Already a beautiful and well-sorted car with a fair bit of horsepower on tap, the shark-nosed BMW E24 might not seem like it’s one that would require much fiddling. But Alpina went ahead and produced 30 highly-tuned turbocharged examples anyway.

At Legends of the Autobahn earlier this year, I came across build #25, a car which, according to an inquiry by Motor1, was on sale in 2017 with a colossal asking price of US$300,000. I have no idea if it actually sold for anything close to that amount, but the point is that this isn’t a car you see every day.

Entirely the opposite, really, so I took as much time as I could at the show to pore over the fantastic details on this unique first-generation 6 Series.

First off, you have the special badging and signature Alpina pinstriping over a fantastic metallic green. The gold-green combo sets this car off in typical period Alpina fashion, and it’s a look that could only be pulled off by cars of this era, the example at hand being produced for the 1982 model year.

Then there are the 20-spoke 16×7-inch Alpina wheels, which help to finish off the exterior and are a popular addition to many other ’80s BMWs.

Under the long, front-hinged hood you’ll find a 3.5-liter inline-six engine completely worked over by Alpina to produce 330 horsepower and 369ft-lb of torque. Impressive, especially considering the base car, which was good for around 250hp and 240lb-ft, wasn’t much of a slouch to start with.

With a top speed of 262km/h (a hair under 163mph) and 0-100km/h time of 5.8-seconds, the B7S Turbo Coupe was actually one of the quickest cars you could get your hands on in its era. Of course, given the very limited production, this was a luxury only a few could afford.

As you would expect, the cabin is a special place to be. Tartan-patterned seats, a leather-stitched Alpina steering wheel, and a nice wooden shift knob to go with the manual gearbox that sends power to the rear wheels. It’s a perfect balance of small changes coupled with larger ones, and I found myself returning again and again to find more of the subtle nuances that Alpina integrated into the already nice interior of the E24.

Add in the factory warning lights across from the period Alpine head unit and you have just the right amount of old school tech mixed in with the simple yet luxurious cabin.

Best of all, I had a peek at the odometer and it looks like at least a few hundred miles have been added by the new owner, Brandon, who learned to drive in a BMW 2002 and says the 635 and M6 always were his dream cars growing up.

Sure, perhaps Brandon could have had a late-model supercar instead, but what’s the fun in that? This being the ultimate version of his dream car, I can only imagine the thrills a rare timepiece like this has to offer. And with such a small number made, it’ll probably be left to my imagination.

Trevor Yale Ryan
Instagram: tyrphoto