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B3 BiTurbo
Introduction
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In March 2007 at the Geneva Motorshow, Alpina launched the B3 BiTurbo, based on the E90 3-series saloon. A few months later the B3 BiTurbo Coupe was seen at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and in September, during the IAA in Frankfurt, the E93 B3 BiTurbo Cabrio was introduced. After the E90 facelift in October 2008, the B3 BiTurbo also became available as Touring.
From March 2008, the B3 Coupe Allrad was presented with BMW´s xDrive 4wd-system. As is traditional with Alpina, the 4wd version was given the designation “Allrad”. After the E90 facelift in October 2008, the B3 Allrad also became available as Limousine and Touring.
The successor of the B3 BiTurbo - the B3S BiTurbo - was launched at the 2010 Geneva motorshow. At the same time, the B3 Allrad was replaced by the B3S Allrad.
Engine/Gearbox
Please refer to the separate tab.
Suspension/Brakes/Wheels
Please refer to the separate tab.
Interior/Exterior
The exterior changes includes new front and rear spoiler lips for better aerodynamics. From the rear the B3´s are easily noticeable due to the four exhaust pipes. The traditional stripes, in gold or silver, are a no-cost option.
Inside the B3 has BMW sport seats as standard, leather in Alpina design, new instruments with blue background and red needles, ”Rüster Maser” wood trim, a hand-stitched leather steering-wheel, Alpina floor mats, Alpina door sills and a silver-plated production plaque.
Performance
According to Alpina, the B3 Coupe and Saloon can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4,8 seconds, 0-1000 meters in 23,5 seconds and has a top-speed of 285 km/h. Because of its higher weight, the B3 Cabrio is a little bit slower. It can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 5,0 seconds and has a top-speed of 280 km/h. From a standing start one kilometer is reached after 23,7 seconds.
Engine/Gearbox
Before the B3 BiTurbo was launched, there was a lot of speculation regarding what kind of engine it would get. Since Alpina had bought a stake in ASA, the manufacturer of the supercharger found in the B5, B6 and B7, the most likely alternative seemed to be a six-cylinder engine with the same type of supercharger. But then the BMW 335i came along, BMW´s first turbocharged petrol car since the E23 745i. The BMW 335i has a twin turbocharged 3 litre straight six producing 306 bhp. It´s a very nice engine and, of course, a perfect base for the Alpina B3.
The B3 BiTurbo’s engine is heavily based on BMW´s twin turbocharged 3-litre straight six. Alpina has fitted lower compression Mahle pistons and reprogrammed the software extensively to make the engine more powerful, increased boost pressure to 1,1 bar, but without using more fuel. The result is 360 bhp at 5500-6000 rpm and a maximum torque of 500 NM available from 3800-5000 rpm. The bhp-figure is exactly the same as the B10 BiTurbo´s but according to Alpina that´s just a coincidence.
The B3 BiTurbo is only available with a 6-speed ZF Swith-Tronic gearbox. It´s the same as used in the standard BMW cars but Alpina has reprogrammed the software.
Suspension/Brakes
The suspension of the B3 is similar to that of a 3-series BMW with the optional (for some models) sports suspension. Alpina has fine tuned it though with new specifications on the dampers to make it work perfect with the non-runflat Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires. Worth noticing is that the Coupe-version has a bit stiffer suspension settings than the saloon or the convertible. As standard all B3´s come with 18” wheels in Alpina classic design, fitted with 245/40 tires at front and 265/40 at rear. 19″ wheels are optional, either in Classic design or in the newer Dynamic design.
The brakes are sourced from the BMW 335i.
Images
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