BMW Alpina B3 Touring (G21)

Scope of this guide

This guide is scoped to the Alpina B3 Touring (G21) as first sold, the 3.0L twin-turbo inline-6 petrol, all-wheel drive, five-door estate with 462 PS, which is 340 kW or about 456 bhp, and 700 Nm. It was shown at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2019 and sold from 2020 until the facelift cars replaced it in 2022. It is not a guide to the facelift B3 Touring, the B3 saloon, the D3 S Touring diesel, the later B3 GT or the B4, and we say below where each of those differs.

We have not driven this model for this article. Everything here comes from three cited sources: the BMW Group newsroom release that announced the brand's move into BMW Group on 1 January 2026, PistonHeads' Spotted piece on the G21 B3 Touring by Matt Bird, and the government recall checker. We also read other published material, including auto motor und sport's technical data page, AutoScout24's first test of the car, evo's April 2021 road test and its February 2020 report on the UK launch, and BMWBLOG's June 2020 specification summary, and we name them where a figure comes from them.

The figures at a glance

• Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo inline-6 petrol, 2993 cc, mounted at the front and longitudinally, with a compression ratio of 9.3:1 according to auto motor und sport. The catalogue used to say 2998 cc; every source we read says 2993 cc, so we changed it.
• Power: 456 bhp. Alpina quotes it in metric terms as 462 PS or 340 kW, and the sources round the British figure differently: evo's launch report says 455 bhp, evo's road test says 456 bhp, and PistonHeads prints 462 in its spec box. Our own conversion is 462 PS x 0.98632, about 455.7 bhp, so 456 bhp. The catalogue used to hold 462 as bhp, which is the PS number.
• Torque: 700 Nm, from 2,500 rpm according to auto motor und sport, with a plateau of 2,500 to 4,500 rpm in AutoScout24's table. PistonHeads and evo give 516 lb ft, which is about 700 Nm (516 x 1.3558 is 699.6).
• 0-100 km/h: 3.9 seconds for the Touring. BMWBLOG's table of Alpina data and AutoScout24 both give 3.9 seconds for the Touring and 3.8 seconds for the saloon. Alpina did not publish a sprint time at the Frankfurt reveal, and evo guessed at about four seconds then.
• Top speed: 300 km/h for the Touring and 303 km/h for the saloon, again per BMWBLOG and AutoScout24. The catalogue used to hold 3.8 seconds and 303 km/h, which are the saloon's numbers, so we corrected both.
• Drive: all-wheel drive with an eight-speed ZF automatic that Alpina calls Switch-Tronic. evo says the ratios are the M340i's but the gearbox is strengthened and shifts faster, and that an electronically controlled rear differential lock is standard with a limited-slip differential as an option.
• Size and weight: about 4.72 m long, 1.83 m wide and 1.44 m high, and AutoScout24 lists 1,940 kg. Another data site we found by search lists 1,865 kg, so treat the weight as unsettled.

Where the engine comes from

Sources disagree about the engine's parentage. PistonHeads calls it the S58 straight-six and says it is the first Alpina B3 to use an M engine, in a lesser state of tune than the BMW M3's. evo's launch report calls it a turbocharged B58, and BMWBLOG's June 2020 summary says S58. We cannot settle this from what we read, so we do not state an engine code as fact. What the sources do agree on is that Alpina fitted smaller turbochargers than the M3 Competition for better response low down, per evo, which gives 47 lb ft more torque than the M3 and M4 Competition but 47 bhp fewer than the UK M3 Competition's 503 bhp.

Facelift cars are a different specification

The facelift, orderable from mid 2022 with deliveries expected from October 2022 according to the German Motor1 report, raised output by 24 kW (33 PS) to 364 kW (495 PS) and torque by 30 Nm to 730 Nm. Motor1 and Autozeitung give the facelift Touring 3.7 seconds to 100 km/h and 302 km/h, and a German price from 89,900 euros. A BMWBLOG report on the facelift car quoted 488 hp and 538 lb ft, which is the same car in different units. None of the facelift numbers apply to this guide, and if a seller quotes 495 PS or 730 Nm, the car is a facelift car and not the one described here.

The saloon uses the same engine and output but is quoted at 3.8 seconds and 303 km/h. The D3 S Touring is a 355 PS diesel with 730 Nm that AutoScout24 lists at 4.8 seconds and 270 km/h. We did not research the B3 GT or the B4 for this guide.

