Alpina B7

[///Sniper535]

What do you guys think about it?

there was one at work this week and it looks great for an E66 7 series. Sounds like a monster too.

[CharlesAFerg]

Not powerfull enough considering it's an Alpina and the size of the car, let alone the engine bay having so much potential for a large displacement engine.

[krzysiom5]

Not powerfull enough considering it's an Alpina and the size of the car, let alone the engine bay having so much potential for a large displacement engine.

Are you kidding me...500 ponys not enough :D

Kris,

[CharlesAFerg]

Are you kidding me...500 ponys not enough :D

Kris,

I'm surprised they didn't put in a supercharged V12 for that thing, they probably have room.

Especially considering that the M5 has 507.

[Macv]

Whatever.... watching a b7 slide sideways is enough for me to drool.

[Macv]

oh yeah...... i forgot the link

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o6JTR95mpFc

[markus]

meh, put the engine in an E34 or something. I hate the E65. The restyled one looks better but its just one fat POS. the E38 was the last good looking 7.

[Alan_525i]

4.4 second 0-60 is plenty fast enough for me.

I saw one here on the street in Philadelphia in Alpina Blue. Money no object, I think I'd own one. Maybe even ahead of a E60 M5. I mean, imagine pulling up next to a stoplight and seeing another M5 next to you. The horror. That won't happen with the Alpina. :D

[CharlesAFerg]

4.4 second 0-60 is plenty fast enough for me.

I saw one here on the street in Philadelphia in Alpina Blue. Money no object, I think I'd own one. Maybe even ahead of a E60 M5. I mean, imagine pulling up next to a stoplight and seeing another M5 next to you. The horror. That won't happen with the Alpina. :D

Yeah, but with the Alpina it's not about "being fast enough" is it? They could easily do more, especially considering they shoved an M5 V10 into the new 3-series...

[ThoreauHD]

I agree with Charles. It's a beautiful car but they went moderate on the engine. I didn't really understand why they used the 4.5 liter V8. They really did push that engine to the max, as it surpasses the vanilla V12- but why. I thought the mission of alpina was to push the car beyond what BMWs premium models offered. If they tweaked the V12.. oh my.

I don't think the mark was hit with this build. I love the alpina's, don't get me wrong. But it's odd how they went with this setup. I'd actually like to buy their wheels for my car, but I'd probably have to debadge them so I don't look like a pretentious *******.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/toasty0z/B7engine.jpg

2007 BMW ALPINA B7
ON SALE: November
BASE PRICE: $125,000 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 4.4-liter, 493-hp, 506-lb-ft super-charged V8; rwd, six-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT: 4400 lbs (est.)
0 TO 60 MPH: 4.8 seconds (mfr.)
COMBINED FUEL MILEAGE: 18.9 mpg (mfr.)

BMW 760Li
Type: V12
Displacement cu in (cc): 364 (5972)
Power bhp (kW) at RPM: 438(327) / 6000
Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM: 444(602) / 3950
Redline at RPM: n.a.
Brakes & Tires
Brakes F/R: ABS, vented disc/vented disc
Tires F-R: 245/50 R18
Driveline: Rear Wheel Drive
Exterior Dimensions & Weight
Length × Width × Height in: 201.6 × 74.2 × 58.2
Weight lb (kg): n.a.
Performance
Acceleration 0-62 mph s: 5.4
Top Speed mph (km/h): 155 (250)
Fuel Economy EPA city/highway mpg (l/100 km): 15/23 (n.a.)
Base Price: 2007 BMW 760Li - $121,400 / 111,900 € (last update: 2/20/2007)

On the other hand, Dinan is looking at getting 620 HP out of the V10/V12's. I just think that I have something different in my head when I think of the 7 series. If the 3 series can hold a V10, the 7 series should do more.

[Macv]

the 7 series should do more.

like a W16 >:)

[Alan_525i]

I suppose they "could have done more" with it. But the market for a 110K car is already pretty limited. If they worked over the V12, they'd wind up with a car that would probably run close to 150K. Can they really sell them? Probably not. While BMW is a great brand, there were quite a few Z8s (both M5-motored and Alpina variety) left on dealer lots at the end of the production run. I hear there are actually still a small number left new sitting in dealer warehouses.

While I am all-for making high performance cars, there are still a lot of considerations that have to be made that limit how extreme a car can be built. Especially when they are going to be sold through BMW dealerships.

Alpina is not like most of the other European tuners. While tuners like Hartge are always stuffing HUGE motors into cars not designed for them, Alpina is content to make cars that have elevated performance that is still USABLE. Alpina cars are sold along side "regular" BMWs. That should give you and indication of what they are about. They are mostly sold with their Switchtronic transmission, a manually shifted automatic. They make high performance Diesels. Very rarely do their cars greatly exceed the performance of BMW's M models. The Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo and E30 M3-based B6 3.5 are examples of cars that really did offer a hugh jump in performance over the comparable M cars. Lately, however, Alpina has been building cars with a bit of extra performance and a lot of exclusivity. A 625 HP V12 isn't that far out of their philosphy, but given the market the car was designed for, it makes perfect sense that it turned out the way it did.

If you want something crazy useless and expensive, go buy an S600 or S65.

EDIT For example: Look at page 7 of this Autocar UK article and see how small the performance difference is between the M6 and the Alpina B6 - http://alpina-automobiles.com/downloads/testberichte/1155288345QuickestCars_200608.pdf

[filip00]

Yeah, but with the Alpina it's not about "being fast enough" is it? They could easily do more, especially considering they shoved an M5 V10 into the new 3-series...


not really, HARTGE did that.

plus, alpina already ****ed up when messing with the Z8, they pulled out the m5 e39 engine with 400hp, and put in a 4.8l 375hp engine in it !???

[ThoreauHD]

I think you make a good point about the pricing Alan. When the 760 V12 comes at the pricing of the Alpina B7, it would be hitting a rich dude price ceiling. And if that's the case, perhaps they shouldn't make a B7. A 5 series with a V12 engine would do quite nicely, thanks. All the money they save by it being a 5'er, they can spend on stuffing a monster engine into the thing.

Yea, I know the Hartge and Dinan folks will go above and beyond to push the car beyond it's natural limits, and Alpina is more of a low key(let's not replace the whole transmission) type of tweak/upgrade. But I didn't think that any of them were concerned about price. And if they are, they should probably stay away from the 7 series and focus on the 3's and 5's.