Alpina
Alpina is a high-end luxury automobile brand by BMW. Alpina originally started as an automobile manufacturing company named Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen, based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars. The company was officially renamed BMW Alpina in 2025. Alpina works closely with BMW and their processes are integrated into BMW's production lines, and is recognized by the German Ministry of Transport as an automobile manufacturer, in contrast to other performance specialists, which are aftermarket tuners. 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.
The firm was founded in 1965 by Burkard Bovensiepen, a member of the Bovensiepen family of industrialists. On 10 March 2022, BMW announced its intention to acquire Alpina. That same day, BMW wrote on its website that it had officially acquired the brand.
History
Alpina's roots can be traced back to 1962, 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 this Alpina product by awarding BMW vehicles fitted with the Alpina system the full factory guarantee.Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen KG was established on 1 January 1965 in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria. The company had eight employees. Although Alpina started by producing typewriters, the original Alpina ceased to exist at the end of the 1960s in their attempt to move into the textile industry. In 1965, Burkard established a BMW tuning business, following his success with investments in the stock market. He started the tuning business in an outbuilding of the original Alpina typewriter factory. The company worked on carburetors and revised cylinder heads. By 1970, with seventy employees, the original facility changed locations from Kaufbeuren to Buchloe.
In its first years, Alpina established its core competency by tuning carburetors and camshafts 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. The highlight was in 1970, when the team's cars won the European Touring Car Championship, the German Hillclimb Championship, rally and track racing championships, and the prestigious Spa 24 Hours.
Alpina officially withdrew from racing in 1988 because of capacity limitations and restrictions. Tied to this was the decision to begin production of a new set of BMW Alpina automobiles.
Brand distinctions
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 serviced at all BMW dealerships, and is fully covered if a warranty issue arises. Alpina automobiles are also sold at some BMW dealerships.Distinctive features of Alpina vehicles are the fact that these models are literally "manu-factured", meaning "hand-made". The production process switches between fine tuning the engine, delivering it to the BMW plant, marrying engine and body there, and bringing it back to Alpina for interior upgrade with Alpina's specific components, again all in a hand-made process that allows only limited production numbers. Besides engine and interior, Alpina also optimizes the transmission and installs steering wheel-mounted button shifters on most cars, with paddle shifters used on the B4 S Edition 99. This has historic reasons, since Alpina was the first to mount shifting buttons on the steering wheel.
Distinguishing marks from the exterior are the 20-spoke alloy wheels with hidden valves under the center cap and the "Alpina Blue" or "Alpina Green" metallic exterior colours. Inside, "the finest materials are used to fabricate the exclusive feel". A typical blue and green pattern is often used on interior parts such as stitching on leather. A thin, pinstriped style outside body decor set in gold or silver is also a hallmark of older Alpina cars which is an option on new Alpina models. Another distinguishing mark is the Alpina wordmark at the bottom of the car's front, a design heralded from its racing cars. A metal plate inside also proves the heritage and the serial number of the car.
Compared to cars from BMW's in-house performance subsidiary, BMW M, Alpina's vehicles have more emphasis on Touring, higher torque, and have their own Alpina-style shiftable ZF automatic transmissions instead of manual or semi-automatic transmissions. For instance, regarding the high performance variants of the BMW E60 5 Series, the B5 offers a different take on performance and how to accomplish it. Unlike 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 greater torque at lower rpm.
Current lineup
- Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Saloon/Touring: based on the BMW F30/F31 3 Series - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six bi-turbocharged diesel engine, delivering /
- Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo Saloon/Touring: based on the BMW F30/F31 3 Series - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six bi-turbocharged petrol engine, delivering /
- Alpina XD3: based on the BMW G01 X3 - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six diesel engine:
- *a quad-turbocharged version delivering /
- *a bi-turbocharged version delivering /
- Alpina D4 Bi-Turbo Coupé/Convertible: based on the BMW F32/F33 4 Series - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six bi-turbo diesel engine, delivering /
- Alpina B4 S Bi-Turbo Coupé/Convertible: based on the BMW F32/F33 4 Series - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six bi-turbocharged engine, delivering /
- Alpina B4 S Bi-Turbo Edition 99 Coupé/Convertible: based on the BMW F32/F33 4 Series - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six bi-turbocharged engine, delivering /
- Alpina XD4: based on the BMW G02 X4 - featuring a 3.0-litre quad-turbocharged straight-six diesel engine delivering
- Alpina D5 S Saloon/Touring: based on the BMW G30/G31 5 Series - featuring a 3.0-litre straight-six bi-turbocharged diesel engine :
- *delivering /
- *delivering /
- Alpina B5 Saloon/Touring: based on the BMW G30/G31 5 Series - featuring a 4.4-litre V8 bi-turbocharged engine. /
- Alpina B6 Bi-Turbo Coupé/Convertible/Gran Coupé: based on the BMW F06/F12/F13 6 Series - featuring a 4.4 L V8 bi-turbo engine. /
- Alpina B8 Gran Coupe: based on the BMW G16 8 Series - featuring a 4.4 L V8 bi-turbo engine. 630 PS /
- Alpina XB7: based on the BMW G07 X7 - featuring a 4.4 L V8 bi-turbo engine. 621 PS /
Alpina XD3
Alpina XD4
The Alpina XD4 debuted at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. It is fitted with a modified version of the B57 diesel engine with four turbochargers, and outputs and. The XD4 is the fastest accelerating diesel-powered production SUV, and can accelerate from 0– in 4.6 seconds, with a top speed of. It is available in left-hand drive markets only.Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo
The F30 Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo was in production since March 2013. It is based on the BMW F30 335i with a bi-turbocharged 3.0 litre six cylinder. The engine with of torque accelerates the B3 from 0– in 4.0 seconds. The top speed is. The B3 Biturbo is available as a sedan or touring, both can be combined with xDrive four-wheel drive.Alpina modified the exterior with front and rear spoilers and a quad-exit exhaust system.
In March 2017, Alpina revised the engine of the B3. It now produces.
A new model based on the G20 3 Series replaced the F30 model, it uses the S58 3.0 litre bi-turbo inline six engine producing and of torque, which is more than the BMW M3, and more than the BMW M3 Competition.