What it was like when new

We have not driven it, so this is what the people who did reported. evo's April 2021 test says Comfort and Comfort+ give a GT-like quality, calls the Sport setting too firm for any UK road, and finds the car little different from an M340i at low speeds. It describes a more fluid chassis than the M340i's, a retuned variable steering rack and Pirelli P Zero tyres developed for Alpina. The car had 19-inch wheels as standard, with 20-inch multi-spoke wheels as an option. It described the brakes as drilled discs with 395 mm fronts, a stronger setup than BMW's optional M Performance brakes. BMWBLOG, quoting an Autocar drive of the facelift, called it a better daily driver than the M3, though that is a comment on the later car.

Prices and options when new

UK pricing at the February 2020 launch started at 67,950 pounds for the Touring and 66,450 pounds for the saloon according to evo. The evo test car in 2021 cost 84,625 pounds with options: high-performance brakes at about 1,600 pounds, Alpina Green paint at 1,740 pounds and 20-inch wheels at 2,080 pounds. In Germany, AutoScout24 gave a base price of 83,050 euros in June 2020. These are launch prices and say nothing about what a used car is worth, and we give no used values.

Fuel use and running costs

Published consumption varies, and we think that reflects different test cycles and equipment. AutoScout24 lists 10.9 l/100 km and 247 g/km combined. Other pages we found by search gave 11.1 l/100 km and 9.8 l/100 km. We cannot say which is right for a given car, and a heavy-footed owner of a 456 bhp estate will not see the lower numbers. We found no verified servicing costs, parts prices or warranty terms for this model, so we give none.

The brand status

Alpina was an independent manufacturer in Buchloe, Bavaria, when this car was built. The BMW Group newsroom release of 2 January 2026 says that 1 January 2026 marked the launch of BMW ALPINA as a standalone brand under the BMW Group umbrella, with the initial focus on brand activation. That release does not say anything about service, parts or warranty cover for cars built before the change, and we found no source that does. Alpina's old website now redirects to a BMW page. If servicing support matters to you, ask a BMW dealer or an Alpina specialist in writing before you buy, and do not assume anything.

What to check before buying

This part is our own inference, not taken from a source.

• Confirm the specification from the paperwork. A seller who says 462 PS and 700 Nm is describing this guide's car. 495 PS and 730 Nm is a facelift car, and the 303 km/h figure belongs to the saloon.
• Check it is an Alpina and not a lightly modified BMW 3 Series Touring. The B3 has its own engine tune, gearbox calibration, chassis settings and wheels, and the documents should say so.
• Look at the tyres. evo says the Pirelli P Zero tyres were developed for Alpina, so ask what is fitted, and whether the wheels are the original 19-inch or optional 20-inch size.
• Ask about the brakes, because high-performance brakes were an option on the evo car, and ask what has been replaced.
• Look for a full service history from a BMW dealer or specialist, and ask for evidence that software updates and recall work were done.
• Drive it in Comfort and Sport on roads you know. evo found Sport too firm for UK roads, so decide for yourself whether you can live with the ride.
• Be wary of a cheaper listing that quotes the saloon's 3.8 seconds and 303 km/h for the Touring.

Recalls and the government check

We did not run the government's recall checker, because it needs a registration number or the make, model and year of a particular car, and we are not looking at one. The page we cite is the official check for vehicle recalls in Great Britain. We found no recall notice for the B3 Touring in anything we read, and that is not a clean bill of health. Check the car you are buying, and ask the seller for evidence of any recall work already done.

About the photograph

The picture at the top of the page shows a grey G21 B3 Touring on black wheels at Auto Zurich in November 2021, photographed by Alexander Migl and used under CC BY-SA 4.0. It is a pre-facelift car, and the wheels and colour are options and not part of the figures here. We cropped and resized it, and no number plate is visible.

Verdict

The Alpina B3 Touring (G21) in this guide is 456 bhp (462 PS), 700 Nm, 3.9 seconds to 100 km/h and 300 km/h, all-wheel drive, a discreet and fast estate built on the 3 Series. The main risks are a misidentified specification, because the saloon and facelift numbers are both easy to confuse with it, and unclear support for the brand after the change of ownership. Verify the paperwork, run the recall check on the actual car, and treat our checklist as a starting point and not a substitute for an inspection by a specialist.