BMW Alpina D3 S Touring: Agent dreams

You are mostly in a VW Passat, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class or an Audi A4 and prefer a spacious station wagon, either because of your own inclination or the company’s specifications. In most cases, a mediocre level of comfort equipment has to suffice, because when selecting the vehicle, the fleet manager also has his thumb on air-conditioned leather seats, high-tech sound or a drive that really puts you in a good mood. In addition, more and more fleets have switched to plug-in hybrids in the past two years and were shocked by the fuel costs after a few months. Long distances with a plug-in hybrid? That costs valuable euros and shows that the diesel is hard to beat here. But the driving pleasure of a diesel engine with 190 or 170 hp is excellent – it’s not that far in any of the models.

No wonder that many a traveling salesman, at least in his dreams, in a BMW M 340d Touring or an Audi S4 TDI Avant thinks or even ponders that they are taking the thousands of monthly kilometers under their broad wheels in a chic exclusive model like the Alpina D3 S. The little Bavarian is a real kilometer eater, not as expensive as an X3 or even a 5 Series and, especially as a touring version, offers a variability that most users should definitely get there with. Now the head of the fleet department will only smile wearily when you turn to him with the request for a BMW Alpina D3 S Touring. The load and pleasure donkey from Buchloe costs an impressive 71,900 euros in the solid but anything but complete basic equipment.

There is a three-liter common rail diesel that is really good fun, sounds great and makes almost every kilometer a real pleasure. This is ensured by 261 kW / 355 PS and a maximum torque of more than an impressive 730 Nm at a low 1,750 rpm. No thought of a anything but sonorous two-liter diesel from the standard shelf, with which you can always be on the move quickly, consumes little and does not have to worry about which charging station you plug in the flank of the station wagon for the next 200 kilometers . But a normal kilometer eater has little in common with the sporting ambitions of the Alpina D3 S Touring. The D3 S is even more confident and comfortable than the hardly weaker BMW M 340d with its 250 kW / 340 PS, which starts with less equipment at 67,200 euros.

The Allgäu-Express accelerates the 4.72 meter long mid-range station wagon from a standing start in 4.8 seconds and from almost any imaginable speed at will. On the endlessly long kilometer-eating between the Ruhr area and Berlin or Munich and Hamburg, one is all too happy to mess with one or the other genuine sports car and leave many of them confused. At best, because of the four tailpipes, you will fear that this three-series BMW is not to be trifled with. Most customers forego the Alpina ornaments and corresponding lettering apart from the one embedded in the deep front apron. But if you can see it in the rearview mirror, you’ve usually already lost. The Alpina D3 S pushes its impressive two tons of empty weight over the road as if it were nothing.

The maximum torque of 730 Nm is pure madness for such a station wagon. It pushes and pushes and pushes – flanked by a subtle but sonorous sound and a drive consisting of an eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive and three-liter common rail diesel that you don’t just have to fall into pure ecstasy on long journeys. Anyone who tries it on the autobahn is traveling at 270 km / h and doesn’t get sweaty hands, but rather takes the excellent coordination of springs, dampers and excellent steering more than benevolently. The individual driving programs are better adjusted in the years before and so the spread is wider and more suitable for everyday use. The comfort mode remains great. The standard consumption of 7.6 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers is more than acceptable given the more than 350 hp and the lush vehicle weight. How much the real consumption goes beyond that is determined by the motorway, city center and the driver’s gas requirement. In any case, the family station wagon can be driven with a good eight liters of diesel – there is no reason to complain. With the 59 liter tank, you can easily reach 700 kilometers and more until the next stop.

This also applies to the interior, which, apart from the small alpine details, presents itself in the well-known BMW design with good workmanship and convincing operation. The payload of 480 kilograms should be sufficient, as should the loading volume, the 500 liters of which can be significantly expanded to 1,510 liters behind the electric loading flap by folding down the rear seats. The bottom line is that the BMW Alpina D3 S Touring is an expensive, but downright perfect family station wagon, for everyone who loves understatement and wants to be really fast. The fleet manager, however, shouldn’t really care. He offers a 190 hp BMW 320d Touring in black and uni – maybe even with all-wheel drive or the almost equally strong competitors from Audi or Mercedes. But dreaming has to be allowed once – especially at work.