Alpina has sort of an interesting relationship with BMW. It's not exactly the German automaker's tuning division (that role has clearly been filled), nor is it an official part of the company. Alpina is officially considered an automobile manufacturer that just so happens to work alongside BMW on the production lines. The basic arrangement is this: BMW builds the cars while Alpina assembles its own engines. They're not race cars, but they are unquestionably some of the best performance road cars on the market today.

Auto scribe and primate lookalike Chris Harris gets behind the wheel of the new B3 Alpina. Yes, it is essentially a 3 Series but Alpina works its magic that elevates the sport sedan to another level.