BMW Alpina D4 S

Is this Alpina-tuned diesel version of a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé the best executive express yet? On sale Now Price from £67,000

- Neil Winn

LAND ROVER AND Barbour. BMW and Kith. Porsche and Daniel Arsham. Tie-ups between car makers and fashion brands are all the rage right now, which got us thinking: if BMW tuner Alpina launched a fashion campaign, who would it team up with?

Well, we think outerwear specialist Moncler is a good fit, because like Alpina, it aims to offer luxury items you can use every day. Take this D4 S Gran Coupé, for example. The tuning firm says it's ideal for high-mileage drivers who value low fuel consumption but don't want to compromise on performance and dynamics.

To make sure it delivers on that lofty claim, the D4 S uses the same twin-turbo 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel as the superb BMW M440d Gran Coupé. While BMW no longer offers that engine with the 4 Series in the UK, Alpina has gone to work on it, improving cooling and engine management so it produces 350bhp - a 10% increase - and a colossal 538lb ft of torque. To make sure the car turns as well as it goes, it also gets a host of suspension tweaks.

That all sounds very promising, but does a £67,000 executive car with a powerful diesel engine really have a place in 2023?