Alpina XD3 – Alpina’s performance diesel BMW X3 – UK prices and specs

The Alpina XD3, a performance take on a diesel BMW X3, will arrive in the UK in April 2019, with prices starting at £57,900.

BMW may sell a shed-load of cars, but when it comes to the properly niche BMWs there is no one better at it than Alpina.

Delivering cars which offer a more balance approach to comfort and performance than BMW’s own models manage, Alpina has been fettling BMWs since Adam was a lad, and doing it very well.

The latest addition to Alpina’s BMW offerings is the Alpina XD3 – based on the new BMW X3 – and it will arrive in the UK in April next year, offering improved performance and comfort – and a diesel engine.

Instead of going the obvious route with a fettled petrol, Alpina has taken BMW’s 3.0 litre diesel engine and given it a pair of turbos to deliver 328bhp and a whopping 516lb/ft of torque, as well as tweaks to the power delivery promising a more linear delivery than the usual nothing/everything you would expect from a performance diesel.

The eight-speed auto ‘box gets a tweak or three, the chassis gets a makeover including a smidge of negative camber on the front and shorter stiffer springs, all conspiring to deliver a performance diesel X3 with a setup attuned to real world driving, where comfort is key and performance easily accessible.

The usual, subtle cosmetic tweaks from Alpina are in evidence, but you’ll need to fork out getting on for £60k – list prices start at £57,900 – if you want one of the handful coming to the UK.