What began as a small company producing revised cylinder heads and more efficient carburetors for early BMW vehicles, would later turn into one of the world’s most renowned tuning specialists. The company being referred to is, of course, the legendary tuning house; Alpina.

Albeit a brief summary of the business, Alpina is essentially responsible for taking BMW’s finest vehicles and elevating these cars to a whole new level. 

These select vehicles are fitted with luxury interiors, eye-catching body kits, and performance goodies to harvest every ounce of power and enjoyability from the car. As a result, Alpina BMWs have always been highly desirable, with their legend growing by the day. 

This particular Alpina B3 is built upon the BMW E46 chassis, which is widely regarded as one of BMW’s greatest platforms. 

The end result, of course, is a mixture of an already fantastic chassis, and Alpina’s magic touch. 

As the interior plaque verifies, this Alpina B3 is no.122 of a global production run of just 741 vehicles. 

Given how few of these vehicles are likely to have perished over the years, the total Alpina B3 population nowadays is expected to be far fewer. 

This presents buyers with a very rare chance to own a vehicle seldom seen on both UK and global roads. It also makes this BMW the ideal candidate for a collection or possible future investment. 

In terms of paperwork, the vehicle comes with previous MOT certificates and a couple of invoices detailing previous maintenance and consumables. 

The paperwork also includes a partially stamped service booklet, and the V5C document ready for the new owner. 

Alpina has once again worked its magic with this E46’s interior, and the result is a truly comfortable cabin, with luxury features far ahead of the majority of cars from its era. 

The interior is packed with goodies like electric seat controls, TouchTronic shifting controls on the steering wheel, heated seats, and much more. Alpina isn’t shy about their work here either and has adorned the interior with an Alpina plaque of authenticity, embroidered badges on the seats, and logos on the dash. 

The interior is in excellent condition, especially considering the age of the vehicle. For instance, the driver’s seat still retains a fair amount of bolster support, and shows signs of wear in keeping with a lower mileage car. 

The front and rear passenger seats, on the other hand, appear to have hardly been used over the years and look excellent. It should go without saying that these seats are incredibly comfortable, with heated front seats being a very welcome feature. 

The steering wheel, gear knob, and control contact points throughout the vehicle are also in great condition and show minimal signs of wear or age. All 4 door cards follow suit, as does the vehicle’s carpeting and headliner.

If you’re looking for a truly comfortable and well-presented interior to accompany thoroughly enjoyable straight-six performance, this is the vehicle for you. 

This now 23-year-old Alpina is in great condition for its age, and proudly shows off its original finish. 

As the photos will reflect, the vehicle is beginning to reflect its age near the rear arches, which are beginning to bubble from rust. As is often the case with vehicles here in the UK, the driver’s side shows the least corrosion, but both sides would benefit from a dash of TLC. 

Typical age-related marks can be found around the vehicle, with the front end and splitter seeming to have taken the brunt of the overall wear to the exterior. 

Don’t let the minor aforementioned items discourage you though, this is still an absolutely gorgeous E46 that continues to turn heads wherever it goes. Should you wish to restore the vehicle to a pristine finish, it certainly won’t take much to have this beauty looking as it did when it left the factory. 

As the vehicle currently sits on aftermarket suspension, this E46 has a fantastic stance, with just the right amount of rake angle. Completing the look, are the original Alpina wheels, which are in superb condition and show very few signs of age. 

BMW and Alpina enthusiasts will likely be familiar with just how rare and desirable these wheels alone are. 

Overall, this B3 looks brilliant given its age, and will no doubt fill the new owner with pride upon each glance.  

This B3 is a fantastic reminder of some of Alpina’s absolute finest work. Built upon an already well-designed chassis, the larger 3.3L Alpina straight-six provides more than enough power to party and will surprise even the likes of modern rivals on the roads. 

In true BMW and Alpina fashion, it’s also incredibly comfortable and offers a brilliant balance of impressive performance and luxury comfort. 

Recently, the car has been treated to a host of new parts, including a new radiator, fan blade & cowling, a new thermostat, and a new expansion tank. Although not too many previous invoices are included within the vehicle’s paperwork, previous replacement parts include wishbone bushes and a windscreen washer pump. 

The only known fault with the vehicle is a false airbag warning light, which the vendor advises us has been diagnosed as a faulty module. Fortunately, this doesn’t affect the driving experience in any way, and would likely be simple for a specialist to address. 

With no known mechanical or electrical faults to report other than the above, this Alpina B3 is more than ready to be enjoyed by the lucky new owner for many more years to come. 

This Alpina B3 presents buyers with an incredibly rare opportunity to own some of BMW, and Alpina’s finest work. 

The vehicle is in excellent condition for its age, drives brilliantly, and currently requires nothing to be enjoyed.

With the values of these cars rising by the day, this would make the perfect collection piece, and could no doubt return to its full former glory without much effort or cost at all.