Oh how we’ll miss this generation of Alpina B3 and D3 S

Feel free to sit down for a moment, because somehow the facelifted Alpina iterations of the BMW 3 Series look even better than before.

This is the new B3 and D3 S in both Saloon and Touring forms. It follows the updated 3 Series that we first saw in mid-May, and the big news is that the petrol-powered B3 gets even more power than before.

The pre-facelift Alpina made do with 455bhp and 516lb ft of torque from its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, but this new B3 ups that to 488bhp and 538lb ft. The D3 S still uses the 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six diesel connected to a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and makes the same 355bhp, but its torque figure rises to meet that of the new B3. That’ll be supremely wafty. 

Alpina has revised the styling of both the saloon and estate versions of each car, going for a slightly more sporty look with very aggressive faces. Just glorious looking, and we reckon they're even better than the pre-facelift versions.

Oh, and now that Alpina is fully owned by BMW there are some new paint options too. In addition to ALPINA Blue and ALPINA Green there’s Melbourne Red, Brooklyn Grey and Skyscraper Grey. Stick with green. 

The new BMW Curved Display is present inside too, as is the usual Alpina leather and stitching. These really are very lovely indeed, but boy are we going to miss them when they’re gone.

Just what will Alpina do next?