► We drive the BMW Alpina Bi-Turbo touring
► Diesel-powered GT capable of 0-62 in 4.6sec
► Sports car performance, estate car practicality
It’s a well-worn cliché to label a decently sporting diesel estate as all the car you’ll ever need. But that doesn’t stop us admiring the genre – and here’s a contender that could potentially work its way to the top of the pile.
We’re already fans of the BMW 3-series Touring. Not great if you want outright volume bragging rights (step forward, Skoda Superb), but a top choice if you favour dynamic delicacy over lugging of loads. This one’s been Alpina’d, adding a frisson of multi-spoke excitement to a regular 330d estate.
Buchloe’s famous Beemer botherers have been building diesel 3-series since 2005, but the four-cylinder engine has been jettisoned to make way for the beefier 3.0-litre straight-six. A pair of turbochargers, new intercooler and much tinkering liberate 345bhp and 516lb ft of torque, enough – says Alpina – for 0-62mph in 4.6sec and a 170mph top speed.
It’s a quietly classy thing to behold: those distinctive, cucumber-slicing 19in alloys complementing the serious-but-subtle bodykit, quartet of exhausts and (optional) retro Deco-Set coachline stripes. The not-that-spacious cabin is lifted by a tactile (but optional) suede steering wheel and blue-faced dials.
You can feel the extra shove, but in truth the diesel doesn’t feel as fast as the figures suggest. Instead, appreciate the oleaginous quality to the drivetrain, confident, torquey thrust, beautifully judged ride on non-run-flat Michelins and deft steering, which strikes a fine balance between athletic heft and executive waft.
The D3 is a compelling package, the kind of under-the-radar upgrade that appeals to our cognoscenti leanings. A regular 330d Touring starts at £39,100 in the UK, the more relevant 335d wagon £42,350. That makes the D3’s £49,950 price tag all the more reasonable. We’d be mighty pleased if it was the only car on our driveway.
The specs: Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Touring
Price: £49,950
Engine: 2993cc straight six-cylinder turbodiesel, 345bhp @ 4000rpm, 516lb ft @ 1500-3000rpm
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 4.6sec 0-62mph, 170mph, 52.3mpg, 142g/km CO2
Weight: 1730kg
On sale: Now
Rating: *****
Read more from the April 2016 issue of CAR magazine