Alpina B6 Cabriolet

[Alex Baumann]

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/newsstory.php?make=2&range=&model=&reviewField=2598&type=1

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/images/b6/-/03.jpg

[Lanc3r]

Sehr klasse :cool:

[SmoothCruise]

Beautiful, wish they lowered the chassis a bit, car looks a tad bit too high off the ground.

However, I read the details... I love the engine: 500HP, 700NM torque. Fantastic. Doesn't say what they did to the engine to generate that sort of numbers. Their modified 5 uses a super charger, I wonder if they did the same here.

[AriciU]

Same engine as the 545, witch they use for the B5 so it's prolly exactly the same. Too bad they won't perform the mods alone... just sell you the whole car.

http://streetdream.de/cars/alpina/b6_02.jpg
http://streetdream.de/cars/alpina/b6_01.jpg

[Southern6er]

Performance
Engine Size................4398cc
Engine Assistance.......Supercharger
Engine Type...............V8
Gear Box....................6-speed automatic
Power........................493bhp
(rpm..........................@5500rpm)
Torque........................516lb ft
(rpm..........................@4250rpm)0-60..........................4.7secs

From their site...

[SmoothCruise]

Is that one of the blues available for the 6, or is this a blue unique to Alpina?

Does Alpina have other color options outside of what BMW offers?


Just curious.

[AriciU]

That's Alpina blue for sure. Kinda like LeMans blue but more "deep" i think.

[Alex Baumann]

Is that one of the blues available for the 6, or is this a blue unique to Alpina?

Does Alpina have other color options outside of what BMW offers?


Just curious.

It's often referred as Alpina Blue. The 'scientific' name for it is Dunkelsaphirblau Metallic (Dark Sapphire Blue), Alpina number 07 59 016.

Another Alpina exclusive color is Alpina Green.

http://www.autobytel-japan.r3h.net/www.autobytel-japan.com/special/tms/alpina/02.jpg

[SmoothCruise]

It's often referred as Alpina Blue. The 'scientific' name for it is Dunkelsaphirblau Metallic (Dark Sapphire Blue), Alpina number 07 59 016.

Another Alpina exclusive color is Alpina Green.

http://www.autobytel-japan.r3h.net/www.autobytel-japan.com/special/tms/alpina/02.jpg


Nice green, but instead of calling it Alpina Green, it should be called Christmas Green. Now all that's missing is Santa and his Reindeers. :)

[Alex Baumann]

Nice green, but instead of calling it Alpina Green, it should be called Christmas Green. Now all that's missing is Santa and his Reindeers. :)

Hehehe, well Alpina green is not a popular choice among the buyers. I've seen maybe 1 or 2 cars with that color, not more.

[AriciU]

Hehe, green is the least popular colour for a car IMO. I'd never get a green car.

[Southern6er]

I had the Oxford Green Metallic on a previous BMW and the interior was the natural brown leather. Looked great.

British racing Green on the old TR-6's was sweet!

[Bonezilla]

The pin striping is hideous. I've seen that kind of stuff on low riders.

[Alex Baumann]

The pin striping is hideous. I've seen that kind of stuff on low riders.

That's an Alpina trademark, not your average low rider :rolleyes:

[bmwxdrive]

This might be a stupid question but what is alpina? Is it a higher division of BMW? :)

[Lanc3r]

Nice green, but instead of calling it Alpina Green, it should be called Christmas Green. Now all that's missing is Santa and his Reindeers. :)
:rofl:

ALPINA the ultimate Christmas present. :D

[bmwxdrive]

No seriously, what is Alpina?

[SmoothCruise]

No seriously, what is Alpina?


Alpina is a tuner for BMW. Tuners in europe means a guy/company that takes a stock car (a brand name car without modifications) and makes the stock car alot faster and handle better.

They usually do this by replacing the the suspension, and adding a turbo charger or super charger onto the car, and making the computer, which controls engine performance, much more agressive.

