Friday 25th June 2004

Alpina B7

500bhp Seven Series to be launched at Festival of Speed

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Alpina will be showing off their latest toy at this year's Festival of Speed. They've taken a new model seven series (E65) and rebuilt the BMW 4.4 litre V8 to yield 500bhp and 700Nm of torque (516 lb-ft). The extra power is gained through use of the new Alpina patented "Nautilus-type" compressor which also boosts fuel efficiency to 22.1 mpg and lowers emissions.

It's enough to hurl the two tonne motor to 60mph in just 4.8 seconds and on to an unrestricted 186mph.  The enormous torque is available from 3000 rpm to 6000 rpm making the immense performance very accessible.

The power is transmitted via a six speed auto transmission fitted with Alpina's Switchtronic sem-auto shifting system.

Price will be £76,000 on the road.

Link: www.alpina-automobile.co.uk

[Raks]

all i can say is bl99dy hell

[dinkel]

M5 anyone?

[Marki]

Awesom bit of kit that

[Raks]

what's this 'compressor' all about ?

first i've heard of it ?

[dinkel]

www.alpina-automobile.de/pdf/2004_03_autocar_rs.pdf
Nice reader.

BMW had a legend turbo. This will be a legend turbo also . . .

[tork@tiv]

More info here -
[url]www.bmwm5.com/articles/IAA/IAA3.htm[/url]

[pentoman]

Must say, this seems like a tasty alternative to the otherwise obligatory S55 AMG. The S55 is also a great looking car however, and now with a 7-speed gearbox.

[annodomini2]

The AMG looks better, but you can get 4 birds in this one!

[jagsy]

Give me an HSV anyday. For that money I could have 2 and mod them to have the same power.

OOps sorry I am biased he he

>> Edited by jagsy on Friday 25th June 19:45

[slippery]

I agree! You can't beat a bit of individualism and the rumble of the Chevy V8! Nice car for those who prefer to follow the masses though!

[granville]

Exactly what I needed to cheer me up after the debacle involving Albion's foremost coiffeurs.

I just know it would be a staggering ownership prospect (forgetting the ruinous depreciation, for one carefree moment).

Almost esoteric next to the default bling of the redoubtable AMGs.

[hughjayteens]

I was chatting to a guy at the local Polish carwash centre the other day, who was in the first RHD S65 AMG V12 Bi-Turbo!!

£140ks worth of 200mph, bottom massaging,active body controlled, long wheel base rocketship.

Amusingly enough he was a chauffeur and only charges £600 a day to get you from A to B at Mach 2!!

Guess you could have a B7 and a GT3 for that money though!

[agent006]

hughjayteens said:

I was chatting to a guy at the local Polish carwash centre the other day, who was in the first RHD S65 AMG V12 Bi-Turbo!!

MMMMM 712BHP

[Munki]

jagsy said:

Give me an HSV anyday. For that money I could have 2 and mod them to have the same power. OOps sorry I am biased he he

For that money you could buy ONE and make it TWICE as powerful heheheh. Whack on twin turbos to a chev or holden v8 and you'd be looking at over 1000hp at the wheels. There is a guy called Eddy Tassone here in WA with a twin turbo setup on a holden v8 that produces over 1300 hp at the wheels and thats without NOS.

Meh, BMWs - nice cars but common as muck. And the badges aren't worth the expense unless you're that shallow.

[burwoodman]

You live in Australia and call BMWs common? Every second car is a Holden/Falcon.
Im not shallow, I just prefer to drive one of the best engineered cars in the world.

[slippery]

Your car may be well engineered, but it has no soul and people don't let you pull out of junctions, just because you drive one. People let us out of junctions so they can read the badges on our bootlids! People shamelessly point and stare and even walk up to us at petrol stations etc, just to ask about our cars. By the way, I'm not a BMW hater, I just never had things like that happen to me in my M5/540i/750i.

[burwoodman]

Thanks for your opinion. Not sure why there was a reference to Holdens anyway. It's more ridiculous that the M5 HSV comparison. I'd hazzard a guess BMW spend more cash on developing the cup holders than Holden do on designing the entire car.

[dinkel]

burwoodman said:

( . . . ) . . . Holden do on designing the entire car.

Holden and Design in one sentence . . .

"Significant sculptural changes to front and rear surfaces give VY sedans a more aggressive, hard-edged road presence, the sharper tail accentuating Commodore's characteristic nose-down profile and contributing to improved aerodynamic performance. "

Going back in time 15 years . . .

You'll shoot me for this one: Holden is Australia's Rover.

Can we go on svp? Ah, "Holden, drive on" it says . . .

[hughjayteens]

agent006 said:

hughjayteens said: I was chatting to a guy at the local Polish carwash centre the other day, who was in the first RHD S65 AMG V12 Bi-Turbo!! MMMMM 712BHP

Nah, 'only' 612BHP!

[dinkel]

www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=753&fArticleId=2100031

450 kw . . . still awesome.

Is the Beemer v12 turboed by anyone?