Alpina, or Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co.

KG to give the company its full title, is a factory endorsed manufacturer of high-performance BMWs.

In fact, the quality of its work is so high that, in contrast to more tuning automotive firms, Alpina has been known to build its cars alongside regular production models on the BMW assembly line.

The B10 E34 you’re looking at here was designed and built for the customer for whom an M5 was a bit too common, a bit too mainstream; Alpina customers have always preferred to plough their own furrow, and the sort of person that would have chosen one of these over the (admittedly very, very good) production M5 is one of us.

Costing $3.2m in development costs, this bi-turbo version is based on the 535i but the changes were extensive: the six-cylinder M30 engine was stripped down and rebuilt with, among many other changes, new Mahle pistons, two Garrett T25 turbochargers and a Bosch variable boost control.

Power rose from 208bhp to 355bhp, wit...