Alpina intends to be the "other" BMW performance brand with the new B7.
Sure, mileage matters, but there’s still a significant market for performance. Just ask BMW, which can barely meet demand for its expanding line-up of M cars and crossovers. If there’s a gap to fill, don’t worry. That’s where Alpina, BMW’s “other” performance arm would like to step in.
Based in Buchloe, a small suburb of Munich, an hour from BMW headquarters, Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH doesn’t so much compete with the better known M, as to compliment the brand, explains its president, Andreas Bovensiepen.
“M is about raw power,” he suggests, ignoring a cold drizzle as he shows off Alpina’s latest product, a version of the BMW 7-Series. “Alpina is about delivering a mix of performance, luxury and comfort.”
That’s not to say performance takes the proverbial back seat. The Alpina B7 Bi-Turbo makes some impressive numbers with its twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8, 500 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque.
Unlike the M cars, Alpina opts for a customized automatic gearbox, and unlike its competitors, the customizer uses buttons on the steering wheel, rather than paddle shifters, to let a driver run through the gears manually. In manual mode, those shifts occur in a Formula One-class 190 milliseconds.
Performance, yes, but Alpina puts a bigger premium on comfort and exclusivity.
Despite its heft, that means 0 to 60 times of around 5.4 seconds, and an electronically-limited top speed of 174 mph. But the B7 and other Alpina models, such as the 3-Series-based B3 and the B5, a modified 5-Series, are a bit less about being the boy racer, where raw acceleration is the first priority.
“We’re not about the highest performance. We’re about the highest ease of use,” insists Bovensiepen.
Adds marketing director Kris Odwarka, “A good 80 to 85% of the time you’re not actively involved in the driving of your car and it should be completely unobtrusive. It’s the 15 to 20% of the time that we want you to be aware of what the car can do.”
That means a sporty but surprisingly comfortable suspension in the B7. And wood, plenty of wood and leather, with a cabin design meant to give the already luxurious 7-Series an even more distinctive and exclusive feel. Each car is equipped with an engraved metal plate attesting to its heritage and displaying the car’s serial number.
There are a number of tweaks to the exterior design, as well, with many modifications designed for function – such as the rear spoiler, which reduces lift 57% compared to a standard 7-Series — though the most notable feature is arguably the Alpina brand’s trademark 20-spoke alloy wheels. The brand also offers an exclusive metallic blue paint with a thin pinstripe echoed in the interior.
Alpina goes for low-end torque with its V8, matching the numbers of the BMW 12-cylinder powerplant.
Surprisingly, though Alpina’s modifications result in a heavier car — at 4652 pounds, 190 pounds more than a comparable 7-Series – the customized version actually delivers better mileage, 15 City, 21 Highway and 17 Combined.
The newest entry carries a base price of $122,000, though when you load it up like the typical buyer – opting for the longer-wheelbase version, all-wheel-drive and other options, and then add on the gas guzzler tax – the Alpina B7 can push into the low to mid-$130,000 range, says Odwarka
Unlike the wholly-owned BMW M GmbH, which was launched in 1972 as a racing unit, Alpina was founded in 1965 by Andreas’ father, Burkard Bovensiepen. But in its initial incarnation it focused on office equipment. While the company soon dropped its typewriter line and dabbled in textile equipment, the Bovensiepen family began tinkering with BMWs, starting out by modifying carburetors and cylinder heads.
By 1970, with 70 employees, it moved from its original site in Kaufbeuren to the current Buchloe location. Winning a series of major motor sports events, including the 24-hour race at Spa, and the European Touring Car Championship, built up a following for the Alpina badge.
Unlike some of the other “tuners” who tweak BMW products, Alpina has the advantage of having access to any BMW dealer in the U.S.
That’s one big selling point the company will use as it bumps production up to as many as 1,500 cars a year, with a third of them coming to the States. The U.S. has been the exclusive maker’s third-largest market but Alpina believes the B7 could boost that to number one.
The maker first entered the market in 2002 with its take on the old BMW Z8 roadster. It followed with a modified version of the last-generation 7-Series. Now it is switching to the newer 7- for the foundation of the B7.
While Alpina offers a mix of models in Europe, Bovensiepen confides that he has no plans to offer more than one model at a time in the U.S. market.