There are times when exceptional service needs to be congratulated - and this is one of those times.

I have to rewind to the end of October last year. My "toy" wasn't being used enough and the "daily" was too heavy to enjoy - and too nice to abuse. I had 2 great cars - but I never really felt 100% happy with them as a pair.

Over the following month I spent virtually every weekend with Rene Bruggmann at Heidegger. I test drove a number of their cars. I met with at the Zurich Motorshow - with him providing me free access. He realised I was stuggling (mentally) with the costs of a new car - and so guided me through their used selection - the history of each car - the alledged performance of each one (one has seen over 300kmh, another only 295kmh).

He spent countless hours with me at the dealership - and then on the phone and via email as we thrashed out a deal. They could only take 1 car part-ex - and gave me a figure a little less than I had originally hoped - but did give me a good overall package for the extras I wanted.

Despite 1 modification not being available at collection (it will be fitted when the summer wheels go on) the whole process was painless. The car was immaculate prepared when I collected it 8 weeks ago - and has had no problems at all - nothing. And has delivered exactly what it said on the tin. They even included a rather nice umbrella, box of chocolates and bunch of flowers.

So what about the second car? Well, that is where the service gets better. They put the car on their forecourt; they advertised on Autoscout and on their own website; they cleaned the car; they prepped it for sale; they took clients on test drives; they sold the car exactly as if it was one of theirs.

And they did - sell it that is, within 6 weeks of posting - even putting a fresk MFK on it for the new owner. All of which was done for free.

The thing is, I know it wasn't really for free. I know somewhere in the scheme of things I paid for this service, that the car was maybe slightly more expensive, that the part-exchange was slightly too low. But then, sometimes, you realise in life, that it isn't all about saving the last rappen/CHF. And that life is a whole lot easier when you experience good service.

If you are after a BMW - speak to Rene (or one of his colleagues) - they really do offer outstanding levels of service.

indeed!! come on! show it off man!!!

nice write up. I will be in the market for a 5 series next year..more than likely the 535d or xd...it will be pre-driven 1-2 year old so will give them a try...i've given up on BMW in CH due to crappy attitude of the sales people but sounds like you've discovered a gem....

sweeett ride! was debating on future second car...M3 or 911 were on the short list. now Alpina M3 is interesting!

Mate, you spent all that time and effort on a poofta's* car ?

I could have told you what to buy and where to go for the price of a beer.

**



* It's white. The worst colour ever for a sports car. *Real* Sports car's are Red. You knew this right ?

** That is the painfully faked grin of an extremly jealous car-less forum member. Keep your keys with you at all times at the Viadukt.

White in winter - camo

Wow that is a good looking Alpina. I drive a 94 M3.

Got one of those too - although a 96 model

Nice DK

What Alpina is it? I used to have a Hartge I loved and never really got to grips with all the Alpina range.. I really like the way both companies have cars that are just that little bit different

B3 BiTurbo Allrad. Which translates as: Uprated N54 engined 335i - running higher boost. Mahle pistons allow the engine to rev round to 7000rpm. Pushing out 360ps @ 6200rpm - and a peak torque of 500nm (from 3,800-5000rpm) - 400nm available from 1300rpm

It'll crack 100kmh in <5 seconds and knocks out 160kmh <10.

Inside it is covered in Alpina's special upgraded leather - which is just incredibly soft and comfortable.

The car has the usual toys - comfort access, sunroof, professional nav with bluetooth, USB connection, upgraded speakers, interior ambiance lighting - and a load of other stuff.

And 2 sets of original Alpina wheels - both 19" in size!!

Awesome!

I looked at a B3 AllRad when I was last changing but the one I was after sold before I could view it and the only other one for sale at the time had that air of "steer clear" about it, thus a brake in the BMW chain to 4 rings for once.

The BT 3L is truly a fantastic engine, I had a play in a modded one down the garage and the torque is really blistering, it is as tractable as anything To me it is one of their finer engines that reminds of the ground breaking M 4pot and then the Straight 6 in 3.5 to 3.8 guises.

Normally ain't got time to join the chat with my busy schedule at work but this time I felt jealous and couldn't resist...

Just would say awesome, dude and great choice!!!

The only thing I would find as a main drawack for passionate driver that is... is automatic gearbox. All the way manual....

Btw, I'm towards the end of the lease on my 325i and want to look into something with more oomph e.g. 1er M (1-series) or 335i M3 budget allowing and of course, after dancing on the snow, soon realized that "allrad"is the way to go... Extra equipment (navi, bluetooth, sport and leather seats, panormaic roof and etc...) will define resale value later.

100ms shifts - you don't need manual

Manual mode will hold the gear all the way to the redline - with 2 small buttons behind the wheel for up and down - with latter including a blipping of the throttle

Wow that is beautiful! I would love to check it out. Its my dream to turn mine into a track car someday, and have a E60 M5.

I used to have a beast of a BMW back in London.

Just searching through some old hard-drives for pics.


Back soon.........for the win

cheers
SC

I got it SC....here is a pic of you in the beast.

This would be more appropriate:




cheers
SC

DK, how does the autobox compare to some of the double cutch / amg alternatives for swiss roads (i added the last bit to keep relevant to CH as otherwise most car threads get closed or moved)