A few BMW Alpina B7 unicorns have appeared on CarMax lots over the last two years and always amazed that they linger and take days and days to sell. Here’s a 2012 that was cheap and a 2011 that I covered that was a bargain. Have only seen one BMW Alpina B6 and that’s this one, and it has been on and off the CarMax website over the last few weeks (one of my blog readers had it transferred to him but declined to buy).
Alpinas are a bit rare – a couple of dozen B7’s and B6’s are listed on Autotrader relatively close in price to these – but none are available with the coveted MaxCare warranty that transfers the repair risk to the seller and not the buyer. Both of these cars are sub-4 second 0-60 mph luxury cars. Saw my first Alpina 5-series when I lived in West Germany in the early 80’s and still have a soft spot for these esoteric rockets. Yeah M5’s and M6’s are legitimate luxury hot rods, but Alpinas get the nod from car guys in the know.
The B7 has “only” 500hp and is pretty well loaded with auto cruise control, stretched, and most modern amenities – such as a heated steering wheel, AWD, heads up display. Here’s a Car and Driver review of a similar car priced about $135,000. This B7 is a three owner Florida and Illinois car, only $40,998 and is available here in Chicago. If the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred.
This 2016 B6 is in the 600hp club (think I need to do a piece on the select CarMax unicorns with 600hp?), and is far more expensive at $65,998 but with fewer miles (12,000 vs 49,000) and even more luxury options (did I mention night vision? Makes up for the bordello red interior!). The car sold for roughly $130,000 new three years ago. Check out this Car and Driver review from 2016. This B6 is a single owner car available here in Huntsville, Alabama – the techno-hub of Alabama!
No warranty? say it ain’t so 🙁