B6 BMW Alpina B6 Biturbo Cabriolet - The first official picture

[Tarek]

I have to say, you're right. Alpinas are the the AMGs of BMWs.
M stands for Motorsport, Alpina's for luxury.

Not anymore..since the introduction the M trucks and turbo M engines M become RS or AMG.

Alpina is not "any tuned BMW", it is essentially a sub brand of BMW as far as ownership experience goes, you buy it from a BMW dealer, it comes with BMW warranty and it is serviced by BMW.

I think we all know that..still i'd take M car over any Alpina anyway day of the week..at least when it comes to looks.

I'll explain: you would take an AMG over an M any day, yet an Alpina drives a lot like a fast MB/AMG. Lots of power, lots of luxury, lots of torque, rear wheel drive and an automatic gearbox.

And then you thank SKY for asking what's nice about an Alpina? When an Alpina pretty much IS everything MB stands for??? That's ironic, to say the least.

Klier get ur facts right please..now every AMG engine is unique and bespoke unlike Alpina or BRABUS who just tunes existing ones..

Plus AMG looks much better Alpinas which look exactly the same generation after generation..overdone sometimes and boring all the time IMO.

 

[klier]

Klier get ur facts right please..now every AMG engine is unique and bespoke unlike Alpina or BRABUS who just tunes existing ones..

Are you looking for pathetic excuses or are you actually not understanding me?? I was talking about the Alpina experience. It's an experience you should love, as it mimics the Mercedes philosophy.

An AMG engines bespoke? You mean that engine they use in the E63, CLS63, ML63, CL63, S63 and whatever more not? Bespoke??? ROFL.
And don't you start about something subjective as looks now. I was stating cold facts. But with the reply you gave it seems you didn't quite understand. But that's not my problem

 

[Tarek]

Are you looking for pathetic excuses or are you actually not understanding me?? I was talking about the Alpina experience. It's an experience you should love, as it mimics the Mercedes philosophy.

An AMG engines bespoke? You mean that engine they use in the E63, CLS63, ML63, CL63, S63 and whatever more not? Bespoke??? ROFL.
And don't you start about something subjective as looks now. I was stating cold facts. But with the reply you gave it seems you didn't quite understand. But that's not my problem

Obviously u're still stuck on old generations of AMGs..please go read some reviews of the newer AMGs to understand the diff between newer AMGs and Alpinas..and did the MCT transmission introduced more than three years ago in the SL63 and found in more than one AMG now is just an auto like what u find in Alpinas?..u have no clue as usual..

What exactly u don't understand about AMG engines being different from normal MB ones? the NA 6.2 V8 is not just reworked MB V8 so is the new TT V8 and NA 5.5L M152 engine..Alpinas and Brabus just tunes existing engines..this B6 is just a tuned 650i nothing more..get it now?

 

[Sunny]

There are lot of similarities between AMG and Alpina -

1. Car's characteristics - Alpinas are very much along lines of the traditional AMGs - power with emphasis on luxury (yes, I am aware a few new AMGs like C63 sacrifices handling for luxury, but it hardly changes the big picture).

2. Relationship with mother company - Relationship between Alpina and BMW is exactly what AMG and Mercedes shared between 1990 and 1999 before Mercedes acquired a controlling interest in AMG - where they would leverage the special relationship with the manufacturer to develop special versions of a car.

3. Ownership experience - is exactly the same, you buy both from a BMW/Mercede dealer (unlike Brabus or AC Schnitzer or Hamann). You are still covered by BMW/Mercedes warrany. You service the car at BMW/Mercedes service center.

Saying AMG is different cause it developed one bespoke engine (no unlike M156, M152 and M157 are not bespoke engines, they are based on M278) or put a wet clutch in place torque converter for the first two gears in the transmission is like saying Crocodiles and Alligators are dissimilar cause of the shape of the snout.

Talking about engines here is another similarity - Like AMG engines are hand assembled by AMG at Affalterbach, Alpina hand assembles their engines at Buchloe - yes, Alpina hand assembles their own engines just like AMG.

Tarek, I don't know what is it you find so insulting about the similarities that you have to refute it. It is not in any way a ding agaist AMG. You don't have to like Alpina, but it doesn't make the similarities between the two go away.

