Ashley1995 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) Birthdays in the car industry are good. Rather than cut a dishevelled cake into measly slices before serving them on a greasy napkin, carmakers give us special editions to buy. And Alpina is no exception. Everyone's favourite BMW tuner has hit the big five-zero, and it's marking the occasion with ‘Bi-Turbo Edition 50' versions of its B5 and B6. And they're the most powerful cars it's yet cranked out. If you need bringing up to speed, the clues are in their names: the B5 is based on the 5-Series saloon and Touring, the B6 uses the 6-Series coupe as its starting point. Both already come with Bi-Turbo variants, a retuned version of the BMW M5's 4.4-litre petrol V8 powering them. Alpina swaps BMW's pair of turbochargers for its own, though, as well as tweaking the cooling system and fitting lighter pistons. It also fits its own automatic gearbox and gives the cars a slightly calmer, though still fun character. For the Edition 50, further spanners have been wielded. Tweaks for the induction and fuel systems have freed 60bhp and 52lb ft, taking the B5 and B6's totals to 592bhp and 590lb ft. Despite neither car being light or small, that's enough for a 4.2-second 0-62mph time and a 204mph top speed, a 6mph improvement. Yep, Alpina even does away with BMW's spoilsport speed limiter. Mm anyone feel like giving me £80k I'd be grateful http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/alpina-b5-b6-biturbo-edition-50-specials-2015-03-27 Edited March 31, 2015 by Ashley1995 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjn Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 They looked lovely in the flesh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob- Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Imagine telling the designers of the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959 that in a few years you'll be able to go faster in a family saloon and for a fraction of the price. troublesome84, Maxtek and sive s 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Never liked Alpina's.. Hate the wheels and the stupid Alpina badges all over the cars.. Don't care if they're quick! Suppose if they're quick I don't have to look at them as long as someone passing by the car.. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aamir Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Yet to see an ugly Alpina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Yet to see an ugly Alpina. Yet to see a good looking one for me (well, since the older E30 era models). Everything since has been utter b*llox.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz 330 Cs Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 I too loathe the poverty spec SE bumpers they fit, along with the nasty mahoosive badges that are visible from the moon. momo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxtek Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Yet to see an ugly Alpina. Yet to see a good looking one for me (well, since the older E30 era models). Everything since has been utter b*llox.. This sort of/almost falls into the E30 era, still disagree? I've said this before but I hate modern cars however Alpina usually do a good job making them attractive. Also, the new-ish style of Alpina wheels are horrible, all about the ones with the Style 32 look. Ashley1995 and TriggerFish 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob- Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 There was a green one of those for sale on BMW5 recently. Lovely looking car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob- Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 That's the one, should be able to see it without signing up? http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/103568-testing-the-water-alpina-b10-35-anyone-%C2%A34000/#entry1153181 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd_330 Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 Check the Alpina E31 8 series on auto trader, its a beauty....http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201501079982230/sort/pricedesc/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/alpina/make/bmw/postcode/wf128bl/radius/1500/channel/cars/usedcars/quicksearch/true?logcode=p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxtek Posted March 31, 2015 Report Share Posted March 31, 2015 That's the one, should be able to see it without signing up?http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/103568-testing-the-water-alpina-b10-35-anyone-%C2%A34000/#entry1153181 You're right, that does look gorgeous, I love the selection of Alpina colours. Cool plate too. Check the Alpina E31 8 series on auto trader, its a beauty....http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201501079982230/sort/pricedesc/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/alpina/make/bmw/postcode/wf128bl/radius/1500/channel/cars/usedcars/quicksearch/true?logcode=p Those tail pipes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjn Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) From this year's Geneva Motorshow Edited April 1, 2015 by mjn Maxtek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Yet to see an ugly Alpina. Yet to see a good looking one for me (well, since the older E30 era models). Everything since has been utter b*llox.. This sort of/almost falls into the E30 era, still disagree? I've said this before but I hate modern cars however Alpina usually do a good job making them attractive. Also, the new-ish style of Alpina wheels are horrible, all about the ones with the Style 32 look. That's from around the era I thought Alpina were ok. There's the E30 Alpina on this forum - that's beautiful! But it all comes down to this for me - The look Alpina go for is more suited to cars from the late 80's to early 90's because it's a better version of the same type of styling from that era. All Alpina have done since then (in my opinion) is to re-hash that same look over and over and over for every generation since. Multispoke wheels and stuuuuuupidly huuuuuuuuge badges on front bumpers are a thing of 25-30 years ago! It doesn't look good now.. AC Scnitzer on the other hand - they seem to cater for all eras. They have designs which have evolved along with the cars culminating in: (Drool..) Can't fault what Alpina do for the actual driving experience though - more power and to make it a better drive! Love it! Shame they're so damn ugly.. Maxtek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
das_flo Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Alpinas are awesome, a strong part of BMW's heritage, they were knocking out cars before M3's & M5's were even thought up. I love the traditionalism, the side stripes, gold lettering on the splitter, wood, the lot. They're not knocking out big amounts of cars a year, I think it's quality not quantity. My only gripe with them of late, is the dire spec level of the D3's. An otherwise handsome and attractive proposition. Maxtek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunk1 Posted April 2, 2015 Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 (edited) I loved my old B10's, they were great cars, wasn't so impressed with the B3 vert i had Edited April 2, 2015 by dunk1 Maxtek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...