BMW Alpina B8 4.6 - If you can make it fit, you can do it!

How the BMW Alpina B8 4.6 came to life.

If you google BMW Alpina B8, you will naturally get results for Alpina’s new flagship 8 series, however the car that we are referring to shares the same name, but comes from a very different era.

Back in the 90’s, BMW was busy producing the third generation of its popular 3 series, codenamed the E36 which came in a number of 4 and 6 cylinder variants. Whilst Alpina did produce a number of 6 cylinder E36 variants, it also had another greater question. Could a V8 be implanted into the E36?

BMW had attempted this which would have required substantial changes to the existing E36 production line and so the project was shelved. Alpina on the other hand, had a greater degree of flexibility and reportedly asked BMW if they could pursue the project. Rumour has it that BMW agreed saying; “If you can make it fit, you can do it.”

That was the green light that Alpina needed and the Buchloe based manufacturer set to work on producing one of the most powerful and potent E36 variants ever to be produced.

Alpina couldn’t use the existing M3 as a base as much of the vehicle would have been discarded, so Alpina opted to use the 328i instead. The V8 from the E34 540 was chosen, however a new block had to be specially cast by BMW as the original block had Nicasil coated bores. Boring out the block was therefore not an option. Higher compression Mahle pistons, adapted valve timing, a re-programmed Motronic system, a new sump and a new oil pump were all added, alongside a complete Alpina exhaust system.

Shoehorning that V8 into the E36’s engine bay was no mean feat and numerous body modifications on the BMW production line had to be made to the E36 to make the 8 cylinder powerplant fit. Alpina’s persistence however paid off and in 1995, the B8 4.6 was released, producing 333bhp and with a top speed of around 174mph. Using a 6 speed manual gearbox, developed by Getrag, the B8 could hit 62mph in 5.6 seconds.

Production of the B8 ran from 1995 to 1998 and a total of 221 cars were produced with versions in all body styles including; saloon, touring, coupe and cabriolet – with the latter being the rarest. Alpina did also produce a 4.0 (313 bhp) version of the B8 for the Japanese market and only 5 vehicles are known to have been manufactured.

To understand what an accomplishment this was, it wasn’t until 12 years later in 2007 that we would see the launch of BMW’s first and only V8 M3 on the E90 platform. It looks like Alpina were way ahead of the times.

Earlier this month we heard the unfortunate news of the passing of Alpina’s founder; Mr Burkard Bovensiepen. In a statement Alpina said; “Burkard Bovensiepen was a visionary, a perfectionist, and a man of clear ideas. When he had an idea in mind, he never tired of refining it, until it matched his vision and expectations to 100%.”

Reading this statement, you can understand how these attributes produced a car as special as the B8 4.6 not to mention many other exclusive Alpina automobiles before and after it.

Under Mr Bovensiepen’s stewardship Alpina rose to the challenge of; “if you can make it fit, you can do it…” Alpina persevered through the challenges and produced an outcome that had seemed insurmountable previously. And that’s exactly what we like the most about the legendary BMW Alpina B8 4.6.