Did the BMW Concept 4’s snorty nostrils scare you too? Come here, come back to the light. BMW skunkworks Alpina has presented its take on the current 3 Series wagon. It’s mean, green and clean, and the site showing it off is actually quite fun to scroll through, too.
Not to play with your emotions too much, but, I wouldn’t get your hopes up on American availability for this car. We don’t even get the 3 Series wagon stateside, so, you’re probably going to have to enjoy this one from afar if you don’t live in Europe. Now, back to being upbeat:
That sizzle reel feels very classic Top Gear, but the Alpina B3 site is more relaxing. It’s also delightfully interactive. As you scroll, you can admire the car’s rotating guts and see everything Alpina’s done to make this car special. And of course, spin a rendering of the car in a good selection of colors including Alpina’s signature metallic blue or metallic green.
If you don’t have time to mess with all that right now, here’s the download: the new BMW Alpina B3 Touring AWD runs a 3.0-liter straight-six rated to 462 metric horsepower and about 516 lb-ft of torque. That sneaks past the 2019 BMW M3’s posted 425 HP and 406 lb-ft of torque, and even bests the M3 Competition’s claimed 444 HP.
A ZF eight-speed automatic transmission with Alpina’s tweaks sends that energy to all four wheels which are staggered in size at 9.5 inches wide in the back and 8.5 in the front. Behind those many spoked rollers are equally impressive and expansive brakes to bring the car back to a stop from Autobahn speeds.
But the coolest touches Alpina puts on might be the lovely interior treatments. The cockpit is unique from a standard BMW, even down to the digital display, which gets Alpina emblem’ing. And yes, those cool gold or silver side stripes Alpina has been putting on its cars since forever are still optional.