 

[Tarek]

Well IMO if anyone who is like Alpina now is M not AMG..M changed forever when they introduced the TT X5/6 M cars.

In the past i'd take the E60 M5 over E60 B5 any day but now F10 M5 and B5 almost identical save for the ugly and old Alpina body kit same for upcoming M6.I'd just take the F10 M5 coz of the looks not coz of anything else.

 

[Sunny]

With M abandoning high revving engines, yes, definitely a case can be made about the the gap between M and Alpina being narrowed. But engine alone doesn't make a car's character, suspension, transmission all play a role and in that regard Alpina is very much closer to AMG ethos than M. As for F10 M5, it is still early days, no one has clue how it will drive. People suspected 1M will drive like 135i, but it turned out to be nothing like that despite the engine being literally the same.

 

[DeDe]

Obviously there's something wrong with my taste, but I think this is the most beautiful BMW I've ever seen.


http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/nvtelen1y.png/

 

[klier]

Obviously there is, but don't worry about it

 

[Sayyaaf]

^ lol Klier quite true but on the other hand some guys are complaining about the execution, MB AMG re invented their design language several times and evolved, while Alpinas seem stuck in the 80s

I like their offering but hate the execution. As simple as that

 

[klier]

Don't know what's suddenly the problem here, but ok It's always been like this, and because the old one is based on an old BMW model, I'd say this new Alpina looks plenty different. Those small things that 'are always the same' is what makes an Alpina an Alpina. This is the way it is and will be. Nodody has to like it. I don't, I'd never buy one.

And AMG was just a 3rd party turing company a couple of years ago, not in any way owned by Mercedes. People seem to forget that.

 

[Tarek]

With M abandoning high revving engines, yes, definitely a case can be made about the the gap between M and Alpina being narrowed. But engine alone doesn't make a car's character, suspension, transmission all play a role and in that regard Alpina is very much closer to AMG ethos than M. As for F10 M5, it is still early days, no one has clue how it will drive. People suspected 1M will drive like 135i, but it turned out to be nothing like that despite the engine being literally the same.

Well i'd agree with this before the introduction of the C63,E63 and then CLS63..acc to reviews and lap times the cars are vastly different from the old muscle rocket philosophy.

And DeDe nothing is wrong with ur taste..i prefer M looks and u prefer Alpinas..simple as that.

 

[DeDe]

Obviously there is, but don't worry about it

LOL, thanks.

 

[Sunny]

^ lol Klier quite true but on the other hand some guys are complaining about the execution, MB AMG re invented their design language several times and evolved, while Alpinas seem stuck in the 80s

I like their offering but hate the execution. As simple as that

Alpina is an acquired taste, I didn't like them for the longest time, till you just "get it".

And Yes Sayyaaf, Alpina is stuck in the 80s, but thank goodness for that. Even now, one of my favorite sedans is the E34 B10 Biturbo.

I sometimes wish M and AMG would go back to the more understated look of the 80's, 90s. Even now, I think the best looking AMG was the w124 E500/E60.

 

[Merc1]

Ahh...that wasn't a true AMG car though, the W124 E500/E60 was really done with the help of Porsche. Only the engine in the E60 models were AMG, not the chassis or body/design.


M

 

[Sunny]

^Yup, but you get my point about the old school look - C36, 43, E50, 55 all had it.

 

[Merc1]

True, modest kits and those timeless AMG wheels were about it. Yep I see that, none of the holes and gaping intakes and what not on todays AMGs.

M

 

[klier]

^ or M cars..
BMW imo started the trend of look-at-me with the E39 M5: quad exhausts. From then on they wanted to one-up each other in aggressive looks, and the differentiation with the regular models started.

 

[DeDe]

http://img20.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo02.jpg/http://img851.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo04.jpg/http://img196.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo06.jpg/http://img97.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo07.jpg/http://img41.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo08.jpg/http://img825.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo09.jpg/http://img710.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo11.jpg/http://img15.imageshack.us/i/alpinab6biturbo12.jpg/

 

[E38_E30]

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[Cashmere]

beautiful video!