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Niche luxury: A look at the Alpina B6 Gran Coupe

Like the tattoo of a jilted lover, the VIN code on the upper front engine compartment has been unceremoniously crossed out, there being no way, a la Johnny Depp (who famously had his “Winona Forever” tat altered to a far more accurate “Wino Forever”), to revise 17 digits of stamped vehicle identification number to represent anything other than a Bayerische Motoren Werkes product.

Instead, there is simply a big “X” through the original stamping, BMW’s place as manufacturer seemingly as temporary as Winona’s reign as Johnny’s main squeeze. In its place, indeed right below BMW’s stamp of authenticity, is a new number, one that indicates a unique relationship completely unlike any other in the automobile industry.

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BMW’s vehicle identification number, unceremoniously crossed out and replaced with Alpina-specific designation. Only a full-fledged automaker — and not an aftermarket tuner — is allowed this privilege!

BMW’s vehicle identification number, unceremoniously crossed out and replaced with Alpina-specific designation. Only a full-fledged automaker — and not an aftermarket tuner — is allowed this privilege!
David Booth, Driving

For the car bearing these seemingly adulterated credentials is a B6, Alpina’s rendition of BMW’s own 6 Series Gran Coupe. And, unlike a mere aftermarket tuner — for which it is often mistaken — Alpina is considered a completely separate auto manufacturer (hence the all-new VIN number), designated so by Germany’s Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA). It designs all its own parts — from the merely cosmetic (the various Alpina badges that make their way into the 6 Series’ interior) to the technologically integral (pistons and turbochargers) in its R & D facility in Buckloe, about an hour outside of Munich.

And yet every Alpina — there are all manner of 3, 4 and 7 Series variants and even a much modified diesel-powered X3 available in Europe and other markets but we only get the B6 — is built inside a BMW plant. In a logistic system that would give even Edwards Deming a headache, some parts — pistons and turbochargers from Alpina-specific suppliers — are sent to BMW’s engine plants (Landshut for the sixes, Munich if it’s a V8) to be assembled into Alpina-specific powertrains, more — suspension springs, air filter housings and the unique one-piece exhaust system — are sent to specific vehicle production plants and still more — Alpina’s traditional 20-spoke wheels (with the trademark hidden air valve) — are sent directly from Alpina to BMW. And then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated, the cars are then sent back to Alpina’s facility in Buckloe for final fettling of their unique interiors and trim bits. Such is the relationship between Alpina and BMW that one has the seeming incongruity of having BMW, which produces more than 1.6 million cars a year, subcontracting for a company which has never produced more than 1,500 annually.

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The interior of the Alpina B6 Gran Coupe.

The interior of the Alpina B6 Gran Coupe.
David Booth, Driving

But small doesn’t mean ill-equipped. There are no less than five thoroughly modern dynamometers to test new turbochargers in the new eight-million euro research and development laboratory (and, in one of the delicious ironies of a family-owned business, all the heat generated by the exhaust from those dyno rooms goes to heating company founder Burkard Bovensiepen’s pool, his two-story carriage house barely 50 metres from the factory). Indeed, so high tech is Alpina’s R & D facility that it has its own emission’s testing facility, Alpina able to certify its cars for any emissions jurisdiction in the world (so sensitive are the testing instruments and so close is Alpina’s facility to the village of Buckhloe, says product planner Jonathan Ganser, that if one of the local farmers lays down manure anywhere near the plant, an entire day’s testing must be scrapped).

The question, though, if you’re a well-healed BMW aficionado looking for the ultimate in four-door coupes is why in tarnation is BMW Canada bothering to peddle two M6s?

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BMW cast special engine blocks for its 4.0-litre V8 so Alpina could punch it out to 4,619-cc for its seminal 1995 B8.

