division too sporty for the
7 Series. A car like the 7
Series would be a better
grand tourer. So with
that, we have Alpina.
Exterior
None of the executive
luxobarges on steroids
have an ‘in-your-face’
sporty styling. In my
eyes, Alpina managed to
strike a delicate balance
here. The changes
between the B7 and the
ordinary 7 Series start
with the front
appearance. Of course,
the signature BMW splitkidney grille is
present. But it’s what’s
below the grille that
counts. The ordinary 7
keeps a conservative,
luxury profile with a
relatively small air vent
near the bottom of the
bumper. The B7’s front
bumper, on the other
hand, is longer from top
to bottom. The lower
vent is enlarged, and the
bottom of the bumper is
more flat and aggressivelooking. My favorite
touch on the front,
however, is the ALPINA
lettering on the bottom of
the bumper, a trait found
on every Alpina model
available worldwide.
The back of the car is
stereotypically mildsporty. Don’t get me
wrong here - it looks
tasteful and
conservative. But the
changes are essentially
just a small spoiler (at
least it’s not a big wing),
“Alpina” & “B7” lettering
on the decklid, quad
tailpipes, and a larger
rear bumper that also
surrounds the
tailpipes. It’s simple, and
maybe not very
distinctive, but it works
nicely. The side of the
car is worth multiple
looks. The side skirt is
obviously not
striking. Frankly, I would
be afraid to see a wild
side skirt design on a car
like this. But the most
noticeable appointment
by Alpina across the
entire exterior is the
rims. Typical AMGs
would have sporty rims
that are, well, cool
looking. But none of
those could steal the
show the same way the
B7’s does. What am I
talking about? Try to not
be impressed at the
concave twenty inch,
TWENTY ONE spoke
rims. It’s as if Alpina took
the wheels from a 12
cylinder S-Class,
enlarged it by a couple of
inches, and made it a lot
more athletic. Well done,
Alpina.
Interior
When Alpina takes the
cars from the BMW
assembly line to their
own factory, they make
sure to put some of their
own touches in the
interior as
well. Unfortunately,
those touches did not
appear to go very far. No
really special seat
stitching, like Designo
styling in MercedesBenzes? It’s not to say
that all was lost,
however. Should one
buy a B7 and look for
distinguishing details, one
would notice the Alpina
logo on the steering
wheel (replacing the
BMW logo), along with
Alpina green
stitching! There is Alpina
lettering on the
tachometer. Also, there
is an Alpina ‘certificate’
on the headliner. It would
have been nice to have
absolutely no BMW
badge present in the
interior. Unfortunately,
that could bring up issues
for the manufacturer
when it comes time to
importing these