Similar to this year’s field of presidential candidates, the upper echelon of luxury sedans offers a plethora of establishment choices seasoned by a few outsiders. Against veritable four-door stalwarts such as the Mercedes-Benz S-class, Jaguar XJ,Audi A8, and BMW 7-series, stand fringe offerings—Porsche’s Panamera, Maserati’s Quattroporte—and special variants of more mainstream models, your AMG S65s and Audi S8s, for example. Part of the latter group is the Alpina B7, which is all-new this year after its donor vehicle, BMW’s 7-series, was retooled.
The Alpina B7 has long filled the top of BMW’s sedan goody bag, standing in for the M7 BMW still won’t build, albeit with a more luxury-oriented bent than that still-theoretical model might provide. High-performance M versions of the 2-series, 3-series, 4-series, 5-series, 6-series, and even the X5 and X6 utes exist, but BMW’s biggest four-door, the 7-series, is left out. For those not familiar with Alpina—something Alpina might consider a win for its exclusivity—it is a tuner that enjoys an exceptionally close relationship with BMW, despite technically being a stand-alone manufacturer that offers hotted-up versions of regular BMW models. When it comes to the B7, Alpina’s formula involves adding dash with a subtle dose of flash. With a new 7-series having arrived for the 2016 model year, Alpina remixed the B7 recipe and applied it to the updated body.
Previous-generation Alpina B7s exhibited some underhood restraint, offering relatively mild power upgrades over their 7-series donor cars. This latest B7 tosses that to the wind, juicing the 750i’s twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 a full 155 horsepower to a flat 600 (!) and squeezing an additional 110 lb-ft of torque out of it, too, for 590 lb-ft. Credit for the B7’s might goes to new turbochargers, a unique Alpina intake and intercooler setup, special Mahle pistons, an Alpina dual-mode exhaust, and 20.0 psi of peak boost. Alpina claims that the B7—available only with xDrive all-wheel drive—is capable of attaining 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds and reaching a top speed of 193 mph. For reference, a 2013 Alpina B7 we testedaccelerated to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and had “only” 540 horsepower.
As before, the B7’s suspension is tuned for a slightly sportier ride relative to a stock 750i; that means air springs, electronic dampers, BMW’s variable-rate anti-roll bars, and all. Grip is enhanced via a staggered-width set of 20-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, which wrap Alpina’s signature (and gorgeous) thin-spoke wheels. We never tire of mentioning those rims’ centralized valve stems that live with the lug nuts behind the wheel caps, but we should point out that the B7’s optional 21-inch wheels make do with normal valve stems and exposed lugs. Given how entwined those standard 20-inch wheels are with the Alpina mystique, we’d suggest sticking with them.
Outside of the wheels, it isn’t easy to distinguish the B7, which is just how we like it. There are Alpina and B7 badges on the trunklid, subtly massaged front and rear fascias, and that’s it. Alpina will offer B7 customers two exclusive colors, Alpina Blue and Alpina Green, as well as any hue from the BMW Individual bespoke program. Alpina’s hand is felt more strongly inside the B7, where a special Alpina steering wheel features green and blue stitching and the brand’s supremely unsatisfying manual-shift buttons instead of paddles. The digital gauge cluster is redesigned to display bright-blue analog gauge faces in normal drive modes and a more aggressive analog and digital combination in sportier settings. All of the technology BMW packed into the latest 7-series is included on the B7, including aero-aiding shutters, a key with a built-in digital readout, and a widescreen dashboard display.
The cost of this extra-special, super-incognito luxury sedan is a mystery at present, but it will be announced closer to the B7’s U.S. launch this September. Expect a base price somewhere north of $140,000, a relative steal for a big sedan capable of punting itself to extra-legal road speeds so quickly, all while going less noticed than a similarly quick Mercedes-AMG S63.
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