Dinan comes to mind as one of the more prestigious tuners for BMW. And Dinan's claim to fame is that they can tune your BMW without violating warranty. Only problem with Dinan is that they mostly take after market kits, tune down the performance, and then install it in your car. It's usually alot of money for not much bang for your buck, but at least you are under warranty!

The upper echelon tuners can do some serious modifications which almost makes the stock car their own. Alpina is one of them. Alpina specializes in tuning BMW and they will bore out the engine block, replace the crank and pistons, and add a super charger. I believe they will do things like come up with their own active suspension... forgot.

Hamann, as well as AC Schnitzer are some of the top tuners that also mod engines. Hartge and Racing Dynamics are probably the extreme tuners; they go so far as to replace your engine with something more performant. Just to give you an idea:

Stock BMW 6 motor: V8, 323hp @ 5500 rpm, 330 lb-ft torque @ 3600 rpm
Stock BMW M6 motor: V10, 507hp @ 7750 rpm, 383 lb-ft torque @ 6100 rpm
Racing Dynamics RD54 motor: V8, 496HP @ 7300, 408 lb-ft torque @ 3800 rpm

The RD54 motor is for the 6er, but they have several engine options you can choose from for your 6er.

One of them is crazy. Racing Dynamics took out the 6ers V8 engine, and put in a V12 motor. The M6 scheduled to be released in America has only a V10 motor in it. Hartge has done even more outrageous things. Do a search for Hartge and 645. You can see their ugly looking 6. But Hartge has done things such as replacing the BMW hatchback, 1ers, with a V8 engine. They've crammed a V12 motor in a 3 series.

Most of these tuners I mentioned will require you to send them your car to get modified. For Hartge, you must ship your car over to Germany. Hamann and Racing Dynamics have regional centers where you can ship your car. You'll need to ship your car over to New England to get it tuned by Dinan. Some of these tuners will work together with your local tuner if you are uneasy about shipping out your car, but they much prefer to mod your car directly. In most of Europe, you usually don't buy your performance car stock. You usually get them from one of these tuners.

Anyways, if you do a search on tuning on the website, you'll get mostly local tuners who usually just buy after market supercharger/turbo charger kits and install it on your car. Many of these tuners make most of their money repairing/maintaining high performance cars instead of making them go faster.

Some of these local tuners may do things that Hartge and Hamann, & Co won't do, like customize your computer, ECU, to handle several modifications made from the various tuners. So for instance, suppose you have an audi which you bored and stroked the engine, and then put on a blower from KTR. Well, the KTR kit may have it's own programming for your comp, but it doesn't take into account the fact that you stroked your engine. Now you need to find a chip tuner, and there are some shops that do that. My friend owns such a shop, that's the only reason why I know this stuff.


If you want to know what tuners do, go to the website: www.tuningnews.net

By the way, look up Brabus while you are there. They focus on tuning Mercedes Benz cars. You can compare what they do to what a stock MB has. They take stock MBs and make them into rockets.

[beewang]

Alpina is a tuner for BMW. Tuners in europe means a guy/company that takes a stock car (a brand name car without modifications) and makes the stock car alot faster and handle better.....

Actually...contrary to popular belief, Alpina is not a tuner per se. They are in fact an automobile manufacture :eeps: . This separates Alpina from everyone else (i.e Hamman, AC Schnitzer, Racing Dymanics etc.) in that Alpina is an automibile manufacture, and others are NOT. ;)

Back me up on this Baumann :D

[bmw330pp]

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/newsstory.php?make=2&range=&model=&reviewField=2598&type=1

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/images/b6/-/03.jpg
Very nice subtle and classy. :thumbup: Better than that ACS 6er you posted last week.

[SmoothCruise]

Actually...contrary to popular belief, Alpina is not a tuner per se. They are in fact an automobile manufacture :eeps: . This separates Alpina from everyone else (i.e Hamman, AC Schnitzer, Racing Dymanics etc.) in that Alpina is an automibile manufacture, and others are NOT. ;)

Back me up on this Baumann :D


Wow, I didn't know that. I have read a few articles on Alpina which suggests to me that they basically put in their own active suspension, and transmission, which I thought was really impressive for a 'tuner'.

