BMW Alpina Germany: Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG is an automobile producing company located in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars. Alpina was founded in the 1965 by Burkard Bovensiepen, a member of the Bovensiepen family of industrialists. Alpina works closely with BMW and their processes are integrated into BMW’s production lines, thus Alpina is recognized by the German Ministry of Transport as an automobile manufacturer, in contrast to other performance specialists which are aftermarket tuners.
As an example, the Alpina B7 is produced at the same assembly line in Dingolfing, Germany, as BMW’s own 7 Series. The B7’s twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 is assembled by hand at Alpina’s facility in Buchloe, Germany, before being shipped to BMW for installation, and the assembled vehicle is then sent back to Alpina for finishing touches.
Established
1965
Headquarters
Buchloe, Germany
History
In 1962, the story of Alpina began, when Burkard Bovensiepen developed a Weber dual carburetor for the BMW 1500. This carburetor was well-received by the automotive press, as well as BMW’s own sales boss Paul G. Hahnemann. In 1964, BMW certified the quality of the Alpina products by awarding BMW vehicles fitted with the Alpina system the full factory guarantee. In the first year, Alpina established its core competency tuning carburetors and crankshafts to extract more power from BMW engines, elements that eventually defined the company’s logo, which came into being in 1967.
Between 1968 and 1977, Alpina cars did very well in competition. Since 1983 Alpina has been recognized by the German Federal Ministry of Transport as an automobile manufacturer, thus Alpina-built cars are branded and registered as Alpina instead of BMW, although an Alpina can be bought and serviced at select BMW dealerships, and covered if there is a warranty issue.Alpina have some distinctive features like, 20 spoke alloy wheels, “Alpina Blue” patented metallic paint, in addition to expensive interior materials used to fabricate the exclusive interior appointments.
More Information
A typical blue and green pattern, same as in the logo, is often used on interior parts such as stitchings on leather and different fabrics used in the upholstery. When compare cars from BMW’s in-house performance subsidiary, BMW M. The Alpina vehicles have more emphasis on luxury, higher torque, and have automatic transmissions instead of manual or semi-automatic transmissions. Taking an example, the high performance variants of the BMW E60 5-Series. The B5 offers a different take on performance and how to accomplish it. Same as BMW M’s own M5 which has a naturally aspirated, high-revving 5.0L V10. The Alpina B5 uses a supercharged 4.4L V8 which produces similar horsepower and remarkably greater torque at lower rpm.
3-Series Based Alpinas
Alpina C1
The Alpina C1 was based on the E21 323i and was among their most popular early models, providing superior performance over the unmodified car. The C1 2.3 made 125 kW / 170 hp and 225 Nm of torque. 0–100 km/h was achieved in 7.8s. Top speed was 213 km/h. The extra power is due to special Mahle pistons, and a special exhaust and ignition system. It also received dry-sump lubrication and a short-ratio five-speed gearbox.
Alpina C2
An interesting variant of the M20 engine was Alpina’s C2. The first C2 combined the wider bore of the M20B25 with the slightly larger 76.8 mm (3.02 in) crankshaft of an M20B23. To create a torquier engine of 2552 cc. This version put out 185 PS (136 kW) and 265 N·m (195 lb·ft), 74 units were built between 1985 and November 1986. After the C2 2.7 appeared in the spring of 1986, the 2.5 was slightly upgraded and gained five horsepower.
Alpina B6
The B6 2.8 is based on the 323i, but uses the same B6/2 engine used in the B6 E21. The car makes 210 bhp and 270 Nm of torque. Top speed is 230 km/h. 0-100 is achieved in 7.2 seconds. The engine uses custom MAHLE pistons and rods. The cylinder head was ported and polished, and a hotter cam was used. The Alpina B6 3.5 S uses the M3 chassis. The 3.5s like the 3.5 uses the B10/2 M30 “big six” which makes 261 bhp and 346 Nm of torque.
Alpina B3 GT3
In 2011, to celebrate Alpina’s victory ADAC GT Masters with an Alpina B6 GT3. Alpina decided to produce a limited run of the Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo, called the Alpina B3 GT3. The most noticeable the exterior: The B3 GT3 sports a carbon fibre rear wing, a special front splitter and 19″ lightweight Alpina GT3 Classic wheels, painted in Himalaya Grey. The B3 GT3 available in Black Sapphire metallic, Mineral White metallic, Alpina Blue metallic or with a full body vinyl wrap in the official GT3 design.
8-Series Based Alpinas
B12 5.0
The B12 5.0 was built from 1990 to 1994 based on the BMW E31 850i with an Alpina modified BMW M70 V12 (shared with the E32 B12 5.0) producing 257 kW (349 PS; 345 hp) mated to a automatic transmission.
B12 5.7
The B12 5.7 was available from 1992, based on the 850CSi with an increased displacement BMW S70 V12 with a modified intake. Crankshaft and a stainless steel exhaust system. And a six speed manual gearbox with an optional system called Shift-Tronic that automatically actuates the clutch when shifting and allows the vehicle to creep in traffic 32 B12 5.7s were equipped with Shift-Tronic.
Alpina V8 Roadster
In the year 2003, the production of BMW Z8 was replaced by the Alpina V8 Roadster. The Alpina was a departure from the hard-edged sporting focus of the original car. Instead of the original six-speed manual and 4.9 L (S62) engine featured in Z8’s, the Alpina came only as an automatic, using a five-speed BMW Steptronic transmission mated to a 4.8 L Alpina-tuned V8 motor from the Alpina E39 B10 V8 S (BMW M62B48).
So, the standard Z8’s run-flat tires on 18 in (46 cm) wheels discarded in favor of conventional tires with softer sidewalls, on 20 in (51 cm) wheels. Performance of the Alpina V8 differed from that of the standard car in that peak power reduced to 375 hp (280 kW) while peak torque was raised to 383 lb·ft (519 N·m); this torque was available at significantly lower rpm than the original in order to enable more relaxed cruising. Only 555 model of the V8 roadster were made and most models are exported to the United States.