BMW Alpina D3 twin turbo
March 17, 2009 by Matt Brogan
The new BMW Alpina D3 draws on a heritage dating back to 1961 and is set to provide owners with an unbeatable combination of performance and economy.
The exclusive sedan is an evolution of the acclaimed D3 Coupe and utlises a modified twin-turbo diesel engine developing 160kW.
Capable of 0-100 times of 6.9 seconds the Alpina D3 can manage a top speed of 244km/h. The fuel economy is also quite remarkable at 4.49 litres per 100km with C02 emissions at just 143g/km (combined – manual transmission).
“The previous model D3 was one of our most successful cars ever. We believe we really hit the spot in terms of performance, exclusivity and price,” said John Quigley, Managing Director of Alpina. “But the new car is even better than the previous model in all the key areas; performance is improved, yet both fuel economy and – crucially – emissions are reduced. Around half of D3 sales will be to business users – who will relish any opportunity to lower their personal benefit in kind charges.”
Print it: 
So it would be fair to assume looking at those figures, the performance is very similar to that of an RX-8, but with the awesome styling that BMW offers, plus excellent fuel economy.
How much these things worth?
Howie,
Pricing starts at £29,950 for the manual or £31,585 for the automatic.
So $63,775 and $67,250 AUD respectively.
Sorry to have left that out.
Cheers Matt.
Matt, I wish I could say that was the case with pricing…
They will charge us a lot more I would think.
Thats pretty awesome pricing, if that’s what they cost here, then they’d have to sell well if correctly advertised.
Chris,
To clarify, that is the direct change over from pounds to AUD as per the current exchange rate – not what it would RRP for here.
As you suggested, that would be considerably more substantial.
Cheers Matt.
I agree with Chris. It would have to be more than that if it was to ever come to aus, surely. Otherwise it would be a bargain compared to the other models in the 3 series range. Will it even come to aus?
Have always deeply admired how the Germans can get performance with such good fuel economy. Most impressed!
Matt, any word whether it’s coming on our shores? I can’t see why it wouldn’t given 3 series is very popular here.
Any idea on the torque rating?
GN – Alpina didn’t list the torque rating, sorry mate.
VOR – I would doubt it will make an appearance here as I think it would greatly detract from other offerings.
Except this thing will have in gear acceleration that would make an RX8 look like it had the handbrake on.
Damn that looks good!! BMW really sharpened up the look of the 3-series sedan in the refresh. And those are some decent specs!
Oh, and spam word BMWM3!
If that was the price here, they’d go like hotcakes!
I for one would be in line :)
Agree with posts so far – will probably not come here and the price would be a lot steeper!
Those wheels look like they are from the 80’s yuck
It only took 2 secs to google up the Alpina website:
http://www.alpina-automobiles.com/?2988&L=0
Which shows the D3 has 157kW of power 450Nm of torque. The _combined_ fuel economy is 5.4L/100km (extra urban is 4.6L/100km, where did the 4.49 figure come from?).
Pity it won’t make it to australia :(
You know theres an agent here for Alpina .
http://www.alpinaaustralia.com.au/alpinas.htm
Cant say Ive ever been a fan of their accessory range. The wheels on the above indicate why! ewwwwwwwww
Good to see all the nice comments about this car as I am lucky enough to own one! I have a manual D3 Touring. I needed an estate for my dog and I was going to go for a standard 320d but then a friend told me about this and I test drove the coupe version and put my order in that day! I am so very happy with it. It’s one of those cars that makes you seriously contemplate selling every other car you own. I have the wheels in the picture and you wouldn’t believe how smooth the ride is with such big wheels! I don’t know how they do it but it is great fun, not too big, not too small and it looks great. the perfect car. I would even rather one over a 330d.
Alex – you just suck! In the nicest possible way of course (I think I’m turning green).
Whoops……… no offense on the wheels then Alex,just my opinion.
Just out of interest how big is your dog,I looked at the 5 series touring before the Volvo V70 2.5T I bought cause the luggage area wasnt quiet big enough for my Retriever!
The Volvos are a little more square at the back unlike the BMs that slope down ,well I found anyway !
So you are a volvo driver BM??? I think I’d better leave that alone!
Just curious, and perhaps I’m being rude, but how did you afford it?
hahaha No sorry Simon had one sold it after its lease and bought the M3 as my weekender .
How …………..working hard {working two businesses at the time} and as my ex then had his weekender I wanted equal rights :)
Volvo was a bloody good car considering the treatment I gave it for 5 years , Im not the easiest on cars shall I say!