BMW cast special engine blocks for its 4.0-litre V8 so Alpina could punch it out to 4,619-cc for its seminal 1995 B8.
David Booth, Driving

Okay, they aren’t actually selling two M6s, but if you look closely at the BMW Canada’s spec sheets, the company’s own M6 and the B6 would seem strikingly similar. Both, of course, are based on BMW’s 650 Gran Coupe, cost roughly the same and a quick perusal of their specifications would seem to indicate that their engines are remarkably similar, both putting out about 550, give or take 10, horsepower. So, what’s with the duplication? And, more pertinently, why would I buy some obscurity called an Alpina rather than an M6?

Well, other than the fact that there’s an air of exclusivity to the Alpina — only about 40 will be imported to Canada — they are actually very different cars. The M6, fettled by BMW’s M Division, is aimed at sportier drivers while the B6, still very capable, is driven by more hedonistic pursuits, the difference between the two far greater than the seemingly small gap between the 560 horsepower BMW says the M6 produces and the 540 ponies Alpina claims.

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More luxurious than an M6 and decidedly more comfortable, the B6 is no less rapid.

More luxurious than an M6 and decidedly more comfortable, the B6 is no less rapid.
David Booth, Driving

And in something of a surprise, it may well be the more exotic B6 that is more appropriate to Canadian climes. One of the major differences between the two cars, you see, is that while the M6 remains resolutely a rear-driver, the B6 is based on the 650 xDrive platform with snow- and ice-conquering all-wheel-drive. Score a point for Alpina in the Great White Frozen North then.

Driving all four wheels even helps in the performance department. Though down 20 ponies (the B6, at 538 pound-feet of torque, does have 38 more lb.-ft. than the M6), the xDrive’s traction abilities help the B6 scamper to 100 kilometres an hour in an almost supercar-like 3.9 seconds, some 0.3 ticks ahead of the M6. And because it isn’t electronically limited, a B6 will top out at (a largely academic in Canada) 318 kilometres an hour, the M6 a governed 250 klicks per.

All this comparison with the M6, though, is largely academic. Though their spec sheets are indeed remarkably similar, their personalities aren’t. According to Ganser, the B6′s clientele tends more towards the Bentley and Rolls-Royce crowd, the company’s clientele unwilling to sacrifice hedonism for any increase in performance. Which perfectly answers the question as to why you would want to buy an Alpina over a BMW.

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Some final fettling before delivery.

Some final fettling before delivery.
David Booth, Driving

He’s really more into the wine

Alpina was founded in 1965 by Burkard Bovensiepen as a supplier of Weber carburetors for BMW 1500s. And today, the still family-run business — Bovensiepen’s sons Florian and Andreas are now co-managing directors — still holds a unique place in the automotive world. But the elder Bovensiepen is, at heart, an oenophile.

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Alpina is Germany’s largest importer of high-end wine, focusing on the very top finest of grape.

Alpina is Germany’s largest importer of high-end wine, focusing on the very top finest of grape.
David Booth, Driving

Legend has it that, back in the ’70s when Alpina was big into racing, the company’s race vans would come back heavier than when they left, Bovensiepen filling up on his favourite French and Italian wines. No surprise, then, that beneath Alpina’s Buckloe showroom is a subterranean wine cellar holding an incredible array of expensive vintages. More impressive is that said hobby also turned into a business, as Alpina is now Germany’s largest importer of high-end grape, wine distribution now accounting for as much as a third of the company’s gross revenues.

Only in Canada, eh!

In North America, Alpina’s challenges extend beyond emissions and crash testing. Alpina sales on our side of the pond have been so sporadic that the tiny automaker has been reluctant to set up the dealer network/infrastructure necessary to serve our vast country. So, unlike the Alpinas sold in the rest of the world, Canadian B6s could actually be considered to be BMWs. Though the B6s sold here are mechanically and cosmetically identical to those sold in the rest of the world, we get the only Alpinas in the world officially designated as BMWs, complete with a BMW warranty, BMW service and, yes, contrary to what I said at the beginning of this tome, an actual BMW VIN number. Like I said, it’s a complicated relationship.

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The interior of the Alpina B6 Gran Coupe.

The interior of the Alpina B6 Gran Coupe.
David Booth, Driving

 

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