2005 ALPINA ROADSTER S 3.4

With only 67,000 miles on the clock this 2005 Alpina Roadster S is the Luxury model, an upgrade that would have set its original owner back around £4,000 more than the standard model but added 19-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery, sat-nav, and xenon lights.

It has a solid service history, an immaculate interior, fabulous coachwork, and an engine and exhaust note that could send Viagra shares tumbling. In need of nothing other than continued servicing and polishing, this is your chance to get your hands on the fastest, most interesting, and rarest convertible sportscar you can buy today for less than £15,000.

The Black Sapphire coachwork looks stunning. The panel fit is as impressive as you’d expect of BMW, and the flanks are as straight and free of ripples as you’d expect of a car that has been so pampered.

The black paintwork is very good indeed. It has a deep, even lustre to it and is in need of nothing other than a polish to keep it looking fabulous; its condition says only good things about its previous owners.

The three-piece boot spoiler is present and correct, as is the unblemished front one. The folding fabric roof is as snug and easy to use as any we’ve ever come across, being electrically operated and rising and falling quickly at the touch of a button. It’s in excellent condition too, sealing tightly and free of damage. Having the benefit of a proper glass rear window, complete with a demister, it really does offer the best of both worlds.

The 19-inch Alpina alloy wheels look stunning and are unblemished having been recently refurbished. Shod with Avon tyres on the front and Falken on the rear, they, along with the lowered and uprated Alpina/Eibach suspension, give the car a fitting stance.

The only marks on the coachwork that we can see are some very light scratches to the offside front wing underneath the 3.4S badge. Those with more than a touch of OCD about them will probably want to give the Roadster a decent machine polish to remove the swirl marks that black cars are prone to, but other than that there really isn’t anything to do other than to gaze back longingly when you walk away.

Oh, and you might want to open a separate #NFSW Instagram account for it too…

The black leather interior is either somber or understated, depending on your perspective. What cannot be debated is the condition, which is excellent, both in fit-and-finish, wear over the years, and ergonomics; the myriad changes Alpina wrought were as thoughtfully designed and beautifully executed as the BMW originals.

The leather seats are deeply sculpted, supremely comfortable and hugely supportive. They’ve weathered the years wonderfully, having only the very gentlest of patinas and the lightest of cracks to their finish. The Alpina logo and blue and green flash make an appearance on the backrest,

The Alpina steering wheel, with the Alpina logo on the centre boss and the iconic blue and green stitching, is in wonderful shape - and is a wonderful shape. Small in diameter and thick of rim, it fits the hand perfectly.

The deep blue ‘Alpina by Borg’ dials look terrific, the DVD-based satellite navigation system pops up out of the dashboard and still works perfectly, and the door cards, carpets, and other bits and bobs are similarly impressive.

Oh, and the air-conditioning blows ice-cold.

The boot is as clean as the rest of the car, and is home to the battery and tyre inflation kit. Lifting the carpets reveals a clean, painted floor and no trace of rust.

Please take the time to look at the photographs and to study the video; it is genuinely hard to believe that this is a fifteen-year-old car.

Last serviced in June 2018 at 63,736 miles, the Alpina has also had recent new rear discs, pads, handbrake shoes and suspension springs. It drives beautifully, and there is a noticeable absence of squeaks and rattles from the interior and drivetrain.

The engine bay itself is workaday neat and clean, which is to say it is better than 90% of it contemporaries and so wouldn’t take an awful lot of work to bring it up to show-winning condition.

The underside of the car has attracted the MOT tester’s attention over the years, with comments about rust. We’ve had a look at it, and while the suspension components do look a little rusty there is a decent coating of underseal on the floorpans now. It all still seems to be solid, but the underside isn’t going to win any concours prizes anytime soon.

The BMW’s MOT certificate expires in January 2021, and was gained without a single advisory point. It confirms the car’s mileage; this, along with the owner’s opinion and the recorded service history leads us to believe that the recorded mileage is almost certainly correct.

The car also comes with a number of expired MOT certificates and tax discs, the OE owner’s wallet, handbook and bumf, a well-stamped BMW/Alpina service history booklet, and two keys. It also has some old invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

NB. We know that you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on. Or, even better, contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call, where you can direct us in real-time.

Hands up who’d never even heard of the Alpina Roadster S before today - and keep ‘em up if you’re finding it hard to think of anything else since you did…

Well, the good news is that this beautifully engineered, hand-crafted German rocketship could be yours for somewhere between £11,000 and £14,000, or half the price of a new Mazda MX-5.

Yup, that’s right; you could buy a 170mph BMW/Alpina roadster for the same price as a new mid-range Dacia Duster.

Gets the juices going, doesn’t it?

And that’s before we point out that a new car is going to shed half its value in the first three years. The Alpina, on the other hand, has probably finished depreciating…

This particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.