Another day, another car the North American Market won ‘t be seeing. But once again this is still pretty pertinent for all markets. For one we believe Alpina will have a greater presence in worldwide and yes that means the US. Could we see the B5 sedan eventually? Perhaps. However we ‘d wager an Alpina D3 would be more interesting for the US market.

Regardless we ‘re here to learn about the B5 Touring. A 500 hp wagon that may be one of the best BMWs currently sold. Let ‘s turn it over to Autocar:

>To understand the B5 Touring you need to put yourself in the mindset of someone who is a) extremely wealthy, b) likes driving fast, preferably down quiet, derestricted autobahns in order to avoid having to fly, and c) also wants a quantifiably comfortable car to drive. People who buy Alpinas are not people who can’t afford a factory M car. They are people who don’t want such a manic driving experience as that offered by an M machine, but who want the same kind of straight line performance.

>We drove this car from Alpina’s factory in the middle of Bavaria back to the UK, which was the perfect environment in which to sample its mile eating capabilities. It’s hard to think of many other cars that would have felt so comfortable over the same journey, or as quick, and which could have swallowed so much kit while returning just over 25mpg.

You can read the entire review at Autocar.