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"We&amp;#039;d just spent the morning at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca doing hot laps in BMW&amp;#039;s M3, M5 and arguably the sharp end of the spear, the M6. Mixed in with this fleet of M-sters was a larger sedan, an updated version of BMW&amp;#039;s 7 Series, breathed on heavily by Alpina and renamed the B7.        2013 BMW Alpina B7    From BMW&amp;#039;s factory in Dingolfing the big sedans are trucked to Alpina&amp;#039;s plant in Buchloe. They go through a variety of changes, but what we like best are those that get the big BMW to 60 in 4.3 seconds. That would include a horsepower increase in the 4.4-liter turbo V-8 of 40 compared to the last B7, taking it to 540, with torque up 22 lb-ft to 538. Also new is ZF&amp;#039;s 8-speed automatic transmission with shift buttons on the backside of the steering wheel. Naturally, you also get the classic Alpina 20-spoke alloy wheels.        2013 BMW Alpina B7    That&amp;#039;s how you get a 4655-lb 7 Series sedan to 60 that quickly, its top speed of 194 mph dictated by aero drag.   First the Demo   Burkard Bovensiepen founded Alpina and his son, Andy, now heads the company. An accomplished race driver, he quickly had us rushing through Laguna&amp;#039;s 11 corners, delighting in harassing one of the M5 drivers with the big B7.        2013 BMW Alpina B7    Then our turn. There&amp;#039;s something both magic and incongruous about nailing the throttle of these big German sedans and having them paste you back in your seat. Into Laguna&amp;#039;s turns 3,4 and 5 it&amp;#039;s quickly obvious this is no small automobile. Don&amp;#039;t expect the crispness and hard edge of the M series cars, but do expect to have fun. You can feel the B7&amp;#039;e size and it takes a less obvious set than the M cars, but there&amp;#039;s a confident solidness to everything. Going through Laguna&amp;#039;s famed Corkscrew corner is particularly fun as the road just drops away from under that long hood and you find yourself swooping down to the right then to the left for next corner. On the front straight you can just catch the speedo moving up on 120 mph before you have to center your attention to the next corner.        2013 BMW Alpina B7    And Off the Track?   Alpina&amp;#039;s B7 may be a beauty, but it&amp;#039;s no beast. For all its potential on the track we found the car to be just what you&amp;#039;d expect from a luxury sedan on the roads surrounding the track...smooth, quiet and coddling. Being German, there&amp;#039;s an in-bred taut touch to the controls and a comforting firmness to the seats that mask what lies under that accelerator when you mash it. As with cars like Cadillac&amp;#039;s CTS-V, the difference between going to the store and going to jail is about a half inch of downward travel in the accelerator.        2013 BMW Alpina B7    A Price Must be Paid   Alpina creates B7s with either rear-drive or all-wheel xDrive. Opt for the standard wheelbase and the tab is $127,600 for two-wheel drive, $130,600 for four. Go with the 5.5 added inches of the long wheelbase and you&amp;#039;ll pay $131,500 or $134,500 respectively. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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