On 1 January 2026, the brand rights to ALPINA passed to BMW. The cooperation agreement had expired on 31 December 2025; the last B3 GT and B4 GT were assembled in November 2025 — and already at the BMW plant in Munich, no longer in Buchloe.
This brings to an end, after six decades, something that had no second example in the automotive world: a company that improved BMWs while not being a tuner, but rather a manufacturer recognised by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt automobile manufacturer with its own manufacturer code number and its own chassis number.
What this means for the classic vehicles is the actually interesting question. The short answer first: the market pays for an ALPINA, depending on the model line, between zero and two hundred percent premium over the BMW counterpart. This range is no coincidence.
Not a tuner — a manufacturer
The difference can be pinned down to two numbers. ALPINA holds, with the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, the manufacturer code number 7656, and the vehicles carry their own chassis number with the world manufacturer code WAP — not the BMW designation. In the vehicle registration document, an ALPINA is not a BMW with accessories, but an ALPINA.
The rest follows from that: its own type approval, its own warranty, sales and service through the BMW dealer network. And up to the XB7 in 2020, this applied: Every single ALPINA was finished in Buchloe.
The engine philosophy was also different from BMW M’s. Where M pursued revs, ALPINA pursued torque — vehicles for the long haul, not for a lap of the Nordschleife. The B10 Biturbo is the textbook example of this: 360 PS, but 520 Nm at 4,000 rpm, and a rotary control inside the cabin that allowed the boost pressure to be adjusted.
The classic models
| Model | Base | Engine | Power | Production period | Units built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B6 2.8 | 323i (E21) | M30 2.8 l | 200 PS, from 1981 218 PS | 1978–1983 | 533 |
| B6 3.5 | 3 Series (E30) | M30 3.5 l | 261 PS (254 with catalytic converter) | 1986–1990 | 219 or 210 |
| B12 5.0 | 750i (E32) | M70 V12 | 350 PS | 1988–1994 | 305 |
| B10 Biturbo | 535i (E34) | 3.4 l, two Garrett T25 | 360 PS, 520 Nm | 1989–1994 | 507 |
| B12 5.0 | 850i (E31) | M70 V12 | 350 PS | 1990–1994 | 97 |
| B12 5.7 | 850CSi (E31) | S70B56 V12 | 416 PS, 570 Nm | 1992–1996 | 57 |
| B12 5.7 | 750i (E38) | M73 V12 | 387 PS | 1995–1998 | 202 |
| B12 6.0 | 750i (E38) | M73 V12 6.0 l | 430 PS | 1999–2001 | 94 |
| Roadster V8 | Z8 (E52) | V8 | — | 2002–2003 | 555 |
The B10 Biturbo was, at its launch, the fastest production sedan in the world: 291 km/h, a measured 5.2 seconds to 100. For comparison, the five-year-older Ferrari Testarossa was brought in at the time. Paul Frère wrote a sentence about it in Road & Track that is still quoted today:
“For me this is the car … I think this is the best 4-door in the world.”
Paul Frère on the ALPINA B10 Biturbo, Road & Track
A clarification missing from many overviews: The B12 5.0 existed on two platforms — on the 7 Series E32 with 305 examples and on the 8 Series E31 with 97. Anyone reading “B12 5.0” should check which one is meant.
The premium: from zero to two hundred percent
This is where it gets interesting for buyers. The widespread assumption that an ALPINA is fundamentally worth more than the corresponding M model holds true only for certain model lines — and very much so.
| Model line | Premium over the BMW counterpart |
|---|---|
| E28 B7 Turbo vs E28 M5 | +200 % |
| E24 vs M635 CSi | +85 % |
| E34 vs M5 E34 | +63 % |
| E36 | +4 % |
| E30 vs M3 E30 | no measurable premium |
The explanation is obvious as soon as the production numbers are set alongside each other. A B7 Turbo is a collector’s vehicle with a production run in the hundreds; an M3 E30, with over 17,000 examples, is itself an icon and needs no tuner to be desirable. The ALPINA premium is, in truth, a rarity premium — and where BMW itself built a rare, legendary model, it disappears.
