[richiegd3touring]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Sport Auto calls the Alpina B3 GT3 "the legitimate successor of the BMW M3 CSL", an extremely good compliment.

The Alpina B3 GT3 is a limited edition model where only 99 were made. It's based on the Alpina B3 S Bi-Turbo, but 8 more HP (by re-design of sections of the exhaust and new enhanced Akrapovic rear silencer.

Its N54 engine outputs 408hp / 540Nm of torque.


Compared to the M3 GTS:

[richiegd3touring]

a cool video and some pix

[edirtaynine]

impressive. especially considering that this was done with the automatic tranny instead of a manual.

that said, the m3 gt3 is just that much more badass. aside from the 42hp advantage the m3 has and that it pulls until the 8300rpm redline, you can see the badassness in the little details. 1 inch wider, 1 inch shorter in height, 1 inch shorter in length, way more downforce on both the front and rear of the car, wider tires on both front and rear, and still lighter weight (not much but still). oh and it still seems to manage to get slightly better fuel mileage too LOL

[cstavaru]

So, a tuned N54 335i beats an M3 GTS with 450hp on the track, not only on a straight line. I would say this is quite impressive !

[Legato2057]

Redonculous. I want it!

[BMWags]

Performance is sweet.. But my god...

Alpina or not.. Please tell me that others think this looks hideous as well.

[MaDoNiOn]

Originally Posted by BMWags

Performance is sweet.. But my god...

Alpina or not.. Please tell me that others think this looks hideous as well.

Yea i love bmw and i have to admit. It looks ugly as hell. Id take it free and sell it for 135 series tuned to 300kw haha

Btw is this a automatic as in dct?

[e1000]

Hmmm. It's heavier, has less power, produces less downforce, accelerates slower, brakes slower, has narrower tires but still pulls more lateral G's and has a faster dry lap time? Interesting.

[Diver]

Originally Posted by e1000

Hmmm. It's heavier, has less power, produces less downforce, accelerates slower, brakes slower, has narrower tires but still pulls more lateral G's and has a faster dry lap time? Interesting.

How do they do it?

[Estoril Sport]

The blue and green color scheme is optional! the advantage with an Alpina that they bespoke the interior and outer color you the customer’ own choice.

[malter2.0]

That is probably peak G. You would have to look at average Gs pulled on the track. I'm sure M is ahead. One apex hit perfectly vs slightly off apex would do this to numbers.

You can see that on longer track torque advantages disappear, but on shorter track extra torque helps get on power earlier. Even though if you are are in the right gear in M3 and well past 5k you still have lose time to downshift to get into that powerband. N54 has it immediately available without downshifting.

All in all, M3 wins in acceleration, braking and longer track time. Narrower tires on alpina actually help in slalom times. More maneuverable.

Expected results.

[red-sauerkraut]

So, Two Green Hells?

[Eric335]

Looks like Alpina got their hands on some green vinyl for that trim

[tmurphy2]

My car dynoed out at 419 which means at the crank it would probably be 460+. So you are telling me that in a straight line my car is faster than a GTS? To be honest that doesn't really surprise me, N54 tuned has a lot more low end pull. When I spin the wheels at 80 I'm like really an M3 is faster than this? Guess not.

[Bluesummer]

999999 times more awesome than this car http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=756539

[Meeni]

Originally Posted by cstavaru

So, a tuned N54 335i beats an M3 GTS with 450hp on the track, not only on a straight line. I would say this is quite impressive !

Quite impressive, but look at the tires...


Tasteless colors and interior, but that's quite some power. Unsure about the AT tranny though.

[DanielGonz]

Andddd the ugliest wheels in the world this year go to......... ALPINA!

I don't care what they say. That crap is HIDEOUS, and the performance specs are laughable at best. Some "superb" model that has 99.99% of the same performance. I may be alone in my thoughts but whatever. Disgustinggg.

[335ikiid]

id take the m3

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

I read this article a few weeks back when it came out - and I have seen the Alpina B3 GT3 on the Nürburgring myself when I was doing a track day back in June there. Very, very fast when driven well (these were professional drivers from Alpina doing the suspension setups for the Nordschleife).

I don't like the colour combination of the model that was tested either, but that is a moot point as you can order the car in white or black as well which makes it much more understated.

What is far more interesting is that with relatively few modifications, the N54 can be made to run on the most demanding circuit that exists just as well as the top model of the M3 with the same chassis. It speaks for the BMW engineers (to have created an engine like the N54 that has such reserves) as well as for the Alpina engineers (having dialed in the setup of the B3 GT3 so well). Doing 7:49 on the Nordschleife, faster than the normal M3 by quite a margin and on par with the M3 GTS that is 50.000 EUR more expensive is quite a feat.

The main modifications on the B3 GT3 (compared to the B3S Biturbo) were a KW3 coilover, StopTech big brake kit and a set of Michelin Cup semi-slicks. The Akrapovic sounds nice but power-wise it's really negligble.

Now imagine ramping up the power on a B3 GT3 with catless downpipes and a more aggressive mapping (or even bigger turbos)...the lap times would go even a bit lower than in the sport auto supertest. Or taking a normal B3S Biturbo and equipping it with an Öhlins suspension, PFC brakes...which can be observed on the 'Ring as well.

For me the test is a great testament to the potential of the N54 and the E9x series - and another indicator that the M GmbH should have gone with an inline six biturbo engine from the start instead of going with the V8.

Alpina_B3_Lux

[cstavaru]

Originally Posted by Alpina_B3_Lux

and another indicator that the M GmbH should have gone with an inline six biturbo engine from the start instead of going with the V8.

They are fixing that now...

However, if they would have come out with a turbo engine in 2007 I don't think the media would have been forgiving like it is today in regards to turbo engines. First limp mode and everyone would be on fire. But I do think a good engine would have won over the media and customers eventually. However, back then they didn't have all the data and knowledge about how reliable a turbo engine could be.

[MikeRR]

Dont forget this car is much closer to the price of a normal M3 than to the price of the GTS (approx 45k EUR cheaper).

[StevenY.]

I like this but I do prefer the m3 over this, but impressive car nonetheless.