Inside the B7: Special Instrumentation and Controls

Any 7 Series BMW offers its driver and passengers lavish luxury, fine materials and tasteful design. To this sumptuous ambiance, Alpina adds its own touches, both ergonomic and esthetic; the level of regular-production BMW standard equipment has been raised considerably as well.Special Alpina features. First and foremost, it’s performance that characterizes the B7. And once seated behind the special Alpina steering wheel, the B7 driver is quickly and keenly aware of this emphasis.Upon stepping in over the handsome B7 doorsill trims and setting his or her foot on the fine floormat with its Alpina logo, the driver can assess an instrument cluster with the traditional Alpina Blue as its background color and Alpina lettering at bottom right. Four readings from the iDrive system’s On-board Computer can be called up conveniently via a button on the turn-signal stalk: remaining fuel in tank, range on fuel, distance to destination and a digital display of current vehicle speed.The steering wheel itself presents distinctive visual character and function: in its center, the Alpina logo; on its rim Lavalina leather and special stitching, plus symbols for the SWITCH-TRONIC transmission’s upshift and downshift buttons. These “+” and “-“ inscriptions are in Alpina Blue, and denote the actual locations of the shift buttons on the wheel’s forward side (away from the driver).