Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Alpina B3 S Touring: zo had de 3 Serie eigenlijk moeten zijn
Imagine that you are opting for a M3 Touring
BMW, were talking about here of course: BMW M3 Touring
It doesn't exist!
It's coming up with the current generation
But they never had it with previous generations
It's partly the charme of a brand like Alpina
The BMW M3 Convertible by the way, does exist
This is the Alpina B3 S
Biturbo
With Alpina you've got choice
Coupe, Convertible, Touring, Sedan, four wheel drive, rear wheel drive
It's all possible!
Manual, I'm not so sure
I don't think so with this generation Alpina B3. Automatic only
Except for the transmission, the configuration is very personal with Alpina
That's a part of the charme of the brand
The other part is that Alpina really change a BMW
The brand makes cars really faster
For example, when you drive lots of kilometers, but you also love to drive
Then this car is perfect for the job
You could say in a way it's perfect for Germans
On the autobahn, driving really fast
But also on the 'Langstrae'
Where there are far more corners in comparison to The Netherlands
It's a little bit more boring here if its about driving roads
The maximumspeed here is also lower
If you encounter an exciting corner in The Netherlands
Then the maximumspeed is usually 60 km/h, or 50 or 30 or your not even allowed to drive there
Whilst in Germany, everything is 100 km/h and it's your own responsibility to brake on the right time
This is where Alpina's are being developed for
This car is an Alpina B3S Biturbo
Generation E91/E90/E92/E93
The generation code depends on the variant of the car
Nice color eh?
It's Alpina blue
It almost looks like purple blue in some way
A very outgoing color
The Alpina striping has not been applied to this car
You do get the striping with the car if you purchase this one
So if you want, you can put the decal on yourself on a nice Sunday afternoon
I would recommend to have this done by a professional by the way
The whole package looks great on this car
Should I show you some exterior changes compared to a normal 3 Series?
Of course, there are the wheels that are different
There are multiple types of wheels on a Alpina
I personally like these wheels the most
Then there's the front lip
It's a bit lower and has the Alpina branding on top of it
What I think is odd, is that Alpina never choose to mirror the branding
Because if the car in front of you checks his rear view mirror, he can't read Alpina properly
On the rear, we've got quad tail pipes
The Alpina badging
But stil, it looks quite understated
Don't get fooled however
This car has got M3 worthy performance
The drive is brilliant in this car
The funny thing is, everything look recognizable from BMW's of this era
The differences are in the details
For example, the steering wheel has the Alpina logo
The steering feels more heavy, but maybe my memory is wrong
This car has a switchtronic
That means there are small buttons behind the steering wheel to shift up or down
Eventually, Alpina choose for flappy paddles as well in later generations
Ah, this engine has so much to offer
Even in low gearing you've got plenty of torque
That's just really nice
It almost feels like an 335d, for example
But then, you can pull forever with this thing
Because yes, that's possible!
I want to show you two nice things beneath the bonnet
First of all, the chassis number
The original BMW chassis number has been scratched through
This is also the proof that it's a different product
Alpina is a manufacturer, with it's own chassis number
And then the engine
The classic recipe
A straight six BMW engine. In this case the N54
That means it got twin turbo's, so it has two of them
Alpina has increased the turbo pressure to 1.2 bar
New oil cooler and more lightweight pistons
This means the power has been increased significally
400 hp and 540 Nm torque
That makes this a really fast car
From 0-100 km/h
4,7 seconds for the sedan, thats the fasted version
Because of the increased weight, the Touring is 0,1 second slower
Therefor, the sedan has the highest topspeed as well
But most people do want the practicality of the Touring
The sedan goes faster then 300 km/h
303 km/h, to be exact
The Touring has a topspeed of 298 km/h
But if you look on the speedo in the car, it will probably tell you 300 km/h
That's the magic number!
Don't you agree?
Alpina also refined the suspension
For example, the stabilizer bars on the rear
Just a little bit more thin
Alpina really put their own sauce on this car and you can feel that
The spring comfort is really nice
And at the same time, the car really likes to take a corner fast
Then the sound. Also very nice. Thumbs up for that
Because it's an Akrapovic exhaust system
The smart thing of Alpina is the level of comfort, even with big wheels like these
Maybe a little bit too big to be really comfortable
But they have really done this right with this car
These are cars you can really drive fast on a daily basis
You'll arrive on your destination in all serenity
Again, in Germany with high average speeds on the highway
After the highway you take the exit, for some nice country roads
This car is build for that purpose
And that makes a big difference compared to a big manufacturer like BMW
A manufacturer that has to make different choices
Maybe this is the car that BMW always has meant it to be
Other details, the blue speedo that reads till 310 km/h
The car does not reach that speed, but it does come close
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