The folks at BMW's M division have standards -- they won't turn any old thing with a spinning blue propeller badge into a hair-raising, more-than-ultimate driving machine. The X5 and X3 are excluded from M transformation by their high center of gravity and general SUV-ness, while the 7 Series seems to have been disqualified because it lacks a console-mounted shifter. According to BMW, M vehicles must have manual or sequential-manual (SMG) transmissions, which wouldn't work too well with the 7's odd steering-column-mounted gear selector. There is nevertheless a market for high-performance executive sedans like the Audi S8 and Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, so BMW turned to an old friend to plug this hole in its lineup. The result is the 2007 BMW Alpina B7.
Alpina has been creating tuner versions of BMW vehicles since 1961 when it created a special dual carburetor for the BMW 1500 sedan. Located in Buchloe, Germany, about 50 miles west of BMW's Munich headquarters, Alpina has maintained a close relationship with its Bavarian comrades, creating official high-performance versions of BMW vehicles complete with full factory warranties. Until now, though, the only Alpina to show up on this side of the Atlantic was the Roadster V8. Based on the Z8, it was sold to only 450 lucky customers from 2002-'03. A similarly low number of Alpina B7s will find their way into American garages, making it an attractive choice for those seeking an even more exclusive sedan than an S65 AMG, S8 or Maserati Quattroporte.
The 2007 BMW Alpina B7 differs the most from its 7 Series brethren in the engine bay, where a supercharged version of the old 745i's 4.4-liter V8 churns out a guttural 500 hp and 516 pound-feet of torque. That's more than the S8's 450 hp, but falls short of the S65's monstrous 604 hp and 738 lb-ft. We found that the B7 accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 5 seconds, which is 1.4 seconds faster than the last 750i we tested and 0.4 second faster than BMW's best time in the V12-powered 760Li. And unlike those regular 7 Series models, the B7 is not hobbled with a speed governor, allowing it to achieve a top mark of 186 mph