[SmoothCruise]

No seriously, what is Alpina?


Isn't there an Alpina ski maker too? Can they possibly the same company? I would love to increase the boost on my ski's :)

[SmoothCruise]

Very nice subtle and classy. :thumbup: Better than that ACS 6er you posted last week.


I don't know... those rims don't look subtle at all, but I do like them.

[bmw330pp]

I don't know... those rims don't look subtle at all, but I do like them.
There are fine in my book as long as they aren't chrome. The only thing I don't like is the pinstriping on the upper portion of the car.

[Alex Baumann]

Beewang is correct. Alpina is a registered car manufacturer, unlike other tuners.

There's a lot more involved in Alpina cars than just dropping a suspension and a gearbox. Alpina develops engines, based on the existing BMW engine blocks. The close cooperation with BMW makes them a very competent partner for BMW. For instance, the 4.6 in the X5 4.6is is an Alpina brainchild.

One of the most interesting Alpinas is the B8, which is a car that was born after a bet during the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show between Mr Bovensiepen, founder of Alpina, and the BMW CEO. Dropping a V8 in an E36 looked a hell of a job for BMW engineers, but Mr Bovensiepen was confident that his team could do it. To my knowledge, the chassis of the stock E36 had to be heavily modified to accomodate the V8 under the hood (42 modifications in total). One of the funniest parts during the development was the discovery of the impossibility of installing the engine into the bay from the underneath of the car, so it had to be installed from above :)

This is how a kickass B8 engine bay looks like

http://www.alpina-automobile.de/cms/history/640/b8e36_3.jpg

As a manufacturer, all Alpina cars have their own VIN, the only exception is the Roadster V8 (based on the Z8) that were sold in the USA. The reason was that Alpina is not federalized in the USA, so they had to bear a BMW VIN.

All Alpina engines are being built by hand by one single mechanic (I met the mechanic personally, who built the engine in my car. How cool is that?), with a full manufacturing history. All the engine parts are being weighed and sorted, so that, for instance, every engine has valves having the same weight. Ports are being polished by hand (there's really a dude sitting there and polishing the ports. It's a one full day job).

To make the story short, Alpina is more than just a 'tuner', they are 'building' cars rather than just tuning up engines.

[Mr Paddle.Shift]

For instance, the 4.6 in the X5 4.6is is an Alpina brainchild.


Sadly, most dealers here didn't know this.


Btw, I thought most engine transplants in the E36/E46 are done from above rather than below?

[SmoothCruise]

Beewang is correct. Alpina is a registered car manufacturer, unlike other tuners.


Wow, this is so cool. Thanks for the information.



There's a lot more involved in Alpina cars than just dropping a suspension and a gearbox.

Well, from the few articles I've read about them, I knew they did things that were quite unique from all the other tuners.



Alpina develops engines, based on the existing BMW engine blocks.


I read somewhere that Racing Dynamics does the same thing as well, for some of their engine programs, as well as port and polishing valves and such.



All Alpina engines are being built by hand by one single mechanic (I met the mechanic personally, who built the engine in my car. How cool is that?),


That is way cool.



All the engine parts are being weighed and sorted, so that, for instance, every engine has valves having the same weight. Ports are being polished by hand (there's really a dude sitting there and polishing the ports. It's a one full day job).


I don't know if that is so special.... I talked to the owner of Racing Dynamics, they told me they do the same thing. There's plenty of mom & pop shops in Pennsylvania that build high performing NASCAR engines which also do the same.




To make the story short, Alpina is more than just a 'tuner', they are 'building' cars rather than just tuning up engines.

So weighing, sorting, porting and polishing an engine is enough to qualify for 'building' a car? I would imagine there's a bit more to it to qualify for 'building' and car. Not that I am nit picking, I pretty much agree with you. And like you said, Alpina had to modify the chassis of BMWs too.

