and that Alpina project is the worst thing he has ever done to himself!

 

[TurboLlew]

The Brabus builds are not brought in as built up cars and the majority are just tupperware and exhausts with very few having suspension or power tuning elements added - they are done by Race! and other similar shops. Same for other 'tuned' cars that you see out and about that have individual bits added in (Lumma, Manhart, Tech Art etc). The Alpina cars are different in that they are built in the factory so (I would guess) BMW or a company like Daytona would have to make a decision to bring them in (or otherwise the cost to import privately would be prohibitive, if possible at all).

You're probably going to end up with these far beyond M5 CS pricing or even Alfa GTAm pricing (probably closer to Ferrari GT4C Lusso). I don't think there is any appetite for that in SA. The Brabus/Lumma stuff you see around is not comparable (My opinion)

 

[Benji]

The Brabus builds are not brought in as built up cars and the majority are just tupperware and exhausts with very few having suspension or power tuning elements added - they are done by Race! and other similar shops. Same for other 'tuned' cars that you see out and about that have individual bits added in (Lumma, Manhart, Tech Art etc). The Alpina cars are different in that they are built in the factory so (I would guess) BMW or a company like Daytona would have to make a decision to bring them in (or otherwise the cost to import privately would be prohibitive, if possible at all).

You're probably going to end up with these far beyond M5 CS pricing or even Alfa GTAm pricing (probably closer to Ferrari GT4C Lusso). I don't think there is any appetite for that in SA. The Brabus/Lumma stuff you see around is not comparable (My opinion)

These are valid points, the "Brabus" is still a Mercedes V-class with a kit on it. Im hoping now that BMW and Alpina have merged, we will get some Alpinas on our shores...