Is This What We Are Missing? BMW 5 Touring on ALPINA Classic Wheels Hurts to Look At

Tradition meets future, but what does that really mean?

With the takeover, BMW Group talks about:

• A new wordmark, centrally placed at the rear

• An independent positioning within BMW

• Modern exclusivity

• Strict quality and material standards

• A focus on bespoke options

The new logo deliberately refers back to the asymmetrical ALPINA wordmark from the 1970s. The message is clear: heritage stays, but the approach changes. BMW ALPINA becomes an exclusive luxury brand within BMW. Less niche tuner. More high-end curator.

What we truly lose

With the end of production at the close of 2025, we lose more than a badge. ALPINA was always:

• Subtler than BMW M

• More luxurious than a standard BMW

• Faster without overdoing it

The B5 Touring was for years the ultimate Q-car. 600+ hp, but looking like a discreet business estate. The G61 could have been the perfect basis for a new generation B5. But it will not happen.

And then this G61 Touring turns up…

A BMW 5 Series Touring G61 recently appeared in Sweden on iconic ALPINA Classic C13 20-inch wheels. Not an official ALPINA, but visually closer to the old ALPINA philosophy than what BMW itself offers today.

And suddenly you see it: the G61 does have potential, with the right stance and the right elegance. The ALPINA wheels bring back class to a design that many people find too clinical. It feels like a glimpse of what could have been.

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This is not an end. This is a transformation. But let us be honest: for lovers of a B5 Touring or a D3 S, this feels like a loss. ALPINA's magic lay in the fact that you could turn a relatively “ordinary” BMW into something special, without it becoming loud.

If BMW ALPINA now focuses solely on the 7 and 8 Series, the brand shifts from “connoisseur's choice” to “top-segment luxury”. Strategically understandable. Emotionally a shame. And that is why that Swedish G61 on C13 wheels feels almost symbolic.

Via tershine.