Most tuners I've searched for on the internet, are professional aftermarket kit installers. But some actually do really cool individual tuning, like chip tuning for mods from two separate 'mod brands.'

Anyways, thanks for the information. Just one more question, is it true, you can't buy an Alpina car in the states?

Again, thanks for the information.

[beewang]

... Alpina is a registered car manufacturer, unlike other tuners. ....

Hey now.. Baumann... don't flatter yourself :p Your car may be special, but it aint as special as an ///M ;)

;)

[SmoothCruise]

Hey now.. Baumann... don't flatter yourself :p Your car may be special, but it aint as special as an ///M ;)

;)


I'd go with the Alpina over the M. I'm jealous of Baumann. :P

You can find M's everywhere in America, an Alpina in America would be really special. Anyways, Ariciu posted an link where they reviewed an M5 and Alpina B5 side by side. The conclusion was that the Alpina car beats the M5 in 95% of the driving situations. And the 5% belonged to the M for not all, but just some moments on the racetrack.

[Alex Baumann]

So weighing, sorting, porting and polishing an engine is enough to qualify for 'building' a car? I would imagine there's a bit more to it to qualify for 'building' and car. Not that I am nit picking, I pretty much agree with you. And like you said, Alpina had to modify the chassis of BMWs too.

Most tuners I've searched for on the internet, are professional aftermarket kit installers. But some actually do really cool individual tuning, like chip tuning for mods from two separate 'mod brands.'

Anyways, thanks for the information. Just one more question, is it true, you can't buy an Alpina car in the states?

Again, thanks for the information.

It is not just weighing, sorting etc. Alpina is developing engines and components. The supercharger in the new B7 and B5 is a brand new Alpina invention (patented). Excerpt from a B7 review:

The engine features a large nautilus-type supercharger developed by Alpina. It uses a planetary gear set which allows the turbine to spin at 100,000rpm, and has a second throttle plate upstream of the supercharger that can open or close as needed, allowing the unit to keep spinning. There's a patent on this supercharger, and it's an exceptional piece of kit. The design means there is very little gedenkminute with this engine. In case you didn't know, gedenkminute (pronounced get-denk-min-oot-er) is German for a thinking pause, and it's a negative.
For the full review click here (http://www.alpina-automobile.de/downloads/testberichte/en1091783395autocar_B7_0804.pdf)

This kind of work is more than a new head and ligher pistons with an upgraded ECU. There are a lot of inventions in Alpina's past. It's the first company that used metal catalysators instead of ceramic, first german manufacturer that used gear shifting with an electronic clutch management, called Shiftronic (1992- B12) and so on.

These are all Alpina developments and accomplishments, done by Alpina engineers and mechanics.

Yes, it is true that Alpina is officially not available in the USA (yet), probably due to the high federalization costs for the US market. As I've written above, the only exception was the Alpina Roadster V8, which came with a BMW VIN plate.

[SmoothCruise]

Awesome Baumann. Thanks for the information. Alpina basically gets its cars manufactured at BMW, uses a BMW shell, and slaps a BMW emblem on there. Other than that, Alpina is not BMW... that's awesome.

[Alex Baumann]

Awesome Baumann. Thanks for the information. Alpina basically gets its cars manufactured at BMW, uses a BMW shell, and slaps a BMW emblem on there. Other than that, Alpina is not BMW... that's awesome.

The emblem is an agreement between BMW and Alpina. Mr Bovensiepen refers to his cars as "BMW Alpina", not just BMW or just Alpina, which I is a nice gesture, IMO.

[bmw330pp]

I love the idea of 3 series BMW's with v8's, but it looks so hard to maintain. When you look at the engine bay of one of their cars it looks like you can bearly sqeeze a thin open-end wrench through some places. It looks like they would have to remove the engine to change somwthing as general as the spark plugs? :dunno: Is there some truth in what I see Alex? :dunno:

[simon78]

Do you know where in the US we can get some part of Alpina.

Such as rims, exterior parts and so on ?

