Well, it’s now 2026, and that means that Alpina is fully part of BMW. What does that mean, you ask? Well, a few things. The Bovensiepen family—the ones behind Alpina—and the team in Buchloe are still active, but are now working under the family name to create bespoke, modified BMWs. The first one was shown at Villa d’Este, and it’s the Bovensiepen Zagato (pictured below), an M4 convertible-based pillarless coupe with more power and a body from legendary Italian designer Zagato.

This also means BMW has now taken full control of the Alpina name, and some excerpts from its press release give a hint as to what it plans to do with it:

Key elements of the BMW ALPINA brand are its unique balance of maximum performance and superior ride comfort, combined with hallmark driving characteristics. This is complemented by an exclusive portfolio of bespoke options and custom materials along with unmistakeable details.

The new wordmark provides a first indication. It radiates clarity, calm and confidence. Positioned at the centre of the rear, it underlines the standalone character of the new exclusive brand and its independent personality within the BMW Group.

BMW ALPINA vehicles are manufactured according to rigorous standards for materials selection and craftsmanship. They fulfill the most demanding expectations in terms of visuals, acoustics and feel. Moreover, buyers can choose from a remarkable portfolio of bespoke options. These ensure that every BMW ALPINA has its own, unmistakeable character. Each vehicle will be an exclusive object for connoisseurs in pursuit of the extraordinary, without compromises on performance, comfort and individuality.

The new BMW Alpina wordmark.

It’s no longer a trim level, but a brand within the group, one that will seemingly continue to provide the balance of luxury and power Alpina has been known for. However, BMW will also integrate Alpina more deeply into the development process, there is an in-house designer, and it’s likely that models that receive the Alpina treatment will feature deeper changes to powertrain, options, interior, and even styling, than before. The goal appears to be to create a luxury brand above BMW but below Rolls-Royce, sort of like how Mercedes now uses the Maybach brand.

The next X7/iX7 and refreshed 7 Series are most likely the first candidates to get this BMW Alpina treatment. Let’s see what they come up with.

The post Alpina Is Officially Part of BMW appeared first on BimmerLife.

I recently spent a week with a 2025 Gran Coupe, ironically right around the same time BMW stopped building them. I wish it was sticking around.

There’s No Better Way To Cover Miles

Photo: Travis Okulski

The M8 GC is a simply phenomenal grand tourer. I’ve driven a few of these now on longer trips, and there aren’t many cars that have the ability to sit comfortably and quietly at 80 mph for hours, but then take a quick back road detour and become engaging and fun, a serious sports car.

Before this most recent time with a GC, I drove one from Los Angeles to Monterey in 2024 for Monterey Car Week. Most of that time was spent on the 101, a six-hour straight-shot up the coast (normally I’d take a detour onto 33 or spend most of the drive on the Pacific Coast Highway, but I had to be in Monterey at a certain time and the PCH was close from rock slides).

The M8 made record time, the only weak link was me, since I had to stop for food. It didn’t drink too much fuel, it wasn’t overly harsh or loud, it just did its job, and perfectly. And it really doesn’t hurt that the M8 has 617 hp from its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8, enough to cover any gap in traffic.

That Engine

Photo: Travis Okulski

Speaking of the engine, that thing is a masterpiece. Sure, it’s in multiple products—from the X5 M to the current M5, now hybridized, of course—but that doesn’t make it any less special here. I’m not sure I can emphasize enough just how fast this thing is. It really doesn’t need more power, 617 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque is a ton, and the way the M8 pulls without really a hint of turbolag is hugely impressive.

It sounds great on startup, an excellent burble, yet it’s refined and quiet around town. At speed, I know some of the noise is synthetic, but I don’t care that much, it sounds great.

But really, this is one of the all-time great turbocharged engines. The immediacy of the response, the tractable power, the outrageous acceleration, all of it adds up to be the secret sauce of this special car.

It’s Delightfully Uncomplicated, Somehow

Photo: Travis Okulski

Now, I’m not going to claim this is a simple car. The M8 has multi-mode four-wheel drive, about 85 settings for shift speed, chassis, traction, and more, and a number of drive modes and safety settings, yet compared to the new M5, it seems like it’s from a different era.

I know the trope is that the last BMW is always better than the new BMW, and when that last BMW was new, it was worse than the car that came before it, but that’s not what I’m claiming here. The M8 and the F90 M5 were basically the same car with different bodies. The G90 M5 is totally different, a fully hybridized car where tech takes center stage. In that context, the M8 feels old school.

