2005 BMW ALPINA B5

The vendor has owned this car for a year or so. Before him, the car had two owners who, on closer inspection, turn out to be the same person transferring the car from company to private ownership.

The car is in exceptionally good condition. The Sapphire Black paintwork is blemish free and the tan leather interior, seats, carpets, headlining, door cards and mats are all virtually untouched by the ravages of time or use. Everything works. Everything is present and correct.

It has a comprehensive service history and, we can confirm, it drives and handles as well as it should. It has lost none of the model’s capacity to leave the driver grinning from ear to ear at its ability to attain full warp-speed quicker than Mr Sulu.

The Sapphire Black paintwork appears unmarked and in very good condition.

It is devoid of scuffs or scratches. We have no reason to believe that the bodywork is anything other than 100% original.

The vendor has recently spent £1,200 having the car professionally detailed, including the application of a ceramic coating to protect the paintwork. This was carried out by a firm whose detailing expertise is more usually lavished on McLarens, Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

The original alloys are undamaged and have no kerbing or corrosion to report. The matching Vredestein Ultrac Vorti R tyres have only covered about 3000 miles of use and are in good nick apart from one tiny flap visible in the wall of the n/s front tyre.

The shut lines are tight and even, the panels are unblemished and perfectly aligned, and the car has a quality of finish that’s far more in keeping with its mileage than its age.

Unusually, this car has a sunroof. Naturally, this works as it should.

There is no rust, save for one tiny patch of bubbling underneath the boot handle behind the number plate. Incidentally, the car will be auctioned with its original number plates, not the private registration shown here.

It's a very subtle interior as well as being a notably comfortable one. Where the M5’s interior can seem a little corporate and anodyne, this B5’s interior says bespoke, and it keeps reminding you with various Alpina badges and embossing here and there, including in the wood trim.

The carpets and headlining are fine, as are the original Alpina mats, which the vendor has covered with rubber over-mats to ensure they stay that way.

The Alpina-embossed tan leather upholstery is in remarkably good condition, with few indicators of age or use. Alpina has given the front seats additional directional manoeuvrability and incorporated an active lumbar support feature, so the seats provide more support where it’s needed should you be pressing on a bit in the corners. And you really should.

All seat controls work as intended, although we confess to not having tested the seat heaters. It was 33°c in the shade when we took it for a spin and we were quite warm enough, thank you. Mercifully, the AC blows hard and ice cold. The vendor assures us that the heated seats work just fine.

BMW’s iDrive is known to regularly fail because the ccc unit gives up the ghost. You’ll be pleased to hear that you’ve dodged this bullet and that the unit was replaced by BMW in the not too distant past.

The multi-function steering wheel, with Alpina’s gear-change micro switches in place of flappy paddles, shows no sign of wear and tear. Nor do the centre console, fascia, dashboard or door cards, which have extended leather thanks to Alpina.

This car benefits from having the BMW Professional sat-nav system. It also has the head-up display, so you can bring out your inner Maverick (or Goose) as you pretend you’re flying a fighter jet while nipping down to Waitrose. All electrics work precisely as the two sets of German engineers intended.

The boot appears to be in pristine condition and doesn’t look as if it’s been called upon to do much more than accept the odd bag of shopping. Inside you will find the original toolkit, tyre weld, compressor and touch-up paints.

If we’re being really picky we might point out that there is a small mark on the inside of the o/s ‘A’ pillar.

The undersides are excellent condition and the engine bay is as clean and tidy as you’d find on a much younger vehicle. A new set of plugs has recently been fitted, together with a new ignition coil.

We’ve driven the car and confirm it drives well with no faults.

There are no signs of rust anywhere underneath.

The healthy paperwork file points to regular servicing at Sytner Nottingham and, latterly, other BMW specialists. The vehicle was last serviced on 23.4.20.

The comprehensive service history includes:

* Sytner BMW running in – 4.10.05

* Sytner BMW service – 26.4.07 – 14,437 miles

* Synter BMW service – 24.10.07 – 18938 miles

* Synter BMW service – 9.4.09 – 29956 miles

* Synter BMW service – 6.5.10 – 38444 miles

* H.A.G BMW service – 11.4.11 – 44860 miles

* Beeston Auto service - ?.?.? – 61664 miles

* Challenger service – 12.10.15 – 66150 miles

* Challenger service – 5.10.17 – 69762

* AVS service – 24.9.19 - 75583

It has a current MOT certificate which is valid until 27.12.20

L70 RJJ to be retained by the owner.

It still has its original manuals and handbooks. It comes with two sets of keys plus a valet key.

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.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

And please be reassured, we’ve undertaken a full COVID-assessment and put into place strict control measure to enable us to safely facilitate a no-contact, socially distanced viewing that includes disinfection of the vehicle before and after your viewing .

We’ve looked long and hard at this car for faults, or things to worry about, or stories that don’t quite add up, and we’ve failed miserably to find anything untoward or worrying.

We didn't see or experience any faults during our time with the car. It feels almost brand new.

This, we’re confident, is a very good example of a rare, luxurious and ridiculously quick car that has lost none of its appeal or potency. It has the low-down grunt to humble an M5 of the same era plus the ability to cross continents in considerably more comfort and understated style.

The vendor admits that he’s really very reluctant to sell it and is only doing so because he’d committed to another property investment, had no time to enjoy the car properly and then, just when he wasn’t expecting it, Covid-19 came along and threw all of his (and everyone else’s) plans up in the air.

His loss, we feel, could be very much your gain.

We’re happy to offer this car with no reserve in the belief that it will achieve between £15,000 - £19,000 at auction.

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’.