[inPhilm]

Correct me if I'm wrong...

Tuner's from Europe such as AMG (When they stood alone), Alpina, Schultz, B&B... actually have to have their modded cars tested by the TUV, therefore they will carry an "altered" or new VIN issued by the tuning firm. The reasoning is that in modding an original BMW alters the integrity of a BMW often from a purly saftey standpoint. An example would be having a tuner drastically lower a car put heavy big wheels on, shoe horn in a larger motor. Now the car looks good in person and on paper, but it's balance and handling has been changed (for good or bad) in an accident BMW doesnt want to be associated or responsible.

Of course once the VIN has been changed it is no longer a BMW (or MB) and would not be importable into the USA as even a "grey" market BMW could, since the Tuners did not pass DOT and EPA regulations to import a specific model of car, as BMW and MB does.

[Alex Baumann]

Do you know where in the US we can get some part of Alpina.

Such as rims, exterior parts and so on ?

Here you go:

http://www.ksk-alpina.com/

[Alex Baumann]

I love the idea of 3 series BMW's with v8's, but it looks so hard to maintain. When you look at the engine bay of one of their cars it looks like you can bearly sqeeze a thin open-end wrench through some places. It looks like they would have to remove the engine to change somwthing as general as the spark plugs? :dunno: Is there some truth in what I see Alex? :dunno:

LOL. Yes, not much working space in the engine room. Well, I'd be exaggerating if I'd say that you'd have to remove the whole engine just to change the spark plugs, but it's not as easy as working on an Inline-6.

[SmoothCruise]

LOL. Yes, not much working space in the engine room. Well, I'd be exaggerating if I'd say that you'd have to remove the whole engine just to change the spark plugs, but it's not as easy as working on an Inline-6.


I thought Hartge did the same thing. I seem to recall a video on this forum with an Alpina, Hartge, and an M3 compared.

[Alex Baumann]

I thought Hartge did the same thing. I seem to recall a video on this forum with an Alpina, Hartge, and an M3 compared.

Correct. Hartge dropped a V8 in the E46M3 body. Another fine example of extreme tuning is the Hartge H1 5.0 - a 1 Series with a 5.0L V8, pushing 450hp

More info: http://www.germancarfans.com/tuners.cfm/tunerid/7050603.001/bmw/1.html

[fastsaloons.com]

For those of you who are interested I posted a article about what actually happens at ALPINA these days...

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/images/buchloe-21-may-06/061.jpg
Buchloe Factory visit report (http://www.thealpinaregister.com/newsstory.php?make=2&range=&model=&reviewField=2706&type=3) <- Click Here

Hope it makes interesting reading

Cheers

Neil

[HGilmore]

Hey now.. Baumann... don't flatter yourself :p Your car may be special, but it aint as special as an ///M ;)

;)
I find it interesting that Alpina does'nt offer SMG, or even their version of the tranny, as an option. Hmmmmm. :dunno: :angel:

[SmoothCruise]

Since Alpina is considered a a car manufacturer, I wonder if I take an Alpina car to the autocross event, will the car be considered modified or stock? I'd love to compete with an Alpina in the stock class. It would be like cheating without breaking any of the rules.

[gbelton]

But it doesn't scream I'm beautiful-IMO. I am sure the power from the SC engine will wipe the grin off of many faces though.

ALPINA's are nice but I prefer the other manufactures designs (E.g. ACS).

[ff]

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/images/b6/-/03.jpg

http://www.backwardglances.com/images/pimp%20suit.jpg
http://eur.yimg.com/i/xp/premier_photo/6/6164a6b9bc.jpg
http://stores.pilotonline.com/menshats/media/broadstreet_red.jpg

[Malibubimmer]

Is Alpina now using the 4.8L engine? These cars have the "puny" 4.398L engine.









(Don't get mad. Jus kidding. The 4.4L engine beats the sh!t out of my CL55, too.)

[Silv650i]

wheels arent that bad lookin.. reminds me of the z8? am i right?