BMW Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo (2010) goes on UK sale

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

20 May 2010 10:04

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.

By Tim Pollard