Scoop! Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know about this, so it is a "scoop" for just me. Or maybe nobody else knows what the term "scoop" means. It is an old newspaper term for something worthwhile that nobody else knows about and merits a headline on the front page of the newspaper. This is far from that sensational. It is a new variation of a model from BMW that has never been offered here before -- and it was shown at the Chicago Auto Show in March. This seems to have flown under everyone's radar.

BMW has never felt the need of a "super 7" other than the rather tepid performance 760iL top-of-the-line model. Apparently BMW now feels that they need an equivalent of an M7 to compete with the S8 from Audi and the AMG variations of Mercedes' S-class. But where to go? There just wasn't anything on the shelf at BMW to fill that niche. That means that they went to their performance subsidiary Alpina.

Alpina is only known to BMW enthusiasts, unlike AMG. It is, however, very much like AMG. Burkhard Bovensiepen found himself making typewriters in the 1960s in a suburb (well, like Cucamunga is a suburb of Los Angeles) of Munich -- Buchloe. In 1961, the company introduced a twin Weber carburetor intake system for the 1500 4-cylinder engine. It was very successful and BMW recognized that. The company grew with other performance items. Hoffman Motors, then the importer of BMWs, brought BMW Alpina 1600s into the U.S. in 1967. In the seventies and eighties, Alpina had several distributors of their parts here. BMW pretty much ignored them.

In Europe, BMW made Alpina one of the official factory race car entries in the sedan racing classes and Alpina did a big business in modifications for cars. The company became an official manufacturer in 1988. BMW invested in Alpina, becoming the majority owner. Burkhard Bovensiepen remains the CEO today.

The next official BMW Alpina to get to the U.S. was the 2002 Alpina Z8. It was an automatic version of the last of the Z8s coming here. In the late 1990s, Alpina became known for their performance automatic cars in Europe, particularly when the 6-speed ZF unit was used by BMW.

The next BMW Alpina available here is the B7. It is here today, and should be available at your local dealer. Learning of it was a big surprise to me. I would have thought that you would have seen road tests of the car in all the car magazines, but I have seen exactly zero. I don't even remember reading about it becoming available. I had to find out about its existence in the technical journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The SAE was interested in the landmark engine that Alpina developed, but the car is much more than just a big power engine stuffed into a 7-series car. That is typical Alpina. It is a special car from the ground up. On the ground, it starts with Alpina-unique special 21-inch wheels and tires (well the tires aren't unique to Alpina). The suspension is messaged by Alpina as well. Even the interior has unique Alpina features.

But it is the engine that is the showpiece. Right off, you get 500 horsepower at 5500 rpm, and that compares to the "regular" 750i horsepower of 360 at 6200 rpm. Torque is more as well, with 518 lb-ft versus 360 lb-ft. For reference, the 760i horsepower is 438 at 6000rpm and torque of 444 lb-ft.

BMW has just introduced the fantastic turbocharged 6-cylinder engine in the 335, so it seems obvious that Alpina would take the same route with the V-8. No, they didn't. Supercharging offers the obvious advantage of fast response, but installing a conventional supercharger in the same engine compartment as the naturally aspirated V-8 was physically impractical. Also, conventional superchargers suffer high losses, which were unacceptable to Alpina.

A compact radial-type supercharger, similar in concept to a 1980s design patented by transmission manufacturer ZF, was developed by Alpina and ASA, a company founded by former ZF engineers. The radial supercharger bears some resemblance to the cold-air side (inlet air) of a turbocharger, but is belt-driven, as is normal for a supercharger. The design and operating features, however, greatly reduce engine power draw.

The belt is driven through a centrifugal clutch, which produces a gradual lockup, typically between 1100 and 1300 rpm. The drive ratio to the supercharger is 17.6:1, a combination of the ratio between the pulleys with a 15:1 fixed-ratio planetary gearset that is contained within the engine oil circuit for lubrication. Supercharger speed increases proportionally at this ratio to a peak of 6000 engine rpm, which means a maximum of 105,600 supercharger driveshaft rpm.

The intake manifold has a pressure regulator before the supercharger to maintain the inlet airflow at atmospheric pressure, which results in the turbine wheel spinning at an rpm that is very close to that of the supercharger input shaft. A throttle plate after the supercharger maintains slightly sub-atmospheric pressure in the intake manifold. This combination keeps the supercharger ready to pump when demanded, but until then the engine is controlled by the unique BMW Valvetronic system with Double VANOS (variable intake valve live with variable intake and exhaust timing).

During Valvetronic operation, the supercharger is almost freewheeling, with no boost, no meaningful pumping losses, and good fuel economy. When intake valve lift is at the maximum, Valvetronic action is finished. Then the pressure regulator operates as the throttle and responds to the accelerator, allowing the boost to build to a peak of 0.8 bar (11.6 psi) at 6000 rpm.

Alpina holds the patent on the combination of Valvetronic and radial supercharging. They're proud enough of this engine to make one outside the car and photograph it for publicity as you can see.

Other engine-related systems include fuel pressure regulation according to boost pressure as well as an intercooler. It is really big, and finding a place for it was difficult. It is 26x16 inches. The intercooler is rated at 70% efficient at 137 miles/hour. Alas, the B7 is speed-limited to just 186 miles/hour.

As I write this, the B7 does not show up on the official BMW web site. It does, however, show on Edmunds.com. If you are sitting down -- not surprisingly -- the base price is $115,000, making it more expensive than a 760iL, which is priced at $111,500. I do think that it will appeal to a different buyer, though. There are just six options, two of which are really surprising to me. Active cruise control, which is standard on the 760iL, costs $2400 on the B7. The night vision system is $2200. A DVD rear seat entertainment system is $2200. A high-definition radio is $500. I wonder about Evan's satellite radio... But most surprising is that BMW charges extra for rear side airbags on the B7 at $385. Those should be standard in a car this price. A no-cost option is dark ash wood trim.

Why haven't we seen more publicity for this car? I'm not sure. I would think that BMW would have all the magazines drive one, unless they really can't get very many and don't want to cause unreasonable demand that they couldn't satisfy. But then, just how many buyers are there out there for a $115,000 7-series? Ok, Evan, there are a lot of them in Beverly Hills, but still not that many. Mercedes limits the number of AMG cars, but BMW couldn't build nearly as many Alpina cars as Mercedes could AMGs.

Supposedly this car has been available since January. If that is the case, is it limited to just certain BMW dealers? I would suspect that would be the case because the dealer would have to invest the money to train a technician (or more?) to service the car and probably some special tools as well. Or maybe they are available by special order at any BMW dealer -- but then where would you get it serviced? This bears further research.