Well after our long road trip and thrashing the hell out of the car over the weekend, the car broke down in Edinburgh, alternator failure
I have priced one up from Eurocarparts at 480 quid and also at bmwminiparts at 490 quid, which is pretty steep, so looking for other alternatives like getting it rebuilt for example.

I do not want to put on a 2nd hand part, and ideally not any aftermarket stuff either unless is an equivalent bosch/lucas part, but suggestions welcome.