The only real question is why. Not when, what, where or even for whom but why. Everything else about the latest edition to BMW’s iconic 7 Series makes immediate sense except for the why. Why does BMW sell the Alpina B7, a high-performance version of its 7 Series manufactured by a completely independent company in its Canadian and U.S. dealerships? If a high-performance flagship sedan is truly necessary to round off BMW’s high-performance portfolio, why isn’t it wearing an M7 badge? Has BMW’s underground horsepower lair forgotten how to build the high-performance sedans for which it is famous? Is there a sudden shortage of super-powered turbocharged V8s in BMW’s M Division? Virtually everything the M Division touches — the 135 M Coupe, M3, M5, X6M, etc. — turns out golden, so why no M7? Why the reliance on an outsider’s take on M-ness, the very quality that separates the spinning propeller brand from its more staid Teutonic competitors? Listen to BMW’s marketing mavens — both above and below the 49th parallel — and the reason given is that the M Division’s performance-first philosophy doesn’t mesh with the needs of über-luxury customers. Supposedly, the twin-clutch manual transmission and high-revving engines that so resonate with the Speedy Gonzaleses who buzz about in M3s don’t have the same appeal to the lords and ladies who loll about in 7s. Yes, 7 Series customers value the pizzazz that comes with giant heaps of horsepower and enough rubber for a Northern Lights Latex Festival, but they want their über-performance sedans neither shaken nor stirred. Daniel Craig may indeed be the best James Bond for our times, but there are still people (sick puppies that they are) who prefer Roger Moore. For them, say BMW’s PR flacks, an M7 is a firm Bilstein too far. Read more: http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/08/23/preview-2013-alpina-b7-outperforms-m/
