Ever since BMW bought Alpina, there’s been worry about what its future products will be. Will they have the same charm, luxury, or handling magic that Bovenseipen family-led Alpina models did? Or will BMW turn Alpina in to just a top-end trim level, like Mercedes did with Maybach? Whatever these new BMW Alpina models end up being, we know they’re going to be fast. The first of them just proved it at the Nardo Ring high-speed test facility in Italy, clocking over 186 mph.
“Speed has always been baked into the Alpina brand’s DNA. However, we are not just interested in top speed alone. What matters is how natural, stable and confident it feels to drive at that speed,” said Oliver Viellechner, vice president of BMW Alpina.
BMW
Nardo is the right place to test a car’s top speed, with its 12.6-kilometer banked circular track. According to BMW, this Alpina sedan was able to surpass the 300 km/h (186 mph) mark. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, as the current Alpina B7 is capable of 205 mph. So if this new one can’t reach that same high mark, it will be the first big “L” for the BMW Alpina brand. BMW calls its Alpina models “distance shrinking machines,” so at least we know the Bavarians have the right idea.
BMW won’t say exactly what this model is, but it’s pretty clearly an Alpina B7, unless BMW decides to give the 7 Series-based Alpina a different name. There’s no denying that it’s a 7 Series underneath, though, with the same upright front end, taillights, and overall size. Out back, there are quad exhausts, an Alpina design staple, and it’s confirmed to have a V8. Will it just have a tuned BMW V-8 or will it be as similarly upgraded as previous Alpina models were? When Alpina (mostly) ran its own show, it would borrow BMW engines, strip them down, and massive upgrade most of its main parts, including pistons, cooling systems, turbochargers, and manifolds. Will this new one just be the hottest state of tune for its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8? You can hear it in the video BMW put out and it sounds… okay.
BMW
However, noise was never really Alpina’s game. Even its V-8s were pretty tame sounding. They’d put down weapons-grade power, but never really sounded overly thrilling, by design. Alpinas are supposed to be fast but sophisticated, sharp but comfortable, and exciting but quiet. BMW says it used Pirelli P Zero tires that were specifically designed for Alpina, and they have foam inside to help quiet down any tire noise.
We’ll finally see the Alpina B7—or whatever it ends up being called—next year, and we’re incredibly curious to find out what it will be like. This is the first product under the BMW Alpina name, and the first Alpina to have no involvement from the Bovenseipen family. This new B7 has big shoes to fill, so it will be interesting, exciting, and a little nerve-racking to find out if it can.
