The 2016 BMW 7 Series has a luxurious interior and a 444 horsepower V8 up front in case you opt for the 750i xDrive. The 2017 Alpina B7 xDrive has an even more luxurious interior and a 600 horsepower engine. So, it’s better.
Available at your very selected BMW dealers from September, the B7 xDrive is exactly what you expect from Alpina: more of everything in an elegant package. Starting with the engine.
BMW’s twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 got a completely new air intake system, a bigger air-water intercooler, different turbochargers working at 20 psi, Mahle pistons and heavily upgraded cooling all around for a compression ratio of 10.0:1 and as much as 494 pound-feet of torque at 2,000 RPM, or 590 pound-feet from 3000 RPM and upwards.
With 600 HP also on tap between 5750 RPM and 6250 RPM, the B7 will reach 62 mph in 3.6 seconds, not in 4.4 like your neighbor’s sluggish 750i.
There’s a new stainless steel exhausts as well, with active valves in case you meet an S-Class AMG.
Alpina put its two-axle air suspension under the 7 Series with a maximum ride height adjustment range of 1.6 inches. The system will automatically lower the car by 0.8 inches at speeds above 140 mph, but you can also raise it by 0.8 inches manually at up to 20 mph in order to increase ground clearance. Think Albanian roads.
You also get rear-wheel steering, whereby the wheels can turn a maximum of three degrees. With Alpina’s own suspension geometry and Michelin’s Pilot Super Sport run flats (255/40 ZR20 at the front and 295/35 ZR20 at the rear), the B7 should handle well too.
While ZF’s eight-speed auto box features ConnectedShift (use of navigation data for an anticipatory shift strategy based on traffic routing) and Coasting (decoupling of the engine and transmission when coasting) as standard, Alpina also added “Switch-Tronic” to its list of functions. You can active it from the steering wheel or the gear selector, and it will make the car hold the manually selected gear even when the engine hits the rev limiter. Burnouts? Burnouts.
Alpina says “no torque reduction is necessary during upshifts when selecting the Launch Control or when using the sportiest configuration of the Manual Mode.” Poor gears.
Inside, it’s all about the Nappa leather comfort seats and instrument panel, ceramic inserts and that lovely steering wheel with the blue and green stitching. Go with piano lacquer or myrtle wood, Alpina knows how to make a cabin look exquisite.
Naturally, the B7 has blue instruments with red needles, or blue and green drag indicators with a centrally positioned permanent digital speed read-out in Sport mode.
You should put it in sport mode. Your wheels look like jet engines after all...
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