Alpina in recent times has become recognised and lauded for transforming BMW's six-cylinder, 3.0-litre diesel engine into the fabulous D3 and D4 Biturbos that can live with a BMW M3 and M4 in a straight line yet return more than 50mpg at the same time.
However, that is not to take away from the Alpina's other cars with which to tickle the fancies of enthusiasts wanting more exclusivity from their fast BMWs, which include the petrol version of the 3 and 4 Series, the superb Alpina XD3 and the car you see here, the frankly monstrous new B6 Biturbo - available in both coupé and convertible forms.
Everything about the B6 is, shall we say, large. Beneath its bonnet sits a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 that produces 591bhp between 5200 and 6250rpm and a positively herculean 590lb ft at 3500rpm.
The gearbox is a tweaked version of the eight-speed ZF automatic used in the regular 6 Series, in this case enhanced by Alpina’s engineers to prevent upshifts in certain modes (which is useful on a circuit, for example) and to momentarily cut the flow of fuel and deliver a lovely burble between gearshifts as a result.
The chassis has also been preened by Alpina to provide a wider range of set-ups than in the standard BMW 6 Series. So in Comfort mode the ride quality is softer than you get in a regular BMW, while in Sport and Sport Plus it’s the other way around, with the electronic dampers sharpening up the driving experience to a level that no regular BMW driver would quite recognise.
