[Jason]

Some background (from wikipedia):

Alpina was founded by Burkard Bovensiepen (b. 1936) in 1965 as Burkard Bovensiepen KG in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria in southern Germany. The original name can be traced to Dr. Rudolf Bovensiepen, his father, whose company produced office machinery.

Although Alpina started by producing typewriters, the original Alpina ceased to exist at the end of the 1960s in their attempt to move into the textile industry. In 1965, Burkard established a BMW tuning business, following his success with investments in the stock market. He started the tuning business in an outbuilding of the original Alpina typewriter factory. The company worked on carburetors and revised cylinder heads. By 1970, with seventy employees, the original facility changed locations from Kaufbeuren to Buchloe.

Between 1968 and 1977, Alpina cars did very well in competition. The highlight was in 1970, when the team's cars won the European Touring Car Championship, the German Hillclimb Championship, rally and track racing championships and the prestigious Spa 24 Hours.

Since the late 1970s Alpina has been recognized by TÜV as an automobile manufacturer, thus Alpina-built cars are branded and registered as Alpina instead of BMW, although an Alpina can be bought and serviced at local BMW dealerships, and covered if there is a warranty issue. BMW of North America, LLC offered 450 Alpina B7s as limited edition models for 2007 and 2008, all being quickly sold out, and the F01 B7 will be offered again for the 2011 model year.

Compared to cars from BMW's in-house motorsport-rooted subsidiary, BMW M, Alpina's vehicles have more emphasis on luxury, higher torque, and have automatic transmissions instead of manual or semi-automatic transmissions. For instance, regarding the high performance variants of the BMW E60 5-Series, the B5 offers a different take on performance and how to accomplish it. Unlike BMW M's own M5 which has a naturally aspirated, high-revving and razor-sharp throttle response 5.0L V10, the Alpina B5 uses a supercharged 4.4L V8 which produces similar horsepower and remarkably greater torque on lower rpm's and therefore more effortless driving experience.

Here is a B3 S Biturbo coupe, one of Alpina's latest generation of vehicles, parked in front of the company headquarters in the Alpina Buchloe Park in Buchloe, Germany.

We had an opportunity to get up close and personal to the B3 S Biturbo Coupe at the 2010 Geneva motorshow. Pics: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=357177





A historical lineup of Alpinas of the past.





Since the late nineties, Alpina has been producing cars which improve upon non-M production version BMWs.





Inside the Alpina production workshop where factory spec BMW's arrive for their Alpina treatment.





One of five test cells/rooms in Alpina's new, twelve-million-euro development center for extensive engine testing.





Temperature testing room. Alpina cars are tested from minus 7 degrees to plus 24 degrees celcius.








On the dyno for emissions testing.





According to Alpina, 2/3 of customers customize their orders further from the preset interior configurations.





An 18,000 strokes-per-minute laser cut leather hide knife cuts out precise shapes needed to cover Alpina car's stunning interiors.





Alpina has come to be known by their exquisite leather interiors. All leather is sewn by hand.





Molding for new model prototype parts. Parts start as models made of plaster.





It takes approximately a year to develop a new Alpina car - from the first idea to the finished production model.





Engines being assembled by hand, out of up to 1,200 individual parts.








Did you know that Alpina also produces wine? In fact, Alpina now sells approximately $9 million euros worth of wine per year.





Alpina B3 Biturbo S: The Alpina tuned 3-series produces 400hp and 540Nm of torque.





Alpina B7 Bi-Turbo: An AWD 4.4-liter V8 supercharged 7-series, producing 507hp.





Older B7 S Turbo, which produced 330 hp.





Current Bi-Turbo Alpina B7






Alpina B6 GT based on the BMW Alpina 6-series currently races in the GT series.

[fdsasdasdf]

I heart Alpina.

I never knew how much went into making these guys. I always figured they did just a few engine mods, some suspension mods, re-badged it as Alpina and sold it. Now I know how much more goes into making them! It's very impressive!

[Oulixes]

Alpina - a great car. Jason, thanks for the great read.

[bavarian19]

[nusevad]

i want some Alpina wine...

[midnightclub]

Anyone know where I can have some Alpina wine?

[Davin]

+100000000000

[T89]

Love Alpinas


T

[nmulax]

Awesome!

[rob612]

wow that is some serious R&D involved... completely changed my perspective on Alpina

[moveswiftly]

I see an n55 engine getting something done to it =).

You can see the single downpipe going to a dual exhaust! must be a 335i n55.

[yamazaho]

Nice.

[kaykay]

Nice!

Where can I get some Alpina wine from???

[Coroe]

Ewww, Alpina is a manufacturer, not a tuner!

[albertoxx]

That's right!

Anyway...Alpina doesen't produce wine, they just distribute a fine selection of them

In Geneva Auto Show they offer you those wines if you are or want to be a client and visit their stand

[mtechnik3]

Great thread!!!! I just drove the new Alpina B7 and it's amazing!

[positiveions]

Alpina has always been my favorite tuner erggg I mean manufacturer

[RON1X]

i want some alpina wine myself
great read, I've always liked Alpina

[Estoril Sport]

When you buy an Alpina you are presented with one of their wines, I’m still waiting for the right time to open my bottle. The bottle seal is even in Alpina blue!. Thanks Jason for posting this very informative thread.

I was hoping to get a Factory tour when I was in Munich last month but I was informed that they have had to cancel factory tours due to confidentially I understand they are doing some work for BWM Sports division!

[smack]

Alpina's are such a beautiful thing. On a side note, im sure the engine testing is done at more than plus 24 degrees Celsius. A quick look at the conversion reveals that 24 is just 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

[MikeyB1983]

Originally Posted by Estoril Sport

When you buy an Alpina you are presented with one of their wines, I’m still waiting for the right time to open my bottle. The bottle seal is even in Alpina blue!. Thanks Jason for posting this very informative thread.

I was hoping to get a Factory tour when I was in Munich last month but I was informed that they have had to cancel factory tours due to confidentially I understand they are doing some work for BWM Sports division!

I didnt get nothing when I brought my Alpina, feel very de-flated. I saw that a few guys had like 'goody bags' with the wine in it, I would have appreciated that.....Hmmmm what to do!??


Awesome post by the way!!

[bmwtv]

1. Every time I have seen the word ALPINA on BMW or ALPINA web sites or literature or cars, the word ALPINA has been in ALL CAPS. (On a related note, when SAAB was owned by Swedes, SAAB was similarly presented in all caps because it was an abbreviation, but the new Dutch owners (Spyker) are spelling it Saab.)

2. When I bought my ALPINA as a new car from a BMW dealer, I also received no wine. Could it be that only those who buy ALPINAs directly from ALPINA at the factory receive the wine?

3. I love my ALPINA. It has been my daily driver for 7 trouble-free years. What a hoot. Jason's comment about torque is accurate. That torque helps make driving to work or the grocery store a desirable substitute for a Caribbean vacation.