A different kind of apartheid
Nowadays BMW slices the M cake thinner and thinner, hoping to reach more customers in increasingly smaller niches. There was a time when the capital M flanked by the blue, purple and red banner was a badge of honor and a proof of competence. That made a 7 Series with an M badge unthinkable because a car of that bulk did not fit the Motorsport philosophy. In South Africa however, the local BMW branche took a very different view and created their own, unofficial, M7.
The first generation 7 Series, internally known as E23, was launched in 1977. The range topper was the 733i powered by the 3,210 cc straight six M30 with 197 PS, but this was not enough to take the fight to rivals like the Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL with its 4.5 V8 – let alone the 6.9 V8 – or the Jaguar XJ12 with a 5.3 V12. Alpina, the tuning company based in Buchloe in southern Germany, saw this void as an opportunity and responded with the B8, based on the 733i. Output rose to 240 PS thanks to different pistons, revised combustion chambers, altered ignition timing, sharper camshafts and a modified exhaust system.
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