BMW Car Magazine

The current Alpina line up is pretty awesome, with a selection of spectacular cars that offer something for everyone and yet Alpina, ever the perfectionist, has found room for improvement and launched a new, limited-edition version of its B3 S and made its B6 Bi-Turbo even more powerful.

The B3 GT3 is based on the B3 S Bi-Turbo Coupé and sees Alpina return to its long-standing tradition of producing limited edition models in extremely small numbers. Inspired by Alpina’s overall victory in the 2011 ADAC GT Masters Championship, the B3 GT3 takes everything that makes the B3 S so great, and adds a little bit of spice. The twin-turbo, three-litre straight-six remains unchanged but the car features a revised exhaust and a titanium rear silencer that has been developed in collaboration with Akrapovic, the renowned titanium exhaust specialist. The middle silencer has been removed and an x-section has been fitted along with significantly larger diameter pipes while the titanium rear silencer features larger twin oval titanium tailpipes instead of the B3 S’s quad items, measuring 115mm across with carbon fibre trims. Thanks to these revisions, the exhaust system weighs 11kg less than the standard B3 S system, and the reduction in back pressure results in an 8hp gain, bringing the total up to 408hp, produced at 6000rpm, while torque remains unchanged with 3498lb ft at 4500rpm. This is enough to knock 0.2 seconds off the 0-62mph time, which now stands at 4.6 seconds, and raises the top speed by 2mph to 186. You can also be sure that it’s going to sound great too, the exhaust having undergone extensive sound development to give it just the right tone.

The B3 GT3 uses the standard six-speed Switch-Tronic gearbox and features a Drexler limited slip differential, similar to the B6 GT3. It also receives a high performance motor sport brake set up as standard, with six-piston calipers and 380x35mm discs at the front and four-piston items at the rear with 355x32mm discs; the calipers are finished in blue with discreet Alpina writing in silver. The brakes have been designed for high stress and load and offer excellent fade resistance, good modulation and response without sacrificing comfort and practicality.

Alpina has also fitted the B3 GT3 with fully adjustable coilover suspension, offering height adjustment along with 12 stages of compression and 18 stages of rebound adjustment. Alpina has carefully calibrated the range of adjustment to allow for a dynamic yet comfortable road-biased set up for everyday driving as well as a track-focused race setup.  Special top mounts have also been fitted, with adjustable top mount plates at the front allowing you to alter the camber, ensuring an especially stiff connection to the chassis. All of these components result in exceptional handling and serious levels of grip, and you can fine tune the characteristics of the car to suit your exact driving style and preference. The B3 GT3 also receives 19-inch forged Classic alloy wheels finished in Himalaya grey, which have been inspired by the B6 GT3 racer. The forged construction results in increased stiffness and strength as well as reducing weight by 25 per cent, 10kg, despite being an extra half-inch wide. And, if you’re planning on taking your B3 GT3 out on track, an optional Gt3 Cup wheel and tyre set is available, consisting of a set of Classic 19-inch forged alloys complete with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup+ tyres, which are road legal but very much designed primarily for track use.

Externally, the B3 GT3 has been given a visual boost thanks to a number of aerodynamic enhancements. At the front, there’s a carbon fibre front splitter and dive plates, which are mounted on the side of the front valence, which help improve the aerodynamics of the front end, while at the rear there’s a carbon fibre wing, which has been designed to reduce rear axle lift without negatively affecting the drag coefficient, while a matt black rear diffuser further helps to improve aerodynamics. On the inside you’ll find lightweight Recaro sport seats finished in black leather/alcantara with seat heating provide optimal lateral support and vertical stripes in the Alpina racing colours can be found on both the front and rear seats. The sport steering wheel is finished in alcantara with blue/green stitching and features paddles for the Switch-Tronic gearbox and the car also has black alcantara interior trim with embossed Alpina writing in green. An optional Comfort Package is available, which includes Professional navigation and PDC, but no other options are available for the B3 GT3. You can have your B3 GT3 in Sapphire black or Mineral white or alternatively you can opt for Alpina blue matt metallic. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can go for the full vinyl body wrap in the official B6 GT3 racing livery, including green lacquered interior trim.

Only 99 B3 GT3s will be produced, each with a specifically designed production plaque inside, and the car will be available from Spring 2012 – we’re expecting Alpina to announce UK prices nearer this time.

The B6 Bi-Turbo was only revealed at the Frankfurt motor show in September, but with the launch of the Coupé it has already received a mild reworking. Powered by Alpina’s awesome twin-turbo V8, which first debuted in the B7 Bi-Turbo, it was not short of power from the outset, but since the engine’s first appearance Alpina’s engineers have been working on developing the engine further to extract even more power, and now they have. The twin-turbochargers feature specially developed large diameter exhaust turbines, the air-to-water chargecoolers have been revised while high-performance Mahle pistons are able to cope with the demands of the engine. These changes have raised power from 507hp to 540, available between 5200 and 6250rpm, while torque is increased from 516lb ft of torque to 538, developed between 2800 and 5000rpm. Mated to an eight-speed Switch-Tronic gearbox, the B6 Bi-Turbo will accelerate from a standstill to 62mph in just 4.4 seconds in Coupe form and won’t stop accelerating until it hits 199mph. And, like the B3 GT3, the exhaust system has been designed in collaboration with Akrapovic and is made entirely from titanium. As well as weighing 50 per cent less than an equivalent stainless steel system, the B6 system has a pipe diameter of 2x70mm throughout its entire length and this, along with further design refinements, has reduced exhaust backpressure to an absolute minimum. The exhaust gives the B6 a purposeful V8 sound, but intelligent, controllable exhaust valves ensure that it’s never intrusive. In Comfort+ and Comfort modes, the valves are closed, opening only once the engine reaches 3000rpm, or you apply 60 per cent or more throttle regardless of the gear or revs. In Sport and Sport+ modes, the valves remain open at all times.

The B6 Bi-Turbo comes with Drive Performance Control and Dynamic Drive as standard, which have been calibrated by Alpina and is tied into other system parameters which control steering assistance, torque cushioning and DSC, with pronounced Comfort+, Comfort, Sport and Sport+ modes. The B6 Bi-Turbo also receives specific springs, increased front camber and a subtle adjustment of toe-in, along with 20-inch Classic wheels, which cover huge high performance brakes, with 374mm discs at the front and 345mm at the rear, which are fed cooling air via a specially constructed NACA air intake on the front underbody.

Subtle front and rear spoilers reduce front axle lift by 14 per cent bring rear lift down to zero above 93mph, and an optional low-rise rear wing is available as well. Inside you’ll find blue Alpina instruments, a sport steering wheel hand finished in Lavalina leather, blue illuminated entry sills and myrtle wood trim along with heated comfort seats, sat nav, Bluetooth, xenon headlights and LED foglights.

The B6 Bi-turbo Coupé is priced at £92,850 OTR while the Convertible costs £97,850 OTR.