BMW BLOG

Another lucky UK auto magazine had the opportunity to drive the stunning Alpina B7. The fellows at CarMagazine spend some time one of the most talked cars on our blog in the past few weeks.

After seeing the initial reviews and shortly followed by some amazing photos, we decided to keep an eye open for any reviews.

Unfortunately for those of us in the U.S., we won’t be able to test the car, but maybe in our next trip to Europe we can arrange for that.

So the Alpina B7 is simply a quicker BMW 7-series with a fast-looking aero kit?

It’s much more than that, I can assure you. It would be relatively easy for a common-or-garden tuner to slap on a bit of a body kit, bigger wheels, get the magic screwdriver and turn up the turbo boost and call it a four-door supercar. But Alpina is all about serious engineering – every aspect of its cars has an engineering basis. They don’t do frippery and whimsy in Buchloe.

Take the B7’s stunning 21-spoke finned wheels – their air valves are secreted in the central hub rather than on the rim to ensure supreme high-speed stability. Then there’s the 4.4-litre bi-turbo V8 powerplant – the all-alloy unit is fitted with bespoke blowers and air-water-water-air intercoolers, high-performance cylinders and a trio of electronic control units. Result? A hefty 507bhp at 5500rpm and 517lb ft of torque at 3000rpm.

It’s brisk, then?

It’s more than that – it’s blindingly quick. The blown V8 delivers shattering acceleration – the B7 is as quick as an Aston Martin Vantage to 60mph – and headbutts its 174mph electronic limiter with a callous disregard for physics.

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