Brera 3.2

Anyone had any experience of these? Anything in particular to look out for?

I’ve no first hand experience. But I know of some getting rid of after a year or so due to the fuel consumption alone. They do look the business, but very expensive for parts.

Not the 3.2, but I have owned a 2.2 Spider for a few years.
The main issues common to both I believe, are things like rusting to the front subframes due to water being trapped by the engine shield and electrical gremlins often triggered by a flat battery.
Check the windows switches work well as they are a weak point.

Both cars are heavy, especially the 3.2 lump and therefore the top and bottom suspension control arms often need replacement.

The 3.2 certainly makes a lovely noise but neither is really a sports car - more a stylish GT?
Early 3.2s tend to be 4 wheel drive adding to the mass, but front wheel drive was also available.
Had they been RWD like the latest Giulia, I am sure they would have been a greater sales success?

One concern is Alfa have stopped supplying spares now and so you may be dependent on salvaged items and all that entails.

A Brera at least does not involve any worries about the folding roof failing!

Finding a car without severely scratched dash and aluminium interior trim panels is rare, as keys and any jewellery tend to dent the soft metal trim.
The later fake carbon fibre trim is probably hardier than the aluminium.
I suspect eventually, many cars will have their interior trim panels painted instead?

For future classic value, I would say the 3.2 is the one to go for, but unfortunately it is not the old Alfa Busso unit.
It goes without saying a 3.2 is not one for someone concerned about fuel economy or low emissions.

For anyone wanting a lot of car for the money with some Italian style thrown in, I would say they will always put a smile on your face when you look back at it.

Thanks for the comments, I had the V6 GTV and it nearly bankrupted me as a daily driver so understand about the economy. Thankfully I don't need to run it everyday if I decide to buy, going to see it tomorrow, it's owned by one of the guys at the specialists who maintain my coop and he's serviced it for the last 10yrs so can vouch for it.

Knowing the history is a good indication of how well it has been looked after - so that sounds encouraging.
Hope it goes well.

good looking car ,some really nice specs available too, I drove one years ago ,wasn't too impressed as it is heavy and felt it to drive ...as above my brother had the same engine in his spider rarely got above 18-20 mpg and that is not as heavy as the Brera
personally I'd rather pick something with the Busso V6 engine in it ..........but thats only my opinion

I had the Busso V6 in my GTV it was wonderful but sometimes only got 14mpg even when not revving it! Is this something from the GM merger? Crossfire engine? From what I've read I might struggle to fit in it as there's not a lot of headroom apparently.

Now have 2 inappropriate, impractical Italian money pits to maintain! If you hear of any murders in the Dorset area you'll know it didn't go down well with the missus!

Life’s too short, especially at the moment, well done

I bit the bullet and spent far too much on my Coupe but I’m happy. Enjoy..

I have a Q4 Brera in my collection, missed the boat buying a GTV Busso so picked one of these up fairly cheaply, back box delete sounds sweet

Great news respace - hope you really enjoy!
If Joe has fallen for one too....that must be good news all around?

............ before you go there asking if I work on other 939 now, no afraid not, this is just an investment addition much like the Busso would have been, I'm still full time Coupe.

yes its from GM but Alfa worked on the heads

Brera's are lovely looking cars , apologies I didn't read your posts properly, i hadn't realised you already had a Busso engined GTV .....fuel economy is not its best point

We hear you Joe!

I had the 2.4 D - remapped at AHM - that was so much more fun to drive. Tried the 3.2 and same feedback as everyone else. Sluggish / Heavy / not as fast or fun as the remapped 2.4

Canny these Italians, I booked the coupe for water leak, mentioned I liked the Alfa, next time I try booking it in they have one for sale. Just collected the alfa, they said their serving a LE with over 200k on the clock. I now realise I said I love the LEs an d the Plus, I'm dreading booking in for the next service!

Could not bring myself to have diesel Spider though!

The coop is ready for collection, I'll do a quick reckie to see if there's a LE hanging around first!

I understand the comments about the Brera it does feel heavy, if you use the gears it does move though you can put it in a high gear and it'll pull from low revs, you can treat it like an automatic. Although it has more power (in theory) than the GTV it doesn't feel like it on the road, a weight thing I suppose. Anyway it was very cheap, everything works including loads of things I don't understand and I've got servicing at reduced rate and parts at cost so pretty good. All I need is a petrol tanker permanently attached.

The increase in power of the Brera over the GTV V6 is lost by the 200kg+ weight penalty....it feels as you say much more lardy and nowhere near as exciting or responsive to drive as the GTV V6 (which is fairly heavy itself).

I hadn't realised how different it would feel, going from the 16vt to GTV v6 felt like a bigger, heavier brother (albeit one that got a bit out of hand on fast corners). This is very different refined, sedate, almost dare I say it germanic! I guess it's a sign of how far technology has moved, the coop feels light, raw, noisy and quick whereas the Brera is heavy, effortless, quiet and very quick but you don't notice how fast because all the tech anaesthetises you.

Weird development today, I hadn't got round to pairing the hands free so set it up and 4 warning lights came on. 3 VDC, hill holder and ASR went off again but yellow check engine has stayed on. Can't see any connection between pairing a phone and any of this but going in next to investigate the engine light.
Any guesses?

It may have just be a coincidence, but such is Alfa ownership!
Can you try plugging in a OBD 2 reader to see if you have any fault codes and perhaps try clearing them?

Part of the reason the stop gap GT was continued even after the brera launched have been mentioned above

Too heavy to be considered sporty
De-tuned GM blocked cars less powerful then that should be to get under emissions
Pointless rear seats
Compromised final shape after hugely impressive motor show demo cars
Poor mpg on all cars, 2.4 diesel best compromise
2.2L sent out with horrible flat spots in the Rev range
Most of these issues resolved with the Prodrive S editions, which are now premium priced

Total biased as I have had a diesel GT for ages, but in my opinion a 3.2 GT with quaife diff is a better car,
More practical, faster, economical and cheaper to run