5 of the rarest BMWs ever were delivered to South Africa in December – Pricing and photos

This past December, five South African collectors had the honour of taking delivery of the all-new BMW Alpina B3 50 Years of BMW South Africa edition, each costing a minimum of R2,960,341.20.

The special-edition 3 Series was built exclusively for our roads in celebration of the automaker’s 50 years of operations on local soil and only five will ever be produced, lending it the status of being one of the rarest BMWs ever.

The B3 takes inspiration from the iconic 333i which itself was a product of a BMW-Alpina collaboration in the 1980s, with only 200 examples of this legendary four-door rolling through factory doors.

1980s BMW Alpina 333i

Unmistakable presence

The new Alpina B3 boasts an unmistakable presence owing to an assortment of sporty upgrades and cosmetic enhancements.

Around the exterior, new add-ons comprise a front spoiler with silver “Alpina” lettering, unique pinstriping on the flanks, “Alpina B3” badging on the tailgate that replaces the traditional nomenclature, and 20-inch Alpina Classic forged-alloy wheels.

The “celebratory touches” were reserved for the interior, however, and these include a raft of South African-inspired elements such as black merino leather seats showcasing the BMW Group South Africa 50 Years anniversary logo embroidered in the headrests.

Furthermore, each B3 gets a plaque on the centre console that reads “50 Years an Icon, BMW South Africa” and confirms it as being one of the