Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG or simply ‘Alpina' - the official BMW tuning partner - has had a long and celebrated association with the Munich carmaker, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015. Credited with re-engineering some very special cars over the years, Alpina's approach is often to refine and build on the latent driving and styling characteristics of a standard car, adding a certain Alpina 'magic' that only they can bestow on a BMW. Their reputation and following are very strong, appealing to discerning buyers who want a special, rare, and characterful car. Such are their credentials that Alpina are now recognised by the German Ministry of Transport as an automobile manufacturer in their own right.

The car presented here is a 2006 BMW Alpina B5 (E60) Saloon, one of only 428 examples produced worldwide. It's based on the 545i but powered by a modified version of that car’s 4.4-litre V8, with an Alpina-specific engine block, forged crankshaft, and low-compression Mahle pistons mated to a centrifugal supercharger – a potent combination. It also features Alpina’s own design of suspension, and brakes taken from the 760Li. A sublime performance saloon, this is a 530bhp machine, capable of covering ground effortlessly and 0-62 mph in 4.7 seconds.

This particular B5 is a rare, UK-supplied example and is one of 11 such cars produced in individual Alpina Blue paintwork, allied to a black leather interior and grey walnut trim. This car is #157 as denoted by the Alpina plaque inside, and has had just two marque-enthusiast previous owners from new. This diligent ownership is evident in the car’s mechanical health and overall condition, belying its 94,000 miles, which equates to under 6,000 miles per annum.

When new, this hand-built, high specification car came with £4,650 worth of optional extras, including full Nasca leather, electric memory, heated/actively ventilated front comfort seats, BMW iDrive multi-media system with Sat-Nav, DAB radio, CD player, BMW Hi-Fi system, Bluetooth phone preparation, Alpina multi-function leather stitched steering wheel with Tip-Tronic gear selection buttons, parking distance control front and rear, 19" Alpina alloy wheels, dual-climate control with air-conditioning, cruise control, electric folding door mirrors, heads-up display, electric rear sun blind, electric tilt and slide sunroof, Bi-xenon headlights, auto wipers, through loading system and Dynamic Stability Control.

The car has been with our vendor since June 2017 and he describes it as being in ‘excellent condition’. The pre-delivery inspection and running-in check (at 1,068 miles) were carried out by Sytner BMW Sunningdale in June/July 2006 and the impressive service history confirms that the majority of the work was carried out by BMW up until 2020, and subsequently by a BMW specialist. More recent maintenance includes a new alternator and associated tensioner/belts, new brake reaction arms, new spark plugs, new front and rear brake discs and pads, new rear upper arms, new brake pipes all round, new Alpina front shock absorbers, a 2019 Sat-Nav/DVD update, plus new Bi-xenon headlight bulbs. The front tyres were replaced at 80,000 miles and the rear tyres at 90,000.

The Alpina B5 is a hand-built super-saloon that Evo magazine described as 'bespoke in a way that the M5 could never be' and has M5-rivalling power with more torque produced at a lower RPM, giving a much more linear power delivery. This delightful example offers amazing value, given its ownership and service history, with lots of miles and excitement still on offer and that certain cachet of Alpina ownership.