BMW Alpina B5 vs Lotus Eletre

What's the difference?

The BMW Alpina B5 Bi-Turbo is not actually a BMW. Not according to the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, at least.

Nope, the modifications applied by tuning house Alpina to the 5 Series are deemed so significant that if you open the bonnet and look inside the engine bay, you'll see that the BMW VIN has been struck through twice and an Alpina vehicle number stamped underneath it. 

The B5 is not the first model to be recognised in this way, either; the German government has recognised Alpina as a seperate car manufacturer since 1983.

The B5 has other ‘B' siblings, too. There's the B3 S Bi-Turbo, which is based on the BMW 3 Series, the B4 S Bi-Turbo (the BMW 4 Series) and the B7 Bi-Turbo (I don't need to tell you what this is based on, right?) which I've reviewed, too.

So just what has Alpina done to this unsuspecting BMW 5 Series? Is it really worth the extra money? How does the B5 compare to an M5? Could it actually be superior? And did they really take the speed limiter off to let it warp-speed to beyond 300km/h?

This is a Lotus - but it’s not like any Lotus you’ve ever known.

In fact, forget everything you know about Lotus, the British brand previously famous for small, lightweight sports cars is now evolving into something very different. Very, very different.

Under the control of Chinese automotive giant Geely since 2017, Lotus will shed its past and focus its future on all-electric, luxury vehicles like the Eletre we’re testing here.

The Eletre is a full-size luxury electric SUV designed to take on the likes of the Audi SQ8 e-tron, BMW iX and Mercedes-AMG EQE on the electric side, while also trying to lure buyers away from the likes of the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus.

So, how does this radically different Lotus measure up to the brand’s reputation and stack up against its would-be competitors? Read on to find out…