2012 BMW 6-Series Cabriolet by Alpina

The press days for the Frankfurt Motor Show have come and gone and Alpina, finally made the long awaited preview of their tuning program for the BMW 6-Series Convertible..

Called the ’B6 Bi-Turbo Cabrio’, Alpina has improved the luxury cabriolet’s performance capabilities by adding its own twin-turbo system - hence the name - together with MAHLE pistons and a high-performance cooling system.

As a result, the 6-Series Convertible’s 4.4-liter V8 engine gained some significant ponies, pushing the standard output of 400 horsepower and 450 lb/ft of torque all the way up to 500 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 516 lb/ft of torque between 3,000 and 4,750 rpm. Alpina also revised the gearbox on the car, putting in a new eight-speed automatic transmission.

Together with this revised gearbox, the 25% increase in output allows the Alpina-tuned ’B6 Bi-Turbo Cabrio’ to hit 0-62 mph in just 4.8 seconds (up from 4.9) with a top speed hitting an impressive 193 mph, a stark improvement from the standard model’s electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

On top of that, the Alpina-tuned 6-Series Convertible averages 10.9 L/100km (25.9 mpg UK / 21.5 mpg US) and emits 255 g/km, impressive numbers for a car of this stature.

The car will make its official debut in Geneva next March, but at the very least, we’re getting a good idea on what Alpina has done to improve on the 6-Series Convertible’s already impressive performance capabilities.