m5board.com|gtboard.com Frankfurt IAA 2007 Report #1: BMW Alpina and general show impressions. Videos of GT2 and Scuderia launch
Let me present he official M5board.com and GTboard.com Frankfurt Car show IAA coverage. More coverage will come with BMW M stand and Individual report.
Many thanks to the following Members:
Member luxobarge: General IAA report
Member Mr Janne: Alpina report
Member Gustav: YouTube videos
This years IAA was probably the best event in modern times. The dominant and overshadowing trend was environmental cars with all manufacturers showing new products consuming less petrol and diesel. While this might be a worthwile endeavour we at M5board will concentrate on showing you more exciting machinery from our favourite manufactures and tuners.
Movies follow below:
Ferrari F430 Scuderia launch with Ferrari CEO and Ferrari's CEO, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo
Porsche 911 GT2 (997) launch:
BMW Alpina B6S launch:
BMW Alpina B5S launch:
BMW Alpina B3 BiTurbo Cabrio launch:
BMW ALPINA
At this years show, Alpina had their largest stand yet. They usually have four to five cars on display, but this year they had five cars, three in Alpina blue and two in the new Alpina green colour, plus even bigger hospitality for guests. The location wasnīt bad either, neighbour with Porsche and Rolls-Royce. 2007 has been Alpinaīs most successful year yet, with 1034 cars sold so far. By the end of the year sales will probably reach 1400 cars. With three world premiers, Alpinas stand was indeed more interesting than ever.
Andreas Bovensiepen, son of founder Burkhard Bovensiepen, held an press-conference to give information about Alpinaīs current situation, where he among other things mentioned that they are investing in a new R&D department to keep up with the tough competition, and, of course, to unveil the new cars. One of the cars was this one, can you guess what model it is?
Yes, you were probably right. It is the BMW Alpina B3 BiTurbo Convertible. At the Geneva show earlier this year the B3 BiTurbo Saloon was introduced, and then a couple of months later the B3 BiTurbo Coupe could be seen at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The Convertible shares drivetrain with itīs brothers, which means a straight-six engine and a six-speed Switch-Tronic transmission. The engine is based on the BMW 335iīs, but Alpina has fitted Mahle-pistons and reprogrammed the software to increase the power from 306 bhp to 360 bhp. The torque is increased from 400 NM to 500 NM at 3800-5000 rpm. Alpina has also reprogrammed the transmission-software for faster shifts.
The B3 Convertible can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 5,0 seconds and has a top-speed of 280 km/h. From a standing start one kilometre is reached after 23,7 seconds. As you can see on the picture above the B3 has a classic Alpina front-spoiler to make the car more stable.
From rear itīs very easy to recognize the B3, due to the four exhaust-pipes. A spoiler-lip is also fitted to reduce aerodynamic lift, especially at high speeds.
The interior of this particular car was hand-crafted in blue and white Alpina Lavalina leather, which feels very soft and luxurious. This is optional but the B3 has Dakota leather in Alpina design as standard. The piano black trim is also optional, as standard it comes with the Rüster Maser wood trim. Other interior changes include new instruments and floor-mats.
Optional for the rear-seats is wind protection with an Alpina-logo.
The production plaque is located so that it is visible to people driving behind. It also features a new design as of this year, with a more pronounced Alpina logo.
Since the B3 has a folding hard-top, the luggage space is only 210 litres with the top down. Base price in Germany for the B3 BiTurbo Convertible is 66900 Euro.
Here is the B3 BiTurbo Coupe. This car is finished in the new Alpina green colour. It is a very deep colour which has to be seen in real life to really be appreciated. As standard all B3īs come with 18" wheels in Alpina Classic design, as seen on the pictures of the B3 Convertible above. 19" wheels are optional, either in Classic design or in the newer Dynamic design as fitted to this car.
