Alpina B5 Biturbo Touring 2019 Review

A wagon for performance lovers

Would you concede three tenths of a second for the 0-100km/h dash in exchange for the practicality of a wagon that was comfortable in every-day driving?

What about if that wagon also happened to be $8000 cheaper?

That's the sort of case the Alpina B5 Touring presents. It is quick enough, according to the manufacturer, to reach 100km/h from a standing start in 3.7sec. The BMW M5 will complete the same sprint in 3.4sec.

But the M5 is only available as a sedan. And it's more expensive.

With the B5 Touring, Alpina has tracked down a little nook – not only in the BMW M Cars range, but also in the market sector for large, prestige passenger cars offering serious performance. There's only one go-fast wagon that comes close to what the B5 Touring can offer, and that car – the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo GTS – is larger, slower and a lot more expensive.

In short, the Alpina B5 Touring offers those who like wicked wagons much to desire.

It all starts in BMW's Dingolfing factory with a 540i-spec Touring wagon, but fitted with the same turbocharged V8 engine that also powers Alpina's B5 sedan. The engine is paired with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and drives to all four wheels.

Most components are fitted on the BMW production line, but the car is then shipped to Alpina's Buchloe plant where final assembly takes place. Any item that cannot be fitted to the B5 Touring within 58 seconds has to wait for final assembly. The front spoiler, as an example, takes longer than 58 seconds for the adhesive to cure – so that's one component left until the car's arrival at Buchloe.

Alpina builds cars in relatively small numbers, but the B5 Touring has been a success story for the brand, outselling the sedan version because it's the closest match to a notional M5 Touring.

In Australia the B5 Touring will set you back $217,000. For that sort of money it's almost a bargain.

Inside, the Alpina features the brand's distinctive blue-faced instruments (with complementary green highlights), very comfortable leather seats, parallel stitching for the leather-bound steering wheel, and a unique build plate. The excellent seats are highly supportive and hold the occupant securely in place under harder cornering forces and braking, but without any discomfort setting in over long-distance touring.

Outside, the B5 Touring is moderately conservative in its presentation. The vehicle driven for the local launch didn't have any Alpina decals other than the inconspicuous brand legend on the lower lip of the front spoiler.

While the 20-spoke Alpina wheels are a signature styling trait for the brand and date back in design concept to 1969, they are also right up to date in terms of engineering. Each wheel saves about three to four kilos in unsprung weight for an overall weight saving of around 15kg.

The B5 Touring rides on air suspension at the rear – something to distinguish it from the sedan – and the test vehicle was equipped with upgraded brakes featuring cross-drilled rotors.

Those differences aside, the B5 Touring's packaging is much like that of the BMW 520d Touring wagon tested about 18 months ago. Like the diesel BMW model, the B5 Touring features a tyre repair kit under the floor of the boot.

At the heart of the Alpina B5 Touring is the mighty turbocharged V8, which produces fuss-free torque at any point in the rev range – all delivered with impeccable refinement. The B5 accelerates quickly in higher gears on even moderate throttle, but drop the hammer and the turbocharged V8 punches hard right up to the redline. As a bonus, the hard-charging V8 produces a soundtrack complemented by pops from the exhaust on the overrun.

An able accomplice to the mighty engine, the eight-speed ZF transmission never puts a foot wrong, highlighting the careful calibration undertaken by the engineers to achieve an excellent result. Downshifts are timely, but not aggressive, and can be actuated using Alpina's unusual-but-practical shift buttons (in lieu of paddles) behind the spokes of the steering wheel.

At the end of a lengthy run through the countryside – up to Yarra Valley, followed by a return leg to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs – the B5 Touring had averaged 11.6L/100km, which was a respectable figure for a car that was given some stick with three people on board. Not that fuel economy is the B5 Touring's forte...

Unlike M cars, the B5 Touring has been specifically engineered to be quiet when cruising and only striking up the band when the engine is working under load. During the drive program the B5 Touring impressed with its suppression of wind noise – and it was a gusty day – even though the wagon does without the spoiler mounted above the windscreen of the sedan. The longer roof of the Touring ensures the sunroof won't lift into the airstream at speeds in excess of 300km/h.

Tyre noise was also subdued on coarse-chip bitumen, which is yet another tick for Alpina and its supplier Pirelli. The Italian tyre brand has worked closely with Alpina over the course of developing the B5 Touring (and sedan), and it shows in the car's supple ride and its tenacious grip.

Even set to the hard-core 'Sport Plus' mode, the B5 Touring was always composed over rough-and-ready country bitumen. There was the slightest hint of initial impact harshness, but nothing that could be considered punishing or unacceptable. Certainly, there was nothing that would deter an owner from running the car in Sport Plus all the time. Alpina also offers the B5 Touring with a ‘Comfort Plus’ setting at the other extreme, but this is almost a case of kindness overkill, despite the parlous state of the roads chosen for the drive program.

While the ride properties err on the side of cushy, the B5 Touring can be flung around with abandon on twisty sections of road and the wagon musters more than enough traction to remain safe.

It’s a big, heavy machine though, and it’s probably not ultimately as agile as an M5 sedan, but promises to out-corner most other vehicles on the road offering anything like the same degree of packaging practicality and performance.

The steering delivers plenty of feedback and the Velcro-like front-end grip is helped by the one degree of negative camber specified for the B5 Touring by Alpina’s engineers. That's significantly more than the 15 minutes of negative for the standard 5 Series wagons and ensures that the prospect of understeer is about as likely as Mack Horton and Sun Yang friending each other on Facebook.

Featuring Alpina's own calipers and optional cross-drilled rotors that are also developed and manufactured by Alpina, the powerful braking system delivers measured stopping – hard or gentle, according to need – through a communicative pedal.

Across a range of sometimes conflicting criteria, the Alpina B5 Touring delivers the goods. Literally so, given its tailgate and useful boot. It's an elegant, formidable combination of power, presentation and practicality. For prestige wagon fans, buying the Alpina needs no further explanation.

How much does the 2019 Alpina B5 Biturbo Touring cost?
Price: $217,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.4-litre eight-cylinder twin-turbo petrol
Output: 447kW/800Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: TBA
CO2: TBA
Safety rating: TBA