The oldest and best-known company that worked in the 2002 BMW was Alpina. The company started in 1963 through Burkard Bovensiepen, the son of a typewriter manufacturer. High-performance conversions from 2002 were done in an area of the typewriter factory. In 1965, Bovensiepen decided to work exclusively on BMW cars, and in 1969 the company got its own facilities in Buchloe in Bavaria.

It was also in 1969 that Alpina created its own racing team, which for the next 5 years proved to be very successful. Although they were against work on BMW racing saloons in the early 1970s, Alpina has always maintained good relations with the factory.

One of the reasons that favored the good relationship with BMW was the high quality of its conversions, and BMW agreed not only to give guarantees on any car converted by Alpina, but also to distribute its products through its dealers. Because of this the relationship became even closer between BMW and Alpina, and until the mid-1980s, Alpina was recognized as a BMW car tuning specialist.

There are no archives on the conversions Alpina made in 2002, and their cars had no badge identifying their origins, although German-made cars had Alpina documentation capable of proving their authenticity. This generates some problems these days. Alpine conversions were also made outside Germany, and in England it was present through franchising under the name Crayford Engineering in 1970, until BMW took over in 1973, becoming BMW Sports Parts Division. Confusingly, there was also an Alpina branch in the UK, known as Alpina Automotive Ltd.

By the time the 2002 was announced in 1968, Alpina already had conversions on the BMW 1600, which took place shortly before the appearance of 2002. However Alpina-converted BMW 2002s became available in the early 1970s, in several tuning states with a variety of options. . From 1975 it was possible to buy Alpina Side Lists for 2002, but these alone do not guarantee the authenticity that the car has been modified by Alpina!

Alpine Engine Characteristics

Alpina offered six basic engines. With the exception of the less powerful A1 engine, all conversions had to be accompanied by ventilated front brake discs in order to comply with TUV regulations in Germany. The company produced engines for Group 1 (production cars) and Group 2 (competition cars).

Group 1 - Racing Engines

Group 1 engines had to remain at standard specifications, although any race-approved parts (approved by the racing competition authorities) could be used. In engine preparation, it was also allowed to take advantage of manufacturing tolerance to improve performance.

The precise specification of the Alpine Group 1 engine has never been known. However, with a standard exhaust system, the 2002 tii Group 1 had 140hp, and an additional 10hp was added to the standard 2002 tii.
Group 2 - Racing Engines

As in the previous case, here too the engine specifications were not known. However, the 1990cc engine had 205hp for tuning races, and 195hp for tuning rallys. This was achieved with altered pistons, Weber 45 DCOE dual carburetors, a special cylinder head, with a broader head intake, exhaust valves, reworked gearbox crank, 5 liter oil manifold with a modified oil pump. The main difference between racing and rally engines was the exhaust systems and profiles of the headers, and the rally engines were designed to improve the average torque range.

Weber carburettors were later replaced by the Kugelfischer injection system, and the power increased to 220hp. This was obtained by the 8000 RPM. Which made the dry lubrication of the manifold essential.

In February 1969, a road test in a 2002 Group 5 180CV 7000 RPM competition test with an 11: 1 compression ratio and two Weber 45 DCOE carburetors made the 0 to 100 km in 6 seconds.