After working its magic on the BMW 5 Series, Alpina has now shifted its attention to the latest flagship from Munich. The result is the BMW Alpina B7 xDrive, and it packs enough oomph to put most supercars to shame.
What the German car tuner did was take a standard BMW 750i xDrive back to its headquarters in Buchloe and spruced it up a little. The base car’s 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 engine, which previously developed 445 hp and 650 Nm, now outputs 600 hp between 5,750 rpm and 6,250 rpm, while 800 Nm of torque is available from 3,000 rpm.
This is achieved via revisions to the engine’s air intake system, cooling system, and intercooler and turbocharger configuration. The latter sees the twin-turbo setup comprising of two specially developed turbochargers positioned in the V of the engine. Alpina’s stainless steel sports exhaust system also debuts here, with active exhaust valves for a better control on the aural experience.
Transferring the power to all four corners is the job of the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system that gets a few tweaks from Alpina. The former features an Alpina Switch-Tronic function, which makes the car hold onto a manually-selected gear longer. Put together, the powertrain allows the Alpina B7 xDrive to go from 0-97 km/h (0-60 mph) in 3.6 seconds, with a preliminary top speed of 310 km/h.
On the handling front, Alpina has applied its two-axle air suspension setup (with Driving Dynamics Control) on the 7 Series that allows for the car’s maximum ride height to be adjusted up to a range of 40 mm. At speeds above 225 km/h, the system will automatically lower the car by 20 mm, and if you’re facing off against less-flattering roads, you can manually raise the car by 20 mm at speeds of up to 32 km/h.
Adding to this is Alpina’s Integral Active Steering that adds rear-wheel steering, whereby the wheels can turn up to a maximum of three degrees. On the mention of wheels, the Alpina B7 gets the company’s iconic 20-spoke Alpina Classic alloys, wrapped with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres (255/40ZR20 front, 295/35ZR20 rear).
Styling-wise, the Alpina gets new front and rear bumper spoilers for enhanced airflow and aerodynamics, while the twin tailpipes are integrated in the rear apron. The luxo cruise missile also gets Alpina’s exclusive Blue or Green metallic paint finishes, if the standard BMW affair is not to your liking.
Inside, unique Alpina touches can be seen on the hand-finished Lavalina leather sports steering wheel with blue and green stitching, along with the application of piano black lacquer or myrtle wood on various pieces of interior trim. The full-colour digital instrument panel also gets a blue background with red needles, or blue and green drag indicators.
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