This Will Be a Future Design Basic

Let’s simply begin with the design. Simply take a look at it. The ALPINA B8 Gran Coupe is bite-the-back-of-your-fist lovely. The form, the refined physique strains, the ALPINA-specific bumpers, and — after all — the always-gorgeous iconic ALPINA wheels create a visible masterpiece that reminds us what BMW design can obtain when it’s firing on all cylinders.

The 8 Collection Gran Coupe already represents BMW design at its absolute peak — arguably the final really lovely automotive to emerge from Munich earlier than the controversial design route of current years. The proportions are flawless: lengthy hood, sweeping roofline, muscular haunches. It’s traditional BMW GT coupe language executed to perfection, the religious successor to the legendary E31 8 Collection however with trendy athleticism. Even base 840i fashions flip heads. It’s the form of automotive that appears quick standing nonetheless, the sort that makes you recognize why BMW as soon as dominated the luxurious efficiency phase on design alone.

However the ALPINA-specific modifications elevate it additional. The decrease entrance lip provides aggression with out the overwrought drama of current M automotive entrance ends. These killer ALPINA wheels — the traditional multi-spoke design that’s been refined over a long time — fill the arches completely with a timeless class that makes them immediately recognizable. The rear bumper tidily wraps round quad exhaust pipes with a stage of integration and purposefulness that’s grow to be uncommon in an period of pretend vents and black plastic cladding.

The B8 additionally is available in two ALPINA-specific colours — ALPINA Blue Metallic and ALPINA Inexperienced Metallic. Each have been ALPINA signatures all through the model’s historical past, immediately signaling to those that know that this isn’t simply one other tuned BMW. These are manufacturing facility colours with heritage, not catalog choices.

The ALPINA Distinction

Right here’s what separates ALPINA from each different tuner that’s ever bolted elements onto a BMW: they’re producers, not modifiers. Every B8 Gran Coupe is hand-built in Buchloe, Germany, with a stage of consideration that even BMW’s personal M division doesn’t fairly match. The inside receives ALPINA-specific touches all through — distinctive stitching patterns, refined badging, a numbered plaque, and that beautiful ALPINA steering wheel. Every part you contact feels richer, extra intentionally crafted.

And with BMW’s acquisition of ALPINA accomplished in late 2025the B8 Gran Coupe represents the top of an period. That is the final technology of true ALPINA-made earlier than full integration into BMW AG. That makes these vehicles traditionally vital in the identical approach the final E46 M3s or last naturally-aspirated 911s grew to become collectible. We’re watching automotive historical past occur in real-time.

Proper now, 2025 B8 Gran Coupes are listed between $155,000-$160,000. For context, that’s lower than a loaded M8 Competitors Gran Coupe price new, however you’re getting one thing infinitely extra particular. Hand-built. Extra restricted manufacturing. A 50-year pedigree. And admittedly, higher appears to be like than the M8.

Engineering The place It Counts

Below the hood sits a monster 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that shares structure with each the N63 in customary 8 Collection fashions and the S63 in M8s, however follows its personal path. ALPINA tears down the N63 and rebuilds it their approach: new pistons, bigger twin-scroll turbochargers, upgraded intercooler, revised consumption and exhaust manifolds, and a whole exhaust system.

The consequence? 612 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. That’s 5 hp shy of the M8 Competitors however critically, 37 lb-ft extra torque. And for those who’ve pushed each, you recognize that torque distinction is precisely the place ALPINA’s philosophy diverges from M’s. The M8 desires to scream. The B8 desires to surge.

ALPINA claims 3.3 seconds to 60 mph — possibly a tenth slower than the M8 Competitors on paper, however in the true world, it feels each bit as devastatingly fast. The distinction is within the supply. The eight-speed ZF automated receives ALPINA-specific tuning, providing a novel refinement.

The Way forward for ALPINA Below BMW

Right here’s the uncomfortable reality: we don’t actually understand how the ALPINA model will develop beneath BMW possession. To this point, we’ve heard a few new B7 and XB7which tells us BMW sees ALPINA’s future in sedans and SUVs — the quantity sellers. However nothing concrete on different merchandise, particularly coupes.

That stated, understanding BMW’s historic affinity for luxurious coupes — and the present hole of their portfolio — we’d be stunned if we don’t see not less than an ALPINA coupe idea sooner or later. It really makes good enterprise sense. BMW wants a flagship luxurious coupe to compete within the ultra-premium phase alongside Mercedes-Maybach and even Bentley, particularly since Rolls-Royce doesn’t supply a two-door anymore.

An ALPINA grand coupe, priced north of $200,000 with hand-finished inside particulars, bespoke coloration choices, and that signature ALPINA refinement might slot completely into this white area. Consider it because the anti-Maybach — much less ostentatious, extra driver-focused, however equally unique and splendid. It’s a pure evolution of what the B8 Gran Coupe already represents.

Whether or not BMW has the imaginative and prescient to pursue this stays to be seen. However the B8 Gran Coupe proves the components works.

A Future Basic, Proper Now

The E31 8 Collection is now a six-figure collectible. The E9 3.0 CSL is approaching half one million. Even clear E46 M3s are fetching $40k-$50k. The ALPINA B8 Gran Coupe is that automotive for the subsequent technology.

It represents the final of one thing: unbiased ALPINA, naturally, but additionally the final gasp of BMW’s traditional grand tourer philosophy at the start grew to become both an electrified crossover or a monitor weapon. It’s lovely with out the controversial styling experiments. It’s highly effective with out chasing spec-sheet numbers. It’s unique with out being unobtainable.

Years from now, after we may driving electrical 8 Collection crossovers with illuminated kidneys, we’ll look again on the ALPINA B8 Gran Coupe and acknowledge it for what it’s: one of many final instances BMW — via ALPINA — constructed precisely the automotive they need to have been constructing all alongside.

It’s a future traditional you can nonetheless purchase right this moment.