There is something wonderful about Alpina's understated approach to tuning. Alpina takes a series production BMW and turns it into a discreet, high-power driver's car without any of the high-strung pretense of BMW's own M-cars.
The Alpinas of yesteryear had the undeniable cache of being able to pull up to somebody on the Autobahn looking like nothing but a student in a 318e, then drop the hammer and roar off to the horizon. The BMW tuning shop from southern Germany has grown over the years, and its cars have drifted ever closer in looks to the more aggressive M-Car counterparts with sharp bodykits, like on the new B6 Bi-Turbo.
Alpina claims that these front and rear spoilers can reduce lift up to 80% in the front and 10% in the rear, depending on speed. This is clearly just a front for Alpina courting ultra rich oil magnates and image-conscious Rick Ross wannabes. Still, the basic Alpina formula remains: take a BMW and give it a massive engine rich in torque and devoid of histrionics.
The three newest cars to get the Alpina treatment are BMW's 650i convertible and the 530d sedan and wagon. The B6 Bi-Turbo sees the 4.4 TwinPower Turbo V8 reworked from 400 to 507 horsepower. In true Alpina fashion, torque rises from 450 to 516 pound-feet.
Though M-car purists might loathe the thought of a diesel coming from BMW M GmbH, Alpina is relishing the task of providing high-output diesels with its new D5 series of cars. The 3.0 biturbo engine in these Alpina D5s puts out 345hp, over the standard BMW's 241. Unfortunately Alpina has not yet released torque figures for this diesel, but we imagine it will give its ZF 8-speed a good workout.