Alpina may not be an official part of the BMW empire, but the low-volume manufacturer has been turning up the wick on a number of BMW road cars for over 50 years.
And now it’s coming to Australia. With the official blessing of BMW Australia, Alpina’s B4 and B3 ranges (based on the BMW 4 Series and BMW 3 Series respectively) are on their way to our shores, with local importer, The In Motion Group, handling distribution.
The first Alpina to be offered will be the B4 Bi-Turbo Coupe, which, with 301kW of power and 600Nm of torque, offers just 16kW less than the BMW M4 but 50Nm more twist.
With a 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.2 seconds, the B4 Bi-Turbo Coupe is just a tenth of a second slower than the M4 Coupe.
Pricing has yet to be confirmed, however with every vehicle being built to order - with extensive customisation options available for the exterior, wheels, exhaust and interior - odds are high that few cars brought here will be “base grade” anyhow.
All Alpinas are finished at the company’s plant in Buchoe, near Munich, with many components sent to be installed on BMW’s assembly lines. More than just an aftermarket 'tune', all Alpinas are issued their own BMW-Alpina VIN and build plate.
Following the B4 Bi-Turbo Coupe - which goes on sale in November - will be the B4-Bi Turbo Convertible, as well as the B3 Bi-Turbo sedan and B3 Bi-Turbo Touring wagon.
The latter three are all currently undergoing the ADR homologation process, however demonstrator models are due to arrive from November this year.
The In Motion Group will start selling Alpinas through just two dealerships initially (one each in Bundoora and Doncaster, Melbourne), though the company expects to announce dealer locations in other capital cities later this year.
Expect more information - including pricing - to be released later in 2016.
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