BMW itself was closely involved in the development of this model - it was keen to see the potential of a sporting diesel and offered Alpina the choice of the new 3.9-litre V8 diesel or the 3.0-litre straight six to develop. Alpina's engineers chose the smaller engine for its lower weight, extra refinement and the fact they would be able to use the rack and pinion steering of the nimble Alpina B10.

The new engine breathes through a larger intercooler and its twin turbos are the state of the art, with electro-mechanical adjustable turbo vanes to optimise power and torque, which increase from 184bhp to 245bhp and 288lb ft to a stonking 360lb ft (for reference, that's just 9lb ft shy of the M5). The key is higher boost pressures, reaching a maximum of 1.5bar at full boost. What's more, peak torque is available from just 1800rpm all the way to 3500rpm; similarly, peak power plateaus from 3500 to 4200rpm.
They've worked hard at refinement, too. The compression ratio has been reduced a couple of notches from 18 to 16:1, which helps reduce the diesel rattle, and a special viscous damper fitted to the front pulley reduces it still further to a point where it is now barely noticeable from the cabin, even starting from cold.

The test car was fitted with Alpina's Switchtronic option, which means you can change gears manually via two buttons on the steering wheel if you move the standard gear selector from standard to sport settings. In fact there's so much torque on offer here that the only reason you might want to control the gears manually is to hold on to a higher gear and ride the torque curve rather than try to keep it in the narrower power band.

This car offers truly astonishing performance. You can't quite work it out at first because the soundtrack doesn't match the speed at which the outside world is passing by. You're heavier on the brakes than you expect, too, because you're travelling so much quicker than your muddled brain thinks you are.

The D10 has the gearing of a Diablo - 85mph is just over 2000rpm in top - yet the in-gear acceleration would give an M5 a run for its money. Try 30-75mph in 5.7secs for the auto D10 compared with 30-70 in 5.0secs in a manual-only M5. Of course, the M5 hits back when it comes to outright acceleration but the D10's 0-100 time of 17.5secs isn't exactly slouching around and is a full 10secs better than a standard 530d can manage.

The car has that edgy feel that I rather like, too: you know the engine has been tweaked, there's that rush as the turbos build up maximum boost, followed by a marginally sooty blast from the exhaust, and a sound that is definitely not what Dr Diesel had in mind all those years ago.

Being an Alpina it also gets a reworked chassis, which manages to provide extra feedback and grip without throwing refinement out of the window. I'm surprised BMW hasn't adopted it as standard on all 5-series by now. Other manufacturers must be glad it hasn't.

This car has to be a turning point. No longer can diesel be dismissed as the dull choice. I'd even say that once these sort of performance diesels are widely available, they'll become the intelligent choice of the clued-up enthusiast, for what more could you possibly want a 5-series to do? The D10 handles beautifully, tops out at 158mph, pops to sixty in about 6.6secs and can return over 40mpg with super-low CO2 emissions into the bargain. Unfortunately the D10 is only available in left-hand drive, and Sytner will be bringing only a handful to the UK at ΂£41,850 (or ΂£43,850 in Switchtronic form).
In the first issue of evo, Jeff Daniels predicted the rise of the performance diesel. Three years on, and the first car I've personally awarded the full five stars is... a diesel. Shoot me down in flames.