BMW World - Z8 Alpina

Alpina Z8 Roadster

Only 450 of these beautiful roadsters will be imported to the USA.

The BMW Z8 Roadster is slated to end production in 2003 when BMW sells the last few hundred units of a special-edition Z8 - the BMW Alpina Roadster.

Located in the Upper Bavarian town of Buchloe, Alpina was established in 1963 as a BMW tuner. Burkard Bovensiepen, the founder of Alpina, got started as a BMW tuner in 1963 with the 1500 sedan. [Click here to see the E21 Alpina B6 2.8.]

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The original Z8 was powered by the BMW V-8 5.0 liter 394 hp M engine, the same engine used in the BMW M5.

The Alpina Z8 uses the B10 engine, a specially developed version of BMW's "regular" V-8 engine. The Alpina engine is a 4.8-liter with 375 hp, with individual throttles for each of the eight cylinders and many other racecar-like engineering features. The power peak of the Alpina engine comes at 5800 rpm vs. 6600, and its torque peak occurs at the same 3800 rpm but is actually higher, with 383 lb-ft. (vs. 368 lb-ft).

The Z8's 6-speed manual transmission is replaced by a special BMW Alpina automatic transmission, based on the 5-speed ZF automatic employed in V8-powered 5 Series and X5 Series, the Alpina version features Switch-Tronic.

With Switch-Tronic, in addition to up- and downshifting by "tipping" the shift lever rearward or forward, the driver can also shift by pressing "+" and "-" buttons near the steering-wheel rim, on the back of the wheel near the thumb grips. The buttons are placed on the back of the wheel to avoid pressing the buttons by mistake. Directly in front of the driver, a transmission display instrument indicates the range (P, R, N, D), mode (Automatic or Manual) and the gear currently engaged.

Special BMW Alpina 20-inch wheels, in place of the original model's 18-inchers, have five clusters of four spokes each. The wheels are 9.0 inches wide at the front and 10.0 at the rear.

The tires are Michelin performance tires with dimensions of 255/35ZR-20 at the front and 285/30ZR-20 at the rear. The Pilot Sport's on the rear are unique to the car, but Michelin will ensure that replacement tires are in stock in the countries where the Alpina is sold.

Retaining the Z8's power telescopic adjustment, the BMW Alpina Roadster V8 adopts a different steering wheel, with three leather-and-metal-finished spokes in place of the Z8's "banjo" spokes. An Alpina logo replaces the BMW emblem on the steering wheel's center hub. The cockpit is upholstered in Soft Nappa (distinctive from the Z8's Nappa), with special piping and Alpina logos in the upper seatback. Three color schemes are offered: Black/Black, Black/Crema and Black/Sport Red.

Modifications to the beautiful exterior of the Z8 have been kept to a minimum. Without a spoiler, the rear of the vehicle could become unstable, so Alpina has limited the top speed to 161 mph. 0 to 60 mph is achieved in 5 seconds.

Alpina plans to build 555 BMW Alpina Roadsters. Approximately 450 will be exported to the USA, beginning in the spring of 2003. The remaining 105 will be distributed to Alpina dealers across the rest of the world, with 75 going to mainland Europe, 20 to Japan and 10 to Great Britain.