To the uninitiated, this just looks like a '90s BMW on spangly aftermarket wheels, plenty of owners limiting their Alpina treatment to just that. The real thing is a lot more serious, Alpina’s modifications extensive enough for it to qualify as a manufacturer in its own right much as Brabus is to Mercedes and Ruf to Porsche.
Why would you have an Alpina BMW over an M one though, especially given they both made go-faster E39s based around V8 engines? It’s all about the character. An M5 is all about the motorsport-influenced power and handling where Alpina combines performance with a more understated sense of luxury and opulence. Alpinas are fast but they’re also refined and cossetting, the interiors typically extravagantly trimmed in (occasionally lairy) leather and wood, the trademark bodywork pin-striping a tad kitsch but cool in its own way, especially paired with the distinctive wheels.
There was a V8-powered B10, eventually turning out 375hp in S trim. If I were to have a V8 E39 I’d have to have an M5 though, which is why this straight-six B10 3.3 appeals so much. Based on the 193hp 528i, it was uprated to 280hp and would, I think, have just the right balance of performance and refinement. I’ve wittered on about my love of BMW six-cylinder engines several times before; this one with a tickle from Alpina has all that desirability plus a little bit more. You could get the Alpinas as Touring models too, which is a very appealing idea and one BMW never offered in M form. To my mind BMWs are best as saloons though, which is why this one looks just about perfect.
If nothing else it proves ‘aftermarket’ covers a lot more than loud exhausts, big spoilers and daft power outputs. In Alpina’s case, it’s about taking an already brilliant BMW and making it even better, with a touch of style and class all of its own.