BMW Alpina B7

There was never a BMW 7 series made by the M division, there was no M7 badge, except for cheap sellers, somewhere around the world. There is though a small BMW tuner, who does the job for the 7 series, and they make it exquisite. The name of this tuner company is of course Alpina. The model in question is the BMW Alpina B7, presented in the Monterey Car Week

The original car was the 750i, Alpina added power, sportiness and class to it. Alpina did some work on the twin turbocharged 4.4L V8, working on the turbochargers, air intake and cooling systems, and the exhaust system. They came with more developed turbochargers with twin-scroll turbines and larger compressor wheels. They placed all of it in the V to ensure a more effective use of the exhaust gas even at low speed, and it resulted at better engine responsiveness. The total boost now is around 20 psi from the twin-turbos system. In addition to that, Alpina did modification to the air intake and cooling system. All components (raw air intake ducts, air filter housings and clean air intake manifold) guarantee maximum effectiveness. The cooling system uses new larger radiators and optimized piping. The Alpina B7 has an indirect intercooler system (air/water/air) to ensure better thermodynamic exchange, and higher performance. It has also a new stainless steel twin-pipe exhaust system that guarantees weight loss, better sound, better exhaust of the gas with less pressure. The new tweaked engine produced 608 bhp between 5750 and 6250 rpm, while the maximum torque of 800 Nm is available from just 3000 rpm. Power is put to the ground via the new generation 8-Speed Sport Automatic Transmission with ALPINA SWITCH-TRONIC from ZF and an all-wheel-drive system which is an improvement to BMW’s x-drive system. The transmission comes with a stronger torque converter, reinforced planetary wheels, increased cooling, and unique software, and works in three modes : Automatic(D), Sport (S) and Manual (M). Racing from 0 to 100 kph takes just 3.7 seconds (big improvement compared to the 750i engine that does it in 4.3 seconds), and the top speed is around 330 kph.

On the exterior, Alpina left its mark, and came with new aerodynamic and aesthetic elements. The body is reinforced with Carbon-fiber, steel and aluminum for weight reduction but also for better mechanical resistance. The Alpina B7 has new and rear front spoiler, that reduce drag, and increase lift on the front tires, also to cool the front brakes. It also had an active grille that plays a good role in the cooling. Also, as you can see, this is a long-wheel-base model, and sits on Alpina classic 20 inches wheels.

On the interior, Alpina fitted the B7 with luxurious equipment. The seats are covered in Hand-finished LAVALINA leather. Alpina promises luxury and comfort. The instruments panel uses LED technology that reacts with the driving mode, either in comfort, or in speed and dynamic view.

BMW M4 GTS Concept

BMW haven’t been quite active when it comes to beauty concours, except for the 3.0 CSL homage. In this year’s Peeble Beach Concours d’Élégance, BMW came with two models, a race version of the 3.0 CSL Homage, and a GTS Concept of the M4 model. It is a concept per say, there is an actual prototype for it, but many features will come later with the production model.

The M4 GTS Concept, is a more track focused version of the M4, launched a year ago. It features the same water injection system introduced in the M4 MotoGP Safety car. It has a lightweight carbon-fiber rear wing, a manually adjustable front splitter, and larger front air intake.

“While the BMW M4 Coupe embodies the ideal combination of motor sport genes and unrestricted everyday usability, the BMW Concept M4 GTS previews an emotionally powerful and exclusive special model conceived with an eye for trailblazing technology and a keen focus on the race track,”
“Despite its outstanding track ability, it is still fully road-legal. This is racing technology for the road in the truest sense.”Frank van Meel, BMW M president.

Despite being a race model, it is still road-legal. And because it is exceptional, the GTS owners will be remarkable through grey body paint and orange wheels. There is no date for production yet, and once more, competition amongst German constructors is fierce.

BMW i8

BMW, maker of mean looking cars, well known drifters, thanks to their stability control, and the mighty M1, started in 2008 the i program, for hybrid, urban cars, and started with the compact i3, later on in time, it came with a car, in the same program, with supercar performance, and efficiency of a compact car (BMW)

The least that can be said about the i8 is that it is elegant, charming, devilish looking, just amazing. If one drives anywhere, you will find phones and cameras flashing at it, everyone will try to have a chance to take a picture of it. It is like dating a super hot model, everyone will want to see her, they won’t care about you. In the case of the BMw i8, they might, because, the price ticket put on it, is 300,000 $, and frankly, it is not affordable to anyone. It comes with a design that, besides its attraction, keeps you waiting, while asking the question, when is it going to transform? The body, which is made of 56 separate carbon fiber pieces, and the choice of color, keeps only reminding me of that.

Under the body, lays the power unit of the car, which is a combination of an electric motor, delivering 128 bhp and 250 torques, and a twinpower turbo 3-cylinder engine that produces 227 bhp and 320 torques. The total of all that, is 355 bhp and 570 Nm. It is close to supercar performance, from a small engine. The 1485 kg of electric gadgets, carbon-fiber body and aluminium chassis goes from stop to 100 in 4.4 seconds. The i8 sit on 20-inches alloy wheels, that have independent suspension. It has all-wheel-drive, power transmitted to the 4 wheels through a 6-speed transmission. Fuel consumption is estimated at 5.2L/100km for the urban and 2.1L for the combined mode.

The i8, was the first production car in the world to used laser headlights, they have 600m range, which is twice as the LED’s and consume 30% less energy. A laser diode weighs around 10 times less than a LED diode, so, BMW did well using them, better range, less weight and less energy consumption. Energy consumption matter due to the fact that the heart of the car being the battery, that has a 37 Km range, which is good to take one from home to work, or for enjoying a ride. the battery comes with a warranty of 8 years or 100,000 km. BMW does really trust its product.

(to be updated in the future)