Stop Craving A BMW M3 Touring, Because The New Alpina B3 Is Better

Last month, BMW M boss Markus Flasch said that the famed division he now runs won’t be making fast estates. Apparently, that box is already ticked by SUVs. Boo and indeed hiss.

If you’re hankering after a Touring version of the next M3, then, there are three solutions: cry yourself to sleep, spending a preposterous amount of money building one yourself, or go to Alpina.

Yet again, the German company - which has its products built on BMW’s own production lines before being finished at a separate facility - has filled the M3 Touring void. It’s done so by working over the latest ‘G30’ 3-series, creating something that might just be better than an M3 wagon.

It’s much more subtle than M Division products, with those 20-inch multispoke wheels being the only clue those who know need to tell this apart from a normal 3-series. Plus, it’s been made with ‘real-world’ fast driving in mind.

Should the next M3 match the specs of the S58-powered X3 M, it’ll develop 503bhp and 443lb ft. The Alpina is less powerful at 455bhp, but its twin-turbo converted B58 inline-six is much torquier thanks to a punchy 513lb ft of twist arriving at 3000rpm.

All that is sent through an eight-speed automatic gearbox rather than a DCT, fed to a very sensible all-wheel drive system. Alpina hasn’t given a 0-62mph time for the B3, but it has said that the top speed is over 186mph.

We don’t know anything about the suspension work other than, well… it’s had some, but there’s no need to doubt Alpina in this area - its products always ride extremely well despite sitting on huge wheels. To make it even more wafty, there is a 19-inch option too.

Orders will open early next year, with deliveries starting halfway through the year. It’s on display now in all its green glory at the Frankfurt Motor Show.