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Originally Posted by noushy
OK, so for my fellow 7er drivers and enthusiasts consider this a very brief introduction to the 2017 G12 BMW Alpina B7.
First some caveats. Since I turned in/sold my previous F01 BMW Alpina B7 xDrive back in August 2016 my daily driver has been a 2014 F15 50i M Sport X5 (sister's car with plenty of mileage to give before turn in) followed by my personal 2016 F85 X5M (725hp and modified) since November running snows. I have driven the G12 750xi a total of 5 days as both a loaner and a BMW test drive program meant to get interest in the new model. I am used to a stiff, loud, noisy tire SUV that also happens to be stupid fast.
Now I picked up the B7 last Monday night and actually didn't even drive it till Tuesday morning. It has served as my daily driver for 5 days and 550 miles. It is extremely quiet, very similar to a 750xi, light steering with a tad of numbness on dead center (electric drive by wire), and a soft accelerator which wants to be prodded to move. This was my first annoyance and it took a while to adjust to the accelerator especially since my F85 has just the opposite, a touchy quirky accelerator. Once mastered however it is not to difficult to get smooth starts without startling everyone in the car and around it. The lag that seems to be an issue with Alpina V8s is still there but it has become less noticeable and can be managed by switching to dynamic from comfort.
Performance is on par with what is expected and once the accelerator is mastered it is a mile gobbling beast on the freeway. It moves from 70-90 faster than your brain can think it and you have to be constantly aware of traffic, road conditions, and the usual friendly neighborhood constable. The first 3-4 days was really just me getting used to the steering and accelerator as well as the braking which I will discuss in a bit. Today however coming back from my night shift at 830am was a whole different experience. Light to moderate rain, snow tires on 20inch wheels, and light traffic. The B7 is an absolute beast in this condition. Fast, stable, extremely confident and able to change lanes and hold steady as fast as I can react. Much easier to drive than either my previous F01 B7, F13 M6, or F85 X5M. This car was truly meant to be out on the freeway eating up miles. Trust me it is fast, deceptively so, and I haven't even pushed it hard since it is still breaking in. The G12 750xi is fast, this thing is just excessive.
Braking is solid, easy to modulate and get smooth stops. At first it was giving me a hard time but that is because I am used to the F85 brakes. No it doesn't grab as hard and quickly as the M 6 piston fronts but the Alpina sourced 4 piston setup is solid and much more appropriate for this type of car. Yes it can stop hard but the initial grab is soft so take caution until you get used to it.
Ride quality is truly amazing. I spent 4 days with the forged 21 wheels and now 1 day with the 20 M wheels and snow tires. Car is absolutely quiet with minimal road noise with either tire. And surprisingly agile even with the sottozero 240 ser2 tires as well. Patiently waiting till mid April for the 1st available 21 Alpina wheel to make it over here. The car is so pleasant to drive that I have found myself just driving with no radio, no stereo, no nothing! I even get annoyed when someone calls me.
Electronics are plentiful and I just have been scratching the surface. The B&W audio is actually quite good and when the equalizer settings are normalized properly it sounds sharp, clear and powerful. Lets just say overall it is better than the B&O but more suited to pop, jazz, classical than hard rock. There are so many features it would take a week to explain them all, and I will definitely be taking advantage of the Encore program.
Now for the few bugs... The car magically shut off after coming to a stop from a long freeway drive (my commute from home to office is 49 miles) and when I mean shut off I mean completely blanked out like a power failure. it restarted in neutral and drove fine. At a separate instance it started to shake at take off almost like running over a bunch of rocks or a transmission gear slip. And finally last night at idle, I exited the car to drop some items off at the office and the car started shaking like a rough idle. The door was vibrating in my hands. Again these issues can be fixed.
Finally, Apple CarPlay. OK so let me just say it now, when it works it is very cool. However it tends to disconnect and reconnect to the phone more often than when it works, and often while on a call it starts to break up and turn into static and distortion. Who knows but it has forced me to restart my phone several times (and yes it is a iPhone 7+ with latest software). Clearly not ready for prime time. The car wifi is a pain to setup and took 1 hour with an ATT rep to get it added to my account. BMW does not give you the car phone number or SIM info. Trust me a total pain in the ass that was intended to force you into purchasing one of their expensive plans. For those of you with AT&T it is $10 to add it to your monthly plan. The rest of you, no idea what it will cost but not cheap.
OK have to go do more errands. Please feel free to PM me and I will try and answer your questions. Serious buyers of either the 7 or B7 I am willing to speak with you as well.
Noushy
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nice review. would like to see more pics of interior with individual color. did you get much info before you made the decision on the interior color? the online configurator is not really helpful.