BMW unveils Vision BMW Alpina design study

Unveiled at the 2026 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the Vision BMW Alpina design study marks the beginning of a new era centered on performance, refinement and a balance between driving capability and comfort, according to BMW.

“Alpina has always represented a very specific idea of performance and refinement, where speed and comfort are complementary ambitions. Our role as the new custodians of this brand is to preserve this distinctiveness and shape it for a contemporary context,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design. “Vision BMW Alpina shows how these qualities can be expressed with discipline and modernity, suggesting what our direction is for this brand as we move it into the future.”

Interior

The six-degree speed feature line continues through the interior, dividing the darker upper segment and the lighter lower segment. Full-grain leather – sourced from producers across the Alpine region – pairs with stitching inspired by the Deco lines.

A bridge stitch inspired by historic steering-wheel hand-stitching appears sparingly in heritage blue and green colors. A beveling technique inspired by watchmaking was used for the metal components, combining satin and polished finishes. Clear-cut crystal is reserved for the controls.

BMW Panoramic iDrive, including a new passenger display, extends across the dashboard, with a digital interface developed specifically for the concept. Heritage blue and green elements are integrated into the display and become more prominent as the driver transitions from Comfort+ to Speed mode within the BMW Panoramic Vision head-up display. The background imagery features a detailed representation of the Alpine landscape visible when looking south from Buchloe in Germany, where Alpina was founded.

Design and form

At 5,200mm in length, with a coupe roofline, its form is designed to convey both speed and comfort. A V8 powertrain drives the experience, tuned to produce the characteristic notes of the Alpina exhaust.

“In Vision BMW Alpina, we distil every element of the brand to its essence and apply it in a deeply modern and sophisticated way,” added Maximilian Missoni, head of BMW design – midsize and luxury cars and BMW Alpina. “Every detail reflects substance: in engineering, in materials and in the story it tells. The statements it makes are subtle and revealed only on a closer read. This interplay between purity and richness defines our approach to BMW Alpina design.”

The front end features a shark nose that reinterprets BMW’s kidney grille as a three-dimensional sculpture. From this shark nose, the exterior is organized around the speed feature line. Rising from the lower front corners at a 6° inclination, it runs along the side of the body and wraps around the rear.

Deco lines have been part of Alpina’s language since 1974. For the Vision BMW Alpina, the modernized deco lines are painted on the side of the body beneath the clear coat.

Inward-facing return surfaces are finished in a dark metallic tone, an approach inspired by the BMW 507, which uses chrome only on the inside of its kidney grilles. The inner surfaces of the shark nose incorporate a finely detailed deco-line graphic, while a concealed, softly illuminated perimeter becomes visible only when activated. The 22-inch front and 23-inch rear wheels feature the 20-spoke design that has been a constant at Alpina since 1971.

“BMW Alpina fills a gap in our portfolio between BMW and Rolls-Royce as we see even more potential in the high-end segment. With Alpina we have a strong legacy and a global community, which we want to build on while preserving the essence of what the brand stands for: speed, comfort and sophistication,” said Oliver Viellechner, head of BMW Alpina.