2005 BMW Alpina Roadster 3.4S (Z4)

Purchased by our vendor from The Market, this 2005 Alpina Roadster is the ‘luxury’ S model, which carried an impressive additional £4,000 fee over the already pricy Alpina upgrade. The luxury model included all of the above mechanical upgrades, but also featured 19-inch wheels, leather upholstery throughout, built-in satellite navigation and Xenon lights.

Whilst in the care of the current owner, the car has been kept for dry, sunny day drives, when the roof-down experience and utterly gorgeous exhaust note can be enjoyed to its fullest extent. As a result, the mileage of the car hasn’t increased significantly since the last time it passed through our care, having racked up only circa 1,300 miles.

Having proven to be wonderfully reliable and a sure-fire ‘car geek’ car, the only work that has been required by this lovely Roadster is the fitment of a new roof motor, wiring loom and housing, at a cost of over £1,000.

BMW really were on form during the mid 2000’s, and the Z4 was no exception.

Thankfully, Alpina evidently agreed, and largely kept the lines of the Z4 as they were, resulting in somewhat of an ‘under-the-radar’ hero with the Alpina Roadster.

This example presents fantastically, you’ll be delighted to know. The bodywork is straight and true throughout, with no noted panel gap issues that we could see, nor any sign of impacts or dents.

The Black Sapphire paintwork is also excellent, though as expected for a car of this age and mileage, there are a few areas of light wear such as stone chips and minor marks, which are no doubt accented by the Black paintwork, and have all been shown in the extensive photo gallery below.

Elsewhere, all four Alpina 19-inch wheels are in fantastic shape with minimal wear noted, and all four centre caps are present and correct.

Finally, the all-important folding roof presents well and is free of any damage, scuffs or major marks, with no reported waterproofing issues or operational problems, thanks to the aforementioned new motor and loom being fitted.

As with the exterior, the cabin received only subtle upgrades at the hands of Alpina, but there is still enough difference between this and the standard Z4 to make it feel special.

The leather seats on this particular Roadster S present very well indeed for their age, and - barring some light creasing and outer bolster wear - are free of any damage, staining or scuffing, and still remain wonderfully supportive.

Similarly, the door cards are in great shape, as are the carpets, though there are a few areas of wear noted to the driver’s floor mat and on the inner edges of the doors - all commensurate wear.

As far as we could tell, all systems are working as they should be, and the roof operation is smooth and quick with no hesitation or untoward noises.

In the engine bay, the 3.4-litre straight-six engine with its Alpina-branded cam covers presents well, though would doubtless be improved from an aesthetic standpoint by a few hours in the garage with some trim dressing, de-greaser and hard work.

During our test drive and photo shoot, the car started with ease from cold and instantly settled into a glass-smooth idle with no hunting or strange vibration. We did note that once the car was nice and warm, it took a few more cranks to start (as seen in the video below) but it never failed to catch and fire up, once again settling down straight away into a rock-solid idle. This may well be down to the car simply not being used enough recently, and would potentially be remedied with regular use and driving.

Looking under the bodywork, there is nothing that sets any alarm bells ringing for us, with only the usual surface ‘bloom’ expected from a car of this age and mileage being noted.

The current MOT - dated 07 July 2021 - shows no advisory items, though it did previously fail on the bonnet catch failing to secure properly, which is the only real fault we noticed with the car during our test drive, along with a slight rubbing noise in the engine bay when revved, which can also be heard in the video below.

Included with the vehicle is the original complement of BMW handbooks, the Alpina book pack, two keys, a HPI report and the V5, along with the BMW stamped service history which dates from new until 2012, with further invoices for work carried out in the following years.

The most recent service took place during June 2018, as documented below, and the invoice for the aforementioned roof motor and loom is also present, showing a cost of £1025.30.

Exceedingly rare and with an exhaust note that will turn heads of any petrolhead, whilst retaining the luxury and performance that Alpina are known for, this 2005 Alpina Roadster S is an excellent, yet usable example of the unusual and desirable ‘skunkworks’ tuned Z4.

Presented in very good condition and with an impressive history folder, we estimate this luxury-specification Alpina Roadster S to fetch in the region of £12,000 to £17,000 when the hammer falls.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.