May issue of BMWCar Magazine: Alpina B10 V8 vs M5 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

vinvin · 5th May 2002, 13:26

Woohoo! Finally got a copy today and read the article. Some of the quotes:

"Finally, we reach our test roads: almost deserted, perfectly sighted and wickedly twisted. I'm last in the snake, on the heels of the Bob in the M5, and I fully expect him to clear off up the road. He doesn't. At six- or seven-tenths, the Alpina is fabulous. Oodles of grip, monster torque and magical mid-corner neutrality and composure."

"347 creamy-smooth horses and the traditional Alpina blend of supple ride and taut handling" --B10

"a sniff of right foot transforms the B10 from a woofling waft-mobile into a full-on NASCAR wannabe" --B10

"The ride is firm, taut but loping along it always feels composed and, well, cossetting" --M5

"...bitterly frustrated with the M5's DSC within half a mile along the same roads. Whereas the Alpina's is well-judged and intervenes when you need it, the M5's tell-tale light can be made to flash for several hundred yards as abrupt direction changes and rapid shifts between brakes and throttle upset the electrickery"

"The M5 has a harder edge than the B10"

"Looking at raw facts and figures is never the best way to judge a production like the B10. That said, they make interesting reading. Despite 'only' 347bhp to the M5's 400 and the disadvantage of the automatic, the B10 gets to 62mph in 5.5 seconds only a couple of tenths behind the official figures foe the M5..."

"...the Alpina not only runs it close for outright performance, but also for cross-country pace. Stir in extra smoothness and suppleness that the Alpina chassis wizards have extracted and it's fair to say I'm impressed with this first encounter"

I am torn between these two beasts...what should I do?? Which one should I pick?? Montstrous M5 or Sublime B10?

Mr Janne · 5th May 2002, 14:10

It was a nice comparsion. Too bad they didn´t show any pictures of the interior because the B10 seemed to have a very nice leather-interior if you look at the cover of the magazine.

It would have been interesting if they tested an B10 V8S instead.

vinvin · 5th May 2002, 14:45

I think the B10 interior is Ecru leather. Right?

Possibility another reason why it is in foreground on the cover.

Same here wondering why V8S wasn't tested. Assuming BMWCAR prepared the article in March 2002, V8S was probably not available to Sytner then.

V8S was first exhibited at Geneva show in March right?

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr Janne
It was a nice comparsion. Too bad they didn´t show any pictures of the interior because the B10 seemed to have a very nice leather-interior if you look at the cover of the magazine.

It would have been interesting if they tested an B10 V8S instead.