Alpina has refined its 613bhp XB7: this is the new ‘Manufaktur’ SUV

Look, Alpina can only work with what it’s given. While we all coo over the B3 and B5 Tourings, since 2020 there have been 2,880 reasons for your favourite automotive tuner to continue bejewelling a great big lug of an SUV.

So welcome to the latest Alpina XB7 – the ‘Manufaktur’ – which finishes BMW’s hulking great SUV in an Incredible Hulk paintjob and gives it the power to match.

Taking the M60i as its base, Alpina has once again turned up the venerable 4.4-litre biturbo V8 from the not-at-all-standard car’s 523bhp to a heady 613bhp and 590lb ft of torque. That’s then channelled to all four wheels via an eight-speed auto, allowing for 0-62mph in 4.2s, 0-124mph in 14.9s and a top speed of 180mph.

There’s air suspension, with the dampers and kinematics treated to Alpina’s own setup and depending on your chosen setup – via drive modes – the ability to lower the car by up to 40mm. The torsion- and dome-bulkhead struts have been reinforced, as have the rear axle bushings. Be honest, you’re all here for reinforced dome-bulkhead struts.

Or perhaps more likely, you’re here for a 23in set of the Alpina Classic forged wheels, giving credence to the notion that Alpina Classic alloys can make anything look half decent. Naturally these hide better brakes.

The green you see here is available alongside the classic Alpina blue at no extra cost, but other, more incorrect colours are available. There’s a new “more prominent” rear diffuser on board, capping off the Alpina-specific bodykit.

There’s yet more Alpina-ness inside the cabin, like 427 individual pieces of leather that have been cut, split and stitched together to form the ‘Lavalina’ interior. It’s apparently Alpina’s most elaborate leather interior in its nearly 60 years. As such, it takes 100 hours to put together.

Worth it for Alpina, of course. As we noted at the top, it’s built 2,880 XB7s since the car’s 2020 launch, with around 550 of those residing in Europe. Prices for this new 2.7-tonne Manufaktur start at €190,500, which is a lot to work with.