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BMW Alpina B2

The up-and-comer

At first, under the name Alpina: office machines. Then, on 1 January 1965, Burkard Bovensiepen founded Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG, based in Buchloe, under the same name as his father’s company. In the early years, Alpina was nothing more than a tuner – they earned their money with add-on parts, chassis improvements and, of course, somewhat refreshed engines, which they then spent again on the racetrack. But Alpina was always a bit more noble, better equipped, cleaner in its work, not a backyard tinkerer. But it was only in 1977 that Alpina, also by the grace of BMW, was allowed to call itself a car manufacturer; in the early years it really was “pimp my ride”, albeit at a high level. And it is to these early years that we look back here – we present a BMW Alpina B2 from 1976.

The Alpina B2 engine was introduced as early as 1974; at Alpina, A once stood for the four-cylinder, B for the six-cylinder. The 3-litre engine (M30) had already had its premiere at BMW in 1971, and was fitted in the E9 coupé and the E3 saloon. After the spa treatment in Buchloe with a modified combustion chamber, forged pistons and a modified crankshaft drive, the straight six produced 230 hp at 6750 rpm and 265 Nm maximum torque at 4500 rpm. This engine was now fitted to the very classic 5 Series (E12), there was a front spoiler to go with it (which actually had a positive effect on the driving characteristics) as well as the usual deco material inside and out. And then there was the suspension kit FC3 with Bilstein struts with harder damping and negative camber as well as harder front springs, Bilstein struts with harder damping and adjustable rear spring plates as well as adjustable stabilisers all around (ok, only at extra cost, 666 DM).

From 1974 onwards, this was quite the hammer on the German autobahn, 0 to 100 in 6.9 seconds, top speed 228 km/h. And not really cheap either: such a B2 cost 41,900 DM in the basic version, plus the Getrag 5-speed gearbox (indispensable, 2200 DM), the differential gear with 40 per cent locking effect (1665 DM), the engine cooler kit (732.60 DM). At that time, Mercedes still had the eight-bar, the first G-model of the 911 in 1974 had a mere 150 hp and could only reach over 200 km/h with a tailwind.

Even if that was great by the standards of the time, even if Alpina has developed wonderfully over the years (see, for example: Alpina B5 GT), we are still a little surprised at how sought-after and expensive these vehicles from Buchloe have become. For this BMW Alpina B2, RM Sotheby’s has asked a proud 150,000 to 175,000 euros – a few years ago, they laughed at a bidder asking a tenth of that. Well, it is a very rare piece, probably not ten copies were made, it is also a rarely beautiful piece after a complete restoration that took six years. But actually, it’s “just” a pimped BMW with, hand-on-heart, horrible decoration. We love it for that too, but it’s all a bit crazy, isn’t it? Maybe it’s worth taking a look in the barn to see if there’s still a “pimped” BMW lying around.

We need an addendum. It was sold after all, after the big show, for 118,000 euros. But: it should be the case that this vehicle is not what it claims to be. A trustworthy source told us that there was indeed such an Alpina B2 with the chassis number 4759843, but that at some point it had to go the way of many other cars, i.e. it was thrown away. What remained were a few usable engine parts – and apparently also the papers. The B2 for sale is, however, and we want to remain cautious here: in all probability not the original. It is a beautiful 5 Series, also beautifully made to Alpina, but only a short research reveals that this chassis number originally looked different, was specified with other options, was simply a different car. Probably.

You can find more exciting classics in our archive.

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