At 1560 kg, the Coupe is the lightest of the B3 models. It can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4,8 seconds, 0-1000 metres in 23,5 seconds and has a top-speed of 285 km/h. Even though the Saloon is pretty similar in weight, the Coupe is more agile thanks to stiffer suspension settings. The light weight also makes the Coupe the most frugal with a mixed figure of 9,7 litres/100 km. Very impressive for a car capable of 285 km/h.
Base price for the B3 Coupe is 59900 Euro. If you want an interior like this, it will cost you around 10000 Euro. Maybe green isnīt for everyone, but the choice of colours is almost unlimited.
As we mentioned earlier, the B3 is also available as a saloon. With a base of 57900 Euro, itīs the cheapest of the B3īs. A Touring isnīt available yet, so if you want an Alpina 3-series Touring the only choice at the moment is the D3. The D3 has been a real success, and itīs easy to understand why considering the base price of 36828 Euro and the impressively low fuel consumption.
Why have 500 bhp, when you can have 530? Welcome to the B5 S. This is the first time since the B10 BiTurbo Alpina offers a more powerful 5-series than BMW. Itīs good to have the īSī-designation back!
The B5 S is an updated version of the B5. It has the same 4,4 litre V8 with a radial compressor as before, but through further development of the camshaft overlap algorithms, the combustion process could be optimised which lowered the exhaust gas temperatures significantly. This temperature delta is the basis for being able to increase power from 500 to 530 bhp. The torque is increased from 700 to 725 NM. Compared to the B5, itīs especially at the top end that the B5 S is more powerul.
Not only does the B5 S have more power, it also shifts faster than before. The gearbox is the same as in the B5, but Alpina has worked closely with ZF to develop, what they call the Alpina sport Switch-Tronic. This work has really paid of, since the gear shift-times has been reduced by 50 % to an impressive time of 100 ms. In Switch-Tronic mode it also blips the throttle on down-shifts.
The B5 is a very fast car, but the B5 S is even faster. It can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4,6 seconds, 0-1000 m in 22,1 seconds and on to a top speed of 317 km/h. The fuel consumption is the same as before, with a mixed figure of 12,3 l/100 km.
In Geneva earlier this year, Alpina introduced EDC-suspension for the B5. The B5 S also comes with this as standard. This system has been developed in conjunction with SACHS Race Engineering and itīs an electronically-controlled adjustable damping. But itīs not available in three settings as in the M5. The dampers are pretty supple in the base setting, but as soon as there is more load on the suspension the dampers automatically increases their resistance. It is also possible to manually select firmer damping setting by pressing the Sport-button.
Look at the reflections of the tail-lights. Really shows how good the face-lifted 5-series lights look in the dark. Very elegant. As standard the B5 S come equipped with 20" wheels in Classic-design with 245/35 tires at front and 285/30 at rear. The Touring version is only available with 19" because it has less space in the rear wheel wells.
At 95400 Euro the B5 S isnīt a cheap car, but it comes really well equipped. Dakota leather in Alpina design, Myrte wood-trim, metallic paint, Navigationsystem Professional, PDC, electrically adjustable sport seats and so on, itīs all standard. A limited slip differential is available as an optioin. The Touring version costs 97900 Euro.
Worth noticing is that the new S-models doesnīt seem to be numbered as their own series, not according to the production plaques anyway.
At last, but not the least, the third world premiere: The B6 S. The B6 S shares drivetrain with the B5 S, which means it has the updated version of the 4,4 litre V8 producing 530 bhp and the faster shifting gearbox. These changes makes the B6 S the fastest Alpina yet. How about 0-100 km/h in 4,5 seconds, 0-1000 m in 22,0 seconds and a top speed of 318 km/h.
As you may have noticed on the previous picture, the B6 S features a new bonnet. Itīs made of carbon fibre, just like it is on the B12 5,7 Coupe. The main reason for the new bonnet is better cooling, hence the two vertical air outlets which allows air to exit precisely under the bonnet. At just under 10 kg, itīs also a little bit lighter than the standard bonnet.
Can you find the Alpina "badge" on this picture?
