//M or Alpina?

[mab1957]

The Alpina is a very attractive car, we all agree on that. I'm particularly fond of the e28, e30 and e34 based models. I know they're extremely scarce and apparently don't trade very often. But I have to ask myself; Why pay a premium to get an Alpina when an //M in the same body style is readily available, performs just as well (caveat below) and has parts available at a slight premium vice an extraordinary premium if available?

I recently reread Roy W's comparison article in Hemmings:

I understand the turbo makes all the difference, but we can buy those for an M20/M30/S38 now. Is the Alpina cachet really worth the +$20k USD (then add import fees) when the same performance can be achieved in a turbo or high-compression modified //M while also retaining a high resale value?