Alpina showed off the B3 S Bi-Turbo at the 2010 Geneva motor show and it rather passed us by. But this week the car goes on UK sale and it’s a good chance to reappraise the junior M3.
We say M3, since the B3 S Bi-Turbo retails at £49,250 in the UK. That’s for the saloon, jumping to £55,250 for the Convertible and you can spec your Touring estate or Coupé in Alpina spec too. But there’s no V8 under the bonnet – instead the B3 uses BMW’s 3.0-litre straight six.
Powering the B3 S Bi-Turbo
The twin-blower 3.0-litre six and six-speed auto have been fettled by Alpina to produce 395bhp at 6000rpm and 398lb ft at 4500rpm – enough to sprint to 62mph in 4.7sec and top out at 186mph. Not bad supercar-nudging performance considering the ‘greenish’ credentials: 29.1mpg and 224g/km of CO2.
That’s a handy 40 horsepower and newton metres of torque over the previous B3 Bi-Turbo.
You’ll spot the new 2010 B3 S by its redesigned front spoiler, new rear diffuser and those distinctive 19-inch Alpina alloys apeing the design of the wheels on the latest B7. The B3 S Bi-Turbo weighs in at 1570kg unladen.
Hmm. That price is dangerously close to a V8 M3. But when can I buy the Alpina?
The first B3 customer cars will arrive in July 2010, available from the UK concessionaire Sytner.