BMW has pulled the wraps off the Vision BMW Alpina at the 2026 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, and this one carries far more weight than your usual show-stand concept. It is the first design study created entirely under BMW Group ownership following Alpina’s transformation into a full-fledged brand within the group earlier this year, slotting into the gap between BMW and Rolls-Royce. The numbers tell you straight away what segment they are gunning for. At 5,200 mm long, the Vision is a genuinely massive grand tourer. Wide, low and sitting on 22-inch front and 23-inch rear wheels wearing the 20-spoke design Alpina has used since 1971, it is pitched squarely at the likes of the Bentley Continental GT rather than anything wearing an M badge. Positioning is everything here. New brand boss Oliver Viellechner has been candid that Alpina fills the gap between BMW and Rolls-Royce, where the group sees real potential in the high-end segment. He points to Range Rovers configured past €200,000 and Maybach’s resilience even in tough markets as proof that understated luxury is exactly how wealthy buyers are spending now. This is not aimed at M buyers or 7 Series buyers, but at the segment sitting above both. Powering it is a V8 – widely understood to be the familiar S68 4.4 litre twin-turbo unit – tuned for the signature Alpina exhaust note that is deep and rich at low revs and sonorous when wound out. Alpina hasn’t quoted figures for the concept, but the S68 is good for around 600 hp in other applications, so expect serious pace from whatever follows it. Comfort, though, is the real headline. BMW leans hard on founder Burkard Bovensiepen’s old gospel – a comfortable driver is a faster driver – and frames Comfort+ as central to it. Described as a calibration that goes beyond BMW’s standard comfort setting for a more supple, refined character, it is retained here as the defining Alpina trait. Bovensiepen lived that philosophy. The man famously added padding to his endurance racing seats while rivals were busy stripping weight, and that belief in covering continents quickly and serenely is what always set Alpina apart from M. M adds tension; Alpina takes it away. BMW says it intends to protect that distinction. It’s a nice idea, if executed well. We first experienced Comfort+ before as one of the drive modes in the BMW F10 5 Series equipped with adaptive dampers, and it certainly allowed the car to punch above its segment in terms of ride comfort during its time. Design-wise, the front end revives the classic shark nose – here reinterpreting the kidney grille as a three-dimensional sculpture – with a direct line of inspiration to the late-1970s B7 Coupé based on the E24 6 Series. A six-degree “speed feature line” rises from the lower front corners, runs down the flanks and wraps around the rear, structuring both the exterior and the cabin. The traditional deco-lines are present but painted beneath the clear coat rather than applied as external graphics, while warm-white daytime running lights, illuminated grille surrounds and crystal lighting elements add the jewellery. Design chief Maximilian Missoni calls it the “second read” principle – details that reward a closer look without shouting, such as chrome reserved for inner surfaces, an idea borrowed from the BMW 507. Other Alpina signatures remain, including the quad elliptical exhausts and the machined Alpina wordmark on the front apron. Inside is where things get properly indulgent. Four seats, full-grain leather sourced from the Alpine region, heritage blue and green woven into the stitching and digital graphics, watchmaking-style bevelled metalwork and clear-cut crystal on the key driving controls. The dash gets BMW Panoramic iDrive with a passenger screen and an Alpina-specific interface, the display tones intensifying as the driver moves from Comfort+ to Speed mode in the Panoramic Vision head-up display. And then there is the party piece: behind the rear console, a set of Alpina crystal glasses – each engraved with 20 deco-lines and a six-degree rim profile – that rise on a self-deploying mechanism and are held by concealed magnets so they do not topple over when you are flat out on the autobahn. It is pure theatre, and exactly the sort of thing rivals like Bentley and Maybach trade on. That glassware lift is also the detail that will either win you over or have you raising an eyebrow about whether BMW truly understands what made Alpina special. The old Buchloe cars never needed theatre – they had a slightly grippier wheel and a suspension tune that made long-distance miles melt away. The challenge for BMW now is delivering both the substance and the show. The Vision is not slated for production (at least not officially), but Villa d’Este has a habit of turning “just a concept” into reality, the Skytop having gone to 50 lucky customers. The real news is what follows: the first series-production BMW Alpina arrives in 2027, “inspired by the 7 Series, but unmistakably BMW Alpina,” with the 7 Series and X7 on the CLAR platform tipped as likely bases. For now, the Vision BMW Alpina is a gorgeous mission statement – whether it drives like an Alpina should is the question 2027 will have to answer. Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro. Use the promo code 'PAULTAN' when you checkout for 10% discount!