It’s not like a 12 year old M3 is that expensive…
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*Shakes head and ignores biting back *
BM, have whatever opinion about the wheels you want. When you’ve owned some of the cars that I’ve owned, you have to learn to not care what people think of the car. And ignore the up yours signs!
I did test the V50 before I bought the Alpina but I knew it was a bad sign when I put my dog in the car and he vomited. The dealer was not impressed.
I have a Schnauzer so I didn’t need anything too big, the 3 Series was just fine. I did look at the 5 Series Touring but I could of fit four of my dog in it. I just didn’t need the space.
^come on Dan, that was uncalled for dude. I agree with a lot of the stuff you say but that was too personal mate. keep it above the belt.
No probs HAL. Taste of their own medicine never hurt anybody though ;)
Alex dont take it personally,Ive owned enough cars myself over the years but my taste is simply not yours. It wasnt an up your signal by any means.
On the V50 I can relate too that,my daughter did the same thing but in a new FPV GT………….it ended up being a Lemon{as some cars do}a signal,probably !
Once again the pretentious prats are pontificating over us mere mortals with stories about beach houses and sausage dogs stuffed into small euro wagons .
Mmmm – Alex I remember you saying you had a Rangey parked up somewhere on the planet too. Spoofing are we??
As for the Alpina nice but the wheel will be a pain to clean.
There yah go Alex think you’ll find the dates don’t tie up somehow.
1. Alex Says:
September 29th, 2008 at 2:36 am
If anybody’s read my comments on Land Rovers before, you would know that I am a MASSIVE supporter of them and havnt had any problems with my 5 y.o. Range Rover Vogue or My Discovery 3,
1. Alex Says:
September 10th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I like the look of that facelift. Ive had my Range Rover I think since 2003 and its my favourite car ever. (2011 RR facelift)
1. Alex Says:
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I have quite a car collection, what I don’t spend on food and clothes goes on cars, petrol, diesel and servicing fees. Of all the cars I own, my favorite is my TDV8 Range Rover Vogue SE
1. Alex Says:
November 12th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
I have this car a range rover sport and plenty of others including aston martins, bmws, mercedes, maseratis, audis, alfas and sorry but what can i say. I’m a real car collector but its obvious that your all just jealous that you can’t afford a $166,000 Range Rover.
Definitely spoofing.
Cupid, all I can write is go find the comments where I write about my COLLECTION. In fact, one of the ones you’ve listed mentions it. I have heaps of cars, more than thirty in fact. I’ll list the ones I remember if you like, I haven’t seen them in a while. I have the Alpina because my dog can’t climb into the Range Rover and he’s too heavy to lift into it everyday. I’m not so stupid as to write about my Range Rover for the last two years and then suddenly pretend I’ve never heard of it. But I have written about my other cars here and there as well, just not all of them because many are classics or just plain old and not that relevant to new stories and reviews.
All i’m saying Alex is it don’t stack up. Disco with 190K’s, Rangey with 100K’s plus. Why test a V50 and a Alpina touring side by side, different league. Dog chucking up! Can’t imagine any level headed car dealer letting anyone putting a smelly mutt in a demo car. Dreams Dreams Dreams.
Frigging funny spam word “ROVER”. Ha ha funny
Cupid, I didn’t test a Volvo and an Alpina side by side. I tested a 320d Touring and a V50 D5 side by side and settled on the 3 Series because I decided that handling was more important than power in the city, then I heard about the Alpina which was just a 320d but better and I settled for that. And how don’t the numbers stack up? I use the Discovery a lot and when I’m not in the countryside, my parents or friends take it instead. You see, because you’re not me, you don’t know all the small details of why my Discovery has covered more miles than the older Range Rover that I personally use more. The Discovery is the one I lend to family and friends who are visiting (and there are a lot of them). The one I tow things with and the main one I go off road in. It’s mine but it gets passed around to everyone.
And I went to the Volvo dealer and said I was looking for a car to transport my dog, mainly from my house to various parks. I said I wasn’t sure if he could see out the window in the V50 so the dealer suggested I bring him in. Unfortunately, the dog was sick at the time. There’s nothing more to it. Any more questions?
Oh, and for your information, my dog is not a smelly mut. In fact he’s very clean. If he wasn’t I wouldn’t have done what, in hindsight, was basically buying my dog a 35,000 pound BMW.