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BMW Alpina B7 vs BMW M5

What's the difference?

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BMW Alpina B7
BMW Alpina B7

2018 price

BMW M5
BMW M5

2018 price

Summary

2018 BMW Alpina B7
2018 BMW M5
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Twin Turbo V8, 4.4L

Turbo V8, 4.4L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

Premium Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
9.6L/100km (combined)

10.6L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Exhaust note could be tougher sounding
  • Extra care needed to pilot through car parks and alley ways
  • Australia's speed limits

  • Hefty price hike
  • Design, inside and out, could be more adventurous
  • Still no phone mirroring
2018 BMW Alpina B7 Summary

You know when you're walking along the footpath and you come to a soft spongey bit that the council have put in around a tree and your mind goes: "Whoah, the ground is bouncy but it looks just like bitumen?!"

Well that's the kind of response you'll get from people when they think they're looking at a regular BMW 7 Series, only to have their world go a bit bouncy when they see the Alpina B7 badge on the back of this car as you're overtaking them at Warp Factor 9000.

And you will be overtaking them like a blur because, thanks to the elves at German tuning house Alpina, the B7 is hugely fast for a five-seat, 5.3m-long, 2.2 tonne limo. But then the B7 is fast for any type of car of any dimensions, because with its 330km/h top speed this beast will outrun a McLaren 570GT. Yes, seriously.

Based on the BMW 750Li long wheelbase, the B7 begins life rolling down the same production line as a regular 7 Series. Alpina then goes on to make so many changes to the engine and chassis that the German government requires the BMW VIN to be replaced with a new one.

Ready to find out more? Well there's so much to see here that things may go a bit weird and bouncy again. Be prepared.

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2018 BMW M5 Summary

Remember back when people were saying the BMW M5 would lose a little something by shifting from its traditional rear-wheel drive set-up to all-wheel drive?

It would drain a little sparkle, maybe. Or some excitement. It would become more predictable, more placid - hell, even boring.

But hindsight is always 20/20, and we know now that switching to AWD has done nothing but allow BMW to funnel even more power into the tarmac, with the German brand upping power outputs and dropping lap times in one fell swoop. 

Consider the M5 Competition, then, BMW’s way of delivering the ultimate 'I told you so'. Because it’s not just the most fun, most potent AWD M5 ever - it’s the best M5 period.

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Deep dive comparison

2018 BMW Alpina B7 2018 BMW M5

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