for 1978, finotto had brought the alpina bmw csl, and continued to share with facetti. the first round of the 1978 european touring car championship saw the car arrive at brands hatch, although two of the four bmw entered had used the supply of engines in qualifying and therefore did not start. the other remaining bmw was quicker in the hand of grano and tom walkinshaw, but due to poor pit by the bmw italia crew, facetti/finotto were able leading until three laps from the end, when walkinshaw took over the lead. fresh from their second place in england, facetti/finotto were only challenged by their tyres in the four hours event at monza, eventually winning by seven laps.