With a history that goes all the way back to 1965, Alpina is arguably one of the best known and certainly one of the, if not the, oldest BMW tuner in existence – while their relationship with the Bavarian manufacturer is probably even closer than Brabus’ with Mercedes-Benz.
Launched at the end of 2005 on the 3 Series E90 generation, the first Alpina D3 was not the first BMW diesel tickled by Alpina and it was certainly not the most powerful one, but it did bring a mélange of power, subtlety and good taste in one of the smallest packages available – BMW’s two-liter diesel.
Sure, it has beefed up brakes, a sportier suspension, a bigger turbo and a new ECU, but the real modifications that made it a special car are the very understated exterior and interior mods, with the multi-spoke Aplina wheels being the cherry top on the cake.
The model was actually so desirable that over the course of a little under three years it became the highest selling BMW Alpina in history, which says a lot about both the boutique car manufacturer’s and the model’s credentials.
The following short video is structured like a review centered around a second-hand variant of the Alpina D3, owned (and reviewed) by a Dev Singh Bhamra, from the UK – a man who could very well branch into the professional car reviewing business.
So, what is it like to live with such a special car on a day to day basis? Well, it seems that the car has brought nothing but joy to Dev, whose only major quarrel is with the state of the roads on which he has to drive with those gorgeous 19-inch Alpina wheels.
By Alex Oagana