Used Alpinas – four tuned BMW Bahnstormers from the end of an era
Alpina is to be reinvented under full BMW ownership – the perfect excuse to buy into a used one
All change for the niche but storied BMW modifier Alpina. As of 2026, Alpina is now a fully integrated part of BMW Group, now rebranded as BMW Alpina and positioned as a ‘standalone brand’. While that’s encouraging given there were some fears Alpina would be lost to BMW’s trademark archive never to be seen again, it may mean the end of the road for the traditional Alpina-fettled BMW’s we’ve come to know and love.
Indeed, Alpina has been in the business of eeking out extra brilliance from existing BMWs for over six decades. Its touch is sometimes subtle, sometimes not-so subtle, at least in terms of engineering – shoehorning a V8 into an E36 3-series springs to mind on that last point. Over the last 30 years, we’ve appreciated Alpina for delivering fast, luxurious, dynamic cars that fly under the radar, without the increasing ostentation (especially recently) of full fat M cars. Alpina as we’ve come to know it for better or worse, is no more. So why not buy into a past master from one of the coolest Q car brands there’s ever been? Here are four modern used Alpinas we’d seriously consider.
Alpina B3 Touring (G21) – from £50k
We open at the close (almost). The B3 GT is one of the last Alpinas of its outgoing era but surely, is also one of the best. The standard B3 takes an M340i 3-series as its basis but mates it with a version of BMW M’s twin-turbo straight-six modified for more low-down torque, and for the first time in an Alpina 3-series, BMW’s xDrive four-wheel-drive system. A great talent of Alpina’s then: making the ultimate daily driver.
Power ranges from 456bhp in the first of the B3s all the way to an M3-rivalling 522bhp in the B3 GT. In either instance, the B3 is a monstrous Q car for your cash. And if better fuel consumption over long distances is the order of the day, there’s the D3, which swaps the full fat M engine for a barrel-chested diesel six. Alpina B3s received uprated braking systems as well as revised spring and damper rates to handle the increased punch and cultivate a bespoke feel.
The demarcations of Alpinadom are subtle as ever but noticeable for those in the know. The classic multi-spoke wheels, the subtle decals, the aero on the lower area of the bodywork and the four exhausts at the rear. One of the great appeals of this generation of B3 is what it doesn’t share with BMW’s own M3 – that schnoz. We’ve all had plenty of time to get used to it but there’s real appeal in the B3’s more traditional, under-the-radar fascia. Even the B3 GT, with its Oro Tecnico gold badging, wheels and livery, strikes just the right special/subtle balance.
The B3 and D3 have been around in their most recent generation since 2020 but such is the rarity of these cars, they’ve not depreciated much. You won’t pay less than £54k for a B3, which is just £10k less than they were new five years ago. Mind you, that does look like a bargain compared to the last B3 GT, which cost £93,000 from new last year…
Alpina B5 BiTurbo (F10) – from £25k
An interesting point to note about many Alpinas of the last 25 years: they usually arrive ahead of the equivalent M car. Such was the case in 2010 when, with the new F10 M5 still a year out, the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 F10 Alpina B5 gave us a taste of the potential in this new 5-series platform. It had a sturdy 500bhp to call upon, powering the rear wheels via, get this, ZF’s 8-speed automatic transmission, rather than the DCT the F10 M5 would eventually receive. What an oddly prescient car the F10 B5 was, in hindsight.
We of course found it to be a bit too distant and a bit too filtered in terms of sensation, to be a real M5 alternative. Such is the prerogative of any Alpina. It’ll still get from 0-62mph in 4.7sec on the way to an unlimited top speed of 191mph.
Happily, being a bit older, the F10 B5 is the cheapest of this four-car list too, though you’ll still need between £25,000 and £35,000 for the privilege of ownership – what you could also expect to pay for a nice 30 Jahre F10 M5. But that simply wouldn’t do for the Alpina faithful, would it?
Alpina B4 Gran Coupe (G26) – from £65k
As mentioned another great talent of Alpina’s has been exploring the potential of cars BMW didn’t give the M treatment. Such is the case in the B4 Gran Coupe, the closest thing that exists to an M4 Gran Coupe and the only four-door 4 series of the most recent generation to receive a version of an M engine. Indeed like the B3, the B4 gets a fettled version of the S58 3-litre twin-turbo straight-six, with smaller turbos and revised management for a less visceral character. Doing without a top speed limiter as Alpinas do, it’s good for 187mph flat-out.
That especially suits the more swept-back, subtle character of the 4 series Gran Coupe. In his 2023 test, Deputy Editor James Taylor noted how surprisingly refined the B4 was but that it perhaps came at the expense of absolute involvement. Which sort of speaks to Alpina’s raison d’etre: be the best and very nearly as fast as a BMW can be but leave the absolute rawness, intensity and focus to the full-on M cars. It’s the ultimate artisanal Autobahn express.
The B4 like all Alpinas is a rare device but should you find one for sale, chances are it won’t be for much less than £65,000.
Alpina B8 GT (G16) – from £115k
Another great talent of Alpinas? Making a better, more interesting car out of models that BMW itself didn’t quite hit the mark with. The 8-series is a case in point, which sort of passed us by, with the M8 not really the class of the field in any of its endeavours.
By contrast, the Alpina B8 seemed to make a bit more sense, the fettlers endowing BMW’s swooping grand tourer with some of the specialness we felt was missing. Those subtle Alpina touches across the bodywork, the wheels, livery and sumptuously appointed interior are notable elevations. Likewise the performance.
The B8 Gran Coupe even without a full ‘M’ twin-turbo V8, boasted 612bhp from its N63 twin-turbo V8, which in combination with xDrive, made it good for 0-62mph in 3.4sec on the way to a 201mph top speed. Of course with its revised suspension settings the B8 is softer, more refined, less extroverted than an M8 but still more special and performant than the M850i on which it’s based. It’s a proper, luxurious GT of a type BMW itself never quite nailed with the 8-series and M8.
This all came at a price. The B8 was a £140,000 car at the time of our first drive in 2023, though it was an offering to rival the even pricier Bentley Continental GT. If not as outwardly special, it’s certainly rarer. With a bit of depreciation, they’re now cheaper too. We found an example for under £115k.
