The new and much improved version of the B5, which went on sale amid surprisingly low critical acclaim a couple of years ago.Normally the word Alpina is sufficient to make us motor-noters go weak at the knees with admiration, but for various reasons the original B5 didn’t quite hit the spot. The main problem was that its chassis didn’t feel like it could handle what was being generated from deep within the engine bay, namely 500bhp and 516lb ft of torque.
And when you learn that for the B5 S Alpina has summoned yet more energy from the 4.4-litre supercharged V8, whose outputs have risen to 530bhp at 5500rpm and a whopping 534lb ft at 4750rpm, to begin with the omens do not look good. Extra straight-line performance was about the last thing the B5 needed.
Alpina being Alpina, however, means they haven’t just turned the wick up and left it at that. In fact, numerous other tweaks have taken place to improve the B5’s ride and handling. Which is precisely what we wanted to hear.
For starters the electronic damper control system (EDC) has been re-written and now features Comfort and Sport settings. There are also new 20in wheels wearing bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport tyres that, in conjunction with the new damper settings, should make a big difference to the way the B5 S goes down the road.
On top of this the test car also came equipped with £2500 worth of limited slip diff, hiking the price to a breathtaking £72,450 and enabling B5 S drivers to execute 200-yard power slides pretty much at the twitch of a big toe.
Engine
- Layout V8 , 4398 cc
- Max power 523 bhp at 5500 rpm
- Max torque 535 lb ft at 4750 rpm
