Alpina’s new B4 Gran Coupe is Alpina’s first new product since it was revealed that BMW is finally taking full control of the Buchloe-based company. As you can see in the images, it is a very striking car, which has an elegant and executive line, and which aspires to become one of the favorite cars of entrepreneurs and companies that have as their object executive transfers.
While BMW and Alpina offer high-performance versions with M and B badges of the 3 Series sedan and the 4 Series two-door coupe, neither firm previously offered anything based on the 4 Series Gran Coupe. BMW has no plans to change that stance, but Alpina clearly saw a gap in the market, so it decided to apply it in this model detailed below.
The details of its exterior
The B4 is based on BMW’s regular 4 Series Gran Coupe, but with Alpina’s signature subtle but muscular makeover with a deep front wing, rear spoiler and a set of 20-inch, 20-spoke forged alloy wheels. The weight of each wheel has been reduced to a relatively light weight of 12 kg (26.5 lb) to help reduce rotating and unsprung mass.
From the front you can see the changes; wide hood, with lines defined forward, LED day and night lights, split grille, slogan in the center, large air intakes on the sides of the bumper and the name of the tuned in the lower central area.
The door locks are the same body color, as are the mirror housings. The brake or stop lights are newly designed and in LED, the radio antenna is fixed and maintains the shape of a shark fin, has air vents on the sides of the bumper, embedded auxiliary lights and four exhaust outlets.
New mechanics
Under the hood is a twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six S58 that generates 488 horsepower that is accompanied by 730 Nm of torque, which drives both axles through an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and xDrive all wheel drive system. Those numbers make it 33 hp and about 30 Nm more powerful than the same basic engine already found in the existing B3 sedan, and also put it ahead of the 473 horses and 550 Nm M3 sedan.
The B4’s combination of power and traction is enough to take the fastest Gran Coupe from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in 3.7 seconds versus the M3 sedan’s 3.5 seconds, but while the M3 is limited to 250 km/h (155 mph) as standard, the Alpina is free to move up to 187 mph or what is equal to about 301 kilometers per hour.
Inside the car
Alpina’s traditional twin focus on luxury and performance means the B4’s interior has more of a gentleman’s club feel than its typical M3. You get Lavalina leather on the seats and steering wheel and of course a plate on the console just behind the iDrive controller that shows the car’s build number.
Other technical details
And continuing with the same luxury theme, Alpina claims it has worked hard to calibrate the suspension setup, which includes adaptive dampers and a bespoke Pirelli P Zero tyre, to deliver the best possible handling without compromising driving comfort.
Final details and price
The European order book is already open and buyers will have to pay about $102,000 at the current exchange rate, but we’ll have to wait to see exactly how much the B4 will cost when it arrives in North America later this year.