CarBrandLogos archive · Alpina · 1989

AlpinaB10 Bi-Turbo

For a while, the fastest four-door saloon you could buy.

Photo: nakhon100 · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Alpina history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Alpina's method has always been to rework a BMW thoroughly rather than simply add power to it, and the B10 Bi-Turbo of 1989 was the fullest expression of that. The base car was the E34 5-Series; what Alpina did to it was extensive enough for the result to be registered as a car in its own right.

Alpina-B10-Bi Turbo-Seitenansicht · Bernward S at German Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The engine was BMW's M30 straight-six, reduced to 3.4 litres, given lower-compression pistons, Mahle internals and two Garrett turbochargers, with all the associated plumbing forced into an engine bay never designed to take it. Drive went to the rear wheels through a five-speed Getrag manual. Alpina reinforced the body, fitted its own suspension, brakes and limited-slip differential, and finished the car with the familiar deep front spoiler, twenty-spoke wheels and gold pinstripes.

Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo · Detectandpreserve · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

At launch it was widely reported as the fastest saloon in the world, quicker in a straight line than BMW's own M5 of the period and considerably more relaxed with it - an autobahn car rather than a circuit car, which is the distinction Alpina has always drawn.

Legacy

Only 507 were built at Buchloe between 1989 and 1994, before the naturally aspirated B10 4.0 took over. They are now the most sought-after Alpinas of the era.

At a glance