The same principle applies within the model lines. On the E31, the B12 5.7 with 57 examples stands at $325,000 (sale December 2025), the B12 5.0 with 97 examples at the equivalent of a good 90,000 — a factor of 3.5 with an almost identical base vehicle. And on the E34, the market average of $43,498 mixes two very different cars: the Biturbo stands at around 58,000, the regular B10 3.5 at 28,000 to 30,000.
The top figure dates from January 2026: An ALPINA Roadster V8 with 1,200 kilometres, chassis number 295, one of only eighteen officially delivered to Japan, achieved at BH Auction in Tokyo 78,810,000 yen — around $500,000. The Roadster V8 is the only classic ALPINA where the premium over the BMW base model is clearly documented: 555 examples against around 5,700 Z8.
The point where things get serious when buying
ALPINA cosmetic parts are freely available for purchase. Multi-spoke wheels, decorative stripes, steering wheel, gear knob and badge can be bolted onto any BMW. With premiums of 200 percent, this is no theoretical concern.
The first check is the chassis number: a genuine ALPINA carries its own with the world manufacturer code WAP, not a BMW VIN. Anyone offered a vehicle with a BMW chassis number and an ALPINA badge is looking at a converted BMW.
The second is the delivery certificate from ALPINA CLASSIC. And there is a sentence here that one should know before trusting the document: the certificate explicitly confirms neither originality, condition, nor value — it merely documents the condition in which the vehicle left the factory.
This is not a shortcoming of the document, but its correct scope. It does mean, however: the certificate proves that this ALPINA existed and how it was delivered. Whether the vehicle in front of you is that vehicle, and in what condition — that still has to be assessed by an expert.
Two details that are often stated incorrectly
The driver’s name is Harald Ertl, not Harald Menzel. Ertl drove an ALPINA-BMW 3.0 CSL at Silverstone in 1973 together with Derek Bell. The mix-up haunts several overviews.
The European Championship titles of 1970, 1973 and 1977 are disputed. ALPINA claims them in its own retrospective; the official driver title lists, however, credit Toine Hezemans (1970 with Alfa Romeo, 1973 with BMW) and Dieter Quester (1977, BMW). We state both readings and treat neither as confirmed.
Undisputed and strong enough in any case is another result: the overall victory at the 24 Hours of Spa in 1970 by Huber and Kelleners.
What happens now
What was sold were the brand rights, not the company. The Bovensiepen family continues to run the company as Bovensiepen Group with five business areas — including the wine trade, which has always been part of the house.
Under BMW’s direction, one remaining item is still running: the XB7 Manufaktur, 120 units, assembly from September 2026 in Spartanburg. The first genuine BMW-ALPINA models — a B7 on G72 and an XB7 on G67 — are announced for 2027.
Whether an ALPINA built by BMW is still an ALPINA will occupy the scene for a while yet. For the classic market, the question has an unromantic but clear side effect: The vehicles built in Buchloe are, from now on, a closed set. That is exactly the constellation in which values have historically risen.
For anyone wanting to look up the base vehicles: the 8 Series E31 carried the strongest classic twelve-cylinder from Buchloe, the 5 Series E34 the Biturbo. How classic BMWs are developing in the market overall can be found in our article on value retention of classic BMWs.
ALPINA was not the only path to a better BMW. How Hartge from Beckingen worked with its own chassis numbers and engine transplants — and why AC Schnitzer from Aachen has nothing to do, despite the name, with the DTM titles of Schnitzer Motorsport, can be found in the two related articles.
Sources
- alpina-archive.com — model and production number archive
- Wikipedia — ALPINA B10 Biturbo and ALPINA B12
- Classic & Sports Car — 25 awesome classic Alpinas
- classic.com — ALPINA B12 (E31) and ALPINA B10 (E34), accessed 8 Aug 2026
- BMWBLOG — auction record ALPINA Roadster V8, Tokyo, January 2026
There is no consistent source situation regarding the production number of the B6 3.5, the variant system of the E28 B7 Turbo, and the value of factory documentation. Anyone with reliable documents: Write to us.