Contributing Editor Csaba Csere of Car and Driver gives an in-depth review of the German-tuned 2013 BMW Alpina B7 on the latest episode of Car and Driver: Tested.
The facelifted 2013 ALPINA B7 made its debut last summer. At a media event, BMW and ALPINA’s boss Andreas Bovensiepen introduced to U.S. journalists the second generation of the successful BMW ALPINA B7 super-high performance luxury sedan with more performance, fresh design features, and improved efficiency.
The B7 has a base price of $127,600 (B7 Standard Wheelbase), $130,600 (B7 SWB with xDrive), $131,500 (B7 Long Wheelbase), and $134,500 (B7 LWB with xDrive).
The new B7 produces 540 horsepower, 40 more than the outgoing model. On top of this, the B7 gets 22 lb-ft more torque (up to 538 from 516 lb-ft) thanks to the addition of BMW’s Valvetronic throttle-less intake technology and a new ALPINA 8-speed high performance transmission. Top speed is extended to 194 mph (drag-limited, 193 mph with xDrive), up from the previous 175 mph. Acceleration drops into the low-mid-4-second range for all variants (4.3-4.4 seconds).
The addition of the 8-speed ZF transmission, coupled with the start/stop technology, improves the fuel consumption by an estimated ten percent.