Another way the B6 S distinguishes from the B6, apart from the bonnet, is that itīs based on the facelifted 6-series. That means new lights front and rear, in similar style as the facelifted E60 has.
Just like the B5 S, the B6 S has the EDC-suspension. It also features 20" wheels as standard, but with the newer Dynamic-design. 19" wheels in classic-design is available as an option. Since the B6 S is a bit more sporty than the B5 S, it also has the limited slip diff as standard equipment (not the convertible though).
This particular car had a lovely champagne-coloured Alpina Lavalina leather interior with green piping and stitching. The possibilities for the interior is almost endless, or how about over 1000 different colours of Alcantara? BMW Individual offers six or seven. As standard the B6 S comes with Dakota leather in Alpina design.
The gear-lever is new for this model year and looks really good.
At 129100 Euro, the B6 S Convertible is the most expensive car in the Alpina line-up today. But what a nice car to drive the winding seaside roads from Monaco to S:t Tropez in. The Coupe costs 120400 Euro.
As always, Burkhard Bovensiepen and his wife were there. You could really feel that Burkhard is proud of Alpina, just like he should be. We had a chat with him, and among other things he told us that he owns a 1954 Rolls Royce and a Ferrari 512 TR. He is a true enthusiast and has created a unique company in the car industry. Already looking forward to Geneva!
General impressions and lifestyle
Eventhough covering a 220.000 square meter car show is hard work there is still time for some relaxation. Almost all manufacturers provide lounges where the hardworking VIPs and pressrepresentativs are served something to eat and drink. As usual Alpina, BMW and Porsche provide the best places for a short or long breaks from feet torturing walking.
Frankfurt skyline
Before opening everything has to be in perfect condition.
The chairman of Ferrari and Fiat Luca di Montezemolo seems to be relaxed with what happens at the event.
Cosy Ferrari bears.
People are starting to arrive at Ferraris excellent bar.
We all know that cars and alcohol don't mix but who can resist a glass of white while in the Bentley lounge while configuring your new Continental GT Speed?
Bentley pastries
The Bentley/Breitling watch collection.
CEO of Porsche Wendelin Wiedking speaks at the Porsche Press conference.
Porsches majority owner and Chairman of VW with wife leaves the Porsche press conference.
Porsches lounge with a view
SSangYong showed the ugliest cars.
Lancia had the most comfortable chairs as well as the nicest girls.
A latte att Mercedeses Star Bar
SLR lounge with sporty chairs.
Maybach did everything they could to improve their image.
The Simpsons
Nice new interior
Exclusive lounge
The only reason to purchase a Maybach.
Mercedes staff parking
German safety campain. Racers are so small.
The Fair is gigantic. Here are two of eleven halls.
BMW invited us to an excellent lunch.
SAAB finally understands that the must come up with a good design in order to sell more cars.The concept 900 Turbo.
The SAAB lounge.
The Lada collection is impressive as always
In the A4 lounge
The Audi Cocktail menu
The empty Volvo Lounge
Dodge goes trashy.
The Rolls Royce stand.
Behind the wheel of the Drophead Coupe
Phantom Long Wheelbase
The Phantom Drophead Coupe in the VIP section of the Rolls Royce stand.
In order to get anyone to visit Opel provided IAA biggest bar.
Opel collection. Dolls? Will most likely sell better than the cars.
Some manufactures do everything to make people look at their cars.
The Jaguar XF
Accompanied by Moet Chandon
as well as beer and cheesestick
The development of the Aston Martin badge
The Popular environmentaly friendly Biofuel bar.
At least one visitor had a drink. Hectic day for the bartender.
Maseratis new Coupe och hostesses
Why do they have to?
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BMW M5 2003 with complete Supersprint exhaust system and StopTech brakes, delimited by Hartge.
m5board.com|gtboard.com Frankfurt IAA 2007 Report #1: BMW Alpina and general show impressions. Videos of GT2 and Scuderia launch
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