It’s lighter and has an interior with buttons and dials. You don’t have to work the climate control or shift speeds through iDrive. It actually might be nearly as complex in terms of setup and modes, but the ways to access them are simpler in the M8, and I appreciate that.

It’s Sad To See It Go

Photo: Travis Okulski

It’s definitely sad to see the M8 leave. BMW’s bigger coupes have been a calling card of the company for nearly its entire history. From the CS to the 6 and 8 Series, then the more modern versions in the early Aughts, these cars have been part of the brand’s fabric like the 3 Series.

Now, there won’t be one anymore. And yes, I understand that I’m lamenting the loss of a coupe after driving the four-door version, but it still rings true. It’ll also be sad to lose the Gran Coupe, which took the 5 Series and made it sleeker, lower, and more elegant. I’ve always loved the way these cars look, the extra length of the four-door really accentuating the cut roofline and near liftback proportions.

Photo: Travis Okulski

Here’s to hoping BMW brings back a new full-size coupe soon, even if it adopts the complicated underpinnings of the M5.

The post Four Quick Things You Learn After Driving the M8 Competition Gran Coupe appeared first on BimmerLife.

There was shockingly little fanfare for the end of the M8, though there were signs. BMW USA never listed a 2026 model year M8 on its website, and the M8 coupe was removed entirely. Also, when the M850i Edition M Heritage was released, it was curious that this special edition, which would mark the end of the 8 Series, wasn’t based on the highest performance version of the car. Now we know why.

BMW started production of the M850i Edition M Heritage in November, with 500 examples set to be built before 8 Series production comes to an end, now confirmed for April.

A shame to see it all end, to be honest. The 8 carried on that coupe tradition of the 6 Series, a sleek sharknosed thing that was an elegant cruiser, brutally quick in M trim, and a success on track in endurance racing competition. While the 8 Series will kind of live on in the Skytop and Speedtop, those two limited-production, special-edition models carry a price tag higher than $500,000. Not that the 8 Series was an affordable economy car, but that is a level beyond.

BMW hasn’t announced a replacement for the 8 Series and, as far as I know, no prototypes have been seen testing, but it wouldn’t be shocking if a model that filled this nice returned in the not-to-distant future. BMW’s GT coupe history is varied and long, and an undeniable piece of the fabric that formed the company. These cars are some of its most recognizable calling cards. Here’s to hoping we don’t need to wait too long for it to return.

The post The BMW M8 Went Out of Production in October appeared first on BimmerLife.

When I spoke to him about writing that story, we discussed design at length. Never one to hold back, Lutz had this to say when asked what he thought of modern BMW design.

I think BMW, right now, has a serious design problem. I think some of the front ends are atrocious. Too prominent, that steam punk look to some of the front ends that look like big octagonal cast iron plates riveted to the car. It’s atrocious. I mean, the proportions are wrong, the lines are wrong, the detailing is wrong. I think some of them are just beyond ugly, and frankly, are being bought because people expect a premium automobile, and they say, Well, okay, I kind of hate the front end. I kind of hate the lights, and I kind of hate the grille, and I kind of hate the overall proportions, but it is a BMW. Somebody told me Chinese buyers like that stuff. I find that hard to believe.

Lutz doesn’t mince words and always says what he thinks. Of course, we all have opinions on design, and BMW has offered a number of polarizing designs recently, with the 7 Series and X7 definitely being high up on that list. The designs are, in my view, avant garde and at least don’t look like anything on the road. Now, I wouldn’t call them beautiful, but at least they look different than most things on the road.

That’s the thing, right? As crossovers and other vehicles become more prevalent, all of them taking up the same footprint and space, and as regulations choke creativity, automakers have to do something different. BMW has chosen its direction, and agree or disagree with it, at least its bold and different. Does that mean it’s the right choice? I’m not sure. What matters is what it looks like in a decade, how it aged. Many of the cars from the Bangle-era were controversial, but looking at them now, they’ve age gracefully.

That all said, the upcoming iX3 is elegant, and I expect that the neue klasse 3 Series will also be a handsome thing that looks futuristic but hearkens back to a totally different era.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Lutz? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Here’s What Bob Lutz Thinks of Modern BMW Design appeared first on BimmerLife.

