Alpina D3 pushes diesel boundaries
Neville Contractor :: 29 August 2006 :: Filed under Saloon, Alpina, BMW, BMW 3 Series, Europe & UK
[Click on an image to view]
The ultimate four-pot oil burning machine?
Most card-carrying driving enthusiasts would sooner suck diarrhoea through a farmer’s sock than settle for four-pot diesel power. But if needs (and tax and company car restrictions) must, you might as well have the best. And this is probably it – the new BMW 3 Series-based Alpina D3, now on sale in Blighty for £26,995.
Alpina, of course, are old hands at bespoke BMW tailoring, producing exclusive cars in smallish numbers with commensurately largish price tags. So, while the aforementioned £26k (£28,995 for the Touring) asking price for a compact diesel four cylinder saloon might seem pricey, it’s by far the cheapest dish on Alpina’s rich and varied menu. You get a good portion of tasty gear, mind, including a bodykit, twin exhausts and big ’n’ bold 19-inch, Jet Fin hoops, wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sports. The not quite bungled-by-Bangle exterior looks all the better.
Engine internals are left alone, but a larger Garrett turbocharger and intercooler, bigger injectors and jazzed up engine management endow the D3 with 197bhp, up from 161bhp. This equates to almost 100bhp per litre. But diesels are all about the torque. How, therefore, does an extra 51lb/ft for a grand total of 302 lb ft at a silly 2000rpm grab you? Well, it’s enough to dispatch the bar-banter dash to 62mph in 7.4 seconds and no doubt make the most of that sublime rear-wheel drive chassis, too. And all from a 2-litre, 4-pot diesel.
Despite Alpina’s trademark massive rimmage and lowered suspension, the current fleet typically rides better than the equivalent off-the-peg Beemer (thank BMW’s standard-fit run-flat tyres for that). And there’s no reason to think the D3 will be any different. Inside, meanwhile, a few choice mods including blue dials and an Alpina gear knob quietly remind you why you forked out a little extra folding.
The D3’s classy interior: A little stitching goes a long way.
So, that’s looks, pace and roadholding ability, not to mention exclusivity (Alpina expects to sell just 100 this year), in a tax-friendly package capable of 47.9mpg. There’s just one problem – BMW’s own 330d, complete with that fabulous 231bhp six-pot lump can be had for a few thousand more…
Posted 17 January 2007, by Jamili.M
http://xenical--information4.blogspot.com
http://buycialis--chat4.blogspot.com
http://viagraonline--solution2.blogspot.com
http://levitra--faq1.blogspot.com