Alpina D3 Biturbo - long term review

As Alpina becomes engulfed by BMW, we're throwing it back to 2009 and remembering six months with a modded diesel saloon. This article was originally published in Top Gear Magazine, June 2009

Sometimes an idea seems very excellent and grand at the point of inception, but turns sour when the full reality of it hits you in the face.

I had this feeling when I once suggested driving an Austin Maxi from London to the Sahara Desert for a TV show, then went to pick up the Maxi and looked at it. It squatted there in a driveway in Datchet in its full technicolour hideousness and I was worried. Reality had strucketh.

And it’s happening again now as I roll around the M25 on a Thursday morning at 3:50 in my Alpina lifer at exactly 65mph, cruise control set, somewhere near Badgers Mount. Much better than a Maxi, this thing, agreed, but the hour is late and the journey unfulfilling and well, reality is striking-eth. Still, I’m learning stuff about the car, so that’s OK.

I set off from South Mimms Services, at the junction of the M25 and A1M, at precisely 3am, heading East, with the aim of discovering just how economical this car is on a relaxed cruise, by circumnavigating the M25. In defence of the car, let’s be clear that I’ve not been scientific about the speed, choosing it because in sixth gear at 1,800rpm the engine isn’t lugging too much and 65mph was fast enough to get me comfortably past trucks. Any slower and I’d have gone insane.

Roadworks permitting, other than the Dartford Bridge, I’ll do this whole circle without having to cancel the cruise. And that’s another point – the cruise control on this car is pretty urgent, using plenty of throttle to maintain its speed. Using it rather than a constant throttle foot and varying speed will hurt the economy – in fact, you could see it happening as the fuel economy needle swung down into the 20s up hills.

Remember this car is fast. It will do 152mph flat out and hit 62mph from rest in 6.9 seconds, according to Alpina. But its real party trick is matching that speed and a brilliant Alpina-tweaked chassis with a claimed combined fuel consumption of 52.3mpg. It’s all thanks to the efficient sequential twin-turbo 2.0-litre BMW diesel four from the 123d under the bonnet, with a bit more puff courtesy of Alpina’s turbo wizards. This is one of the world’s great diesel engines, no question.So, as the witching hour from three till four wore on, and I thought about the l-o-n-g stretch I had to negotiate once I’d crossed the Dartford Bridge, and the l-o-n-g day I was facing in the office later, I did what any self-respecting journalist would do. I gave up, and pulled into Clackett Lane Services.

I did 52.9 miles at an average speed of 58.6mph. The average economy according to the computer was 56.5mpg. After brimming it at South Mimms, I brimmed it again half-asleep at Clackett, but clearly didn’t do a good enough job because it worked out at 111mpg. Still, the real average was about 55mpg, based on the error rate I’ve measured before. When I went slow through roadworks, the average went beyond 60mpg. I think that’s what you’d get sans cruise control.

Keen to get home to some sleep, it was a tremendous feeling to get going properly. And even at erm, higher speeds, the D3 still gets over 42mpg. It’s clever, this car. Love it.