In the latest episode of auto journalist and BMW-nerd Jason Cammisa’s “Revelations” video series, he recalls the i3 and i8, what led to their development, and how they were received. I remember the controversy around BMW developing a car like the i3—one that was more of an urban solution than a car you’d want to spend time in on a back road—but had totally forgotten BMW’s ambitions to be an end-to-end mobility solution rather than a car company. Wild stuff.

Cammisa brings up good points about the i3’s issues, like the rear doors that can trap you in more ways than one and, more importantly, how EVs from Chevy and VW of that era were less expensive, used less exotic materials, but were more efficient. However, we disagree on driving the i3, which I thought was a fun little runabout and which he thought was a disaster. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with use case. When I drove an i3 REx, it was on the east coast and mainly in New York City and some suburbs. That’s where it’s made to be. I can’t imagine I’d be thrilled with it dynamically in a faster environment, either.

The i8, though, we totally align there. That car is a blast. It looks cool, sounds cool (even if it’s fake), and is excellent to drive. It’s fast, fun, and a unique experience. Sure, it was expensive and supercar buyers don’t really care about efficiency as a selling point, but it was filled with enough tech and was interesting enough to own that it made a case for itself.

I just remember driving an i8 on a snow autocross at Lime Rock Park just after it was released, and it was a blast. Also a challenge, since the electric motor and gas would work to keep you straight, but it would slide all over the place. I’ve embedded that below. And a fun little tidbit is that the shots in that video from a following car were taken by Cammisa while he was testing a Tesla Model S for Road & Track.

As for Cammisa’s full video? Give it a watch below. It’s worth your time.

The post The Full History of the BMW i3 and i8 Is Deeply Interesting appeared first on BimmerLife.

Our theme for the next issue of BimmerLife Magazine is heroes, so we’ll be celebrating BMW cars, events, and people that deserve that moniker for one reason or another. Some of them are people we know personally or cars we’re lucky enough to own. Others are people long gone or heavily involved with BMW that we don’t get the chance to meet or cars that space, time, or wallet size won’t let us pursue.

My hero is the E46 M3 GTR, the V-8 powered monster that dominated U.S. racing so thoroughly in 2001 that it was immediately banned. I was lucky enough to get a chance to drive that car in 2018, and it lived up to every expectation I had, and then some. It shot flames, it sounded amazing, and it was a sweetheart. I think about that day often, it’s my Roman Empire.

As part of this upcoming issue, I want to feature similar stories from you about your BMW heroes. It can be someone well-known, like Bill Auberlen, or a relative unknown, like your local mechanic. It can be a car you own or one you wish you could. It could be a time you met your hero and they or it lived up to every expectation. Or it could be a hero you’re too scared to meet because that might ruin your blind worship.

No matter what it is, I want to hear about it. Send me an email with your member number, a short blurb on your hero and, if you can, a photo we have the rights to run (that’s complicated and I’m happy to explain in more depth). Anything submitted will be considered for publication in that issue. I’m looking forward to hearing your stories.

The post We Want To Know Your BMW Heroes appeared first on BimmerLife.

At the BMW CCA Foundation, we have one mission: Saving Lives and Saving History. This year, your support helped us achieve incredible results on both fronts.

Saving Lives: The Real Impact—First and foremost, our Tire Rack Street Survival program is delivering on the most important thing of all: safety for the next generation.

Already this year, we have completed 73 schools nationwide and trained 1,600+ young drivers. We aren’t just teaching them to be better drivers; we are teaching them to be safe drivers with skid control training, braking techniques, and vital situational awareness. Parents consistently tell us this program “goes beyond standard driver’s ed,” giving their teens the confidence to handle real-world emergencies.

Saving History: A World-Class Year—2025 was also the year we celebrated the rare Masterpieces of ALPINA at The Ultimate Driving Museum. We were honored to be named “South Carolina’s Best Museum” (for the second year running!) and recognized as a top 10 percent global attraction by Tripadvisor. Now, we are racing to prepare for the May, 2026 opening of “BMW M3: 40 Years of Evolution.”

We are fighting hard to navigate the challenges 2025 threw at the non-profit world so we can keep these accolades coming—but we can’t do it without you.

Our goal is simple: 100 donors in 24 hours.

Whether it’s $25 or $500, your gift today acts as the fuel for everything we do next year—from filling Street Survival schools to launching the M3 era. Please take a moment right now and donate to your passion, and our mission.

Donate to Giving Tuesday

Thank you for keeping the passion alive.

Sincerely,

Bruce Smith
President
BMW CCA Foundation

The post A Letter From the BMW CCA Foundation on Giving Tuesday appeared first on BimmerLife.

BMW Motorsport was established in 1972 with the intent of growing the automaker through racing. An all-star team was formed, with Jochen Neerpasch joining from Ford to lead the organization. The first project was taking the 3.0 CS to the track. The elegant sedan was transformed by Motorsport to create the CSL.

The chassis for sale here, E9/R1, was the first car. It was tested and developed by Hans Stuck and Harald Menzel. It raced in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) series. A fun story that I didn’t know was that this car wasn’t originally homologated with the full Batmobile bodywork and the 3.5-liter engine, but once it was, the work was done overnight. Here’s the story from Dylan Miles, the seller:

On 30^th June at the DRM Mainz-Finthen race E9/R1 qualified without the Batmobile Kit and at midnight the FIA homologated its use and the factory engineers immediately took the Werks cars to the local BMW dealership and worked throughout the night to upgrade both with Batmobile bodywork and 3.5L engines, cutting it so fine that one of the mechanics drove it back the circuit on the road just before the race was due to start!!

Wild, and amazing that they were able to do that so quickly.

Motorsport only kept this car until the end of the 1973 season, when it was sold to the Hurtig Libra IMSA team, where it ran in 1974. It went to Mexico City next, owned by Daniel Muniz, then to Richard Conway, a BMW collector, in the Eighties. The current owner purchased it in the Nineties and has preserved and restored it. However, it was also kept out of the public eye, not appearing until the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Considering its history and significance, the price will not be anything approaching accessible. If you add it to your garage, give us a call.

The post The First BMW M Car Is For Sale appeared first on BimmerLife.

The electric 1602 build for the 1972 Munich Olympics
Photo: BMW

Now, there are EV conversions of classic cars popping up all over the place. From 911s to E-Types, classics are being EV converted for many reasons. Maybe the owner is an environmentalist of EV enthusiast. Maybe the car was totaled and part of the rebuild is this new powertrain. Or maybe the owner just wants something different. Point is, if a car is mass produced to a level where an EV conversion isn’t ruining a rare piece of history, then it’s the same as any other engine swap. This 2002 is a perfect example.

Created by Bavarian Econs Tech, the 2002te uses the front drive unit from a Tesla Model S and pairs it with a 33kWh battery from an i3. That means it weighs 2400 pounds and helps it get to 60 in 6.2 seconds. For perspective, a 1972 2002tii tested by Car and Driver got to 60 in 9.0 seconds, and the electric 1602 took 8.0 seconds to hit 30 mph and its top speed was 62. The 2002te is quicker to 60 than a 2002 Turbo, which hit the benchmark in about 6.9 seconds.

This very clean conversion is Golf Yellow and rides on 13-inch Alpina wheels. The suspension is via KW coilovers, and it maintains the stock brakes. If you saw it standing still, you’d be hard pressed to realize that this is an EV. That’s what you want. This car is currently for sale on Bring-a-Trailer, and we’ll update with a price once the auction ends.

The post Would You Drive an Electric 2002? appeared first on BimmerLife.

Photo: BMW

Since it’s based on the M40i, the specs will be familiar. The engine is still the B58 straight-six, which means it has 358 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. It gets to 60 in 3.9 seconds with the automatic, 4.2 with the manual, and weighs 3543 pounds with the auto or 3514 with the manual.

So, what does the Final Edition get you? Other than transmission, it’s a fixed spec, so every single one in the U.S. will be identical. That means you get BMW Individual Frozen Black Metallic paint, an Alcantara and leather interior with red contrast stitching, black gloss trim, type 800M bicolor wheels, the Shadowline package, driving assistance package, premium package, and the Harman Kardon surround sound stereo. Basically, it’s fully loaded.

It’s a sad moment, really. This Z4 is a lovely car. It looks and drives great. And while I haven’t had a chance to drive a manual one yet, I’ve enjoyed time in the automatics. On track, they can pull some simply outrageous drifts without much effort. But roadsters aren’t quite the draw they used to be—the days of people flocking to BMW showrooms to get a Z3 are long gone—so it was only a matter of time until this Z4 disappeared from the market. Hopefully BMW has a replacement on the horizon, though it likely will not be co-developed with Toyota this time if they do.

If you want one of these Final Edition Z4s, you’ll need $78,675. BMW hasn’t said how many will be built, just that it will be produced in “very small numbers” between February and April 2026. Get your order in ASAP.

The post This Is the Final Edition Z4 appeared first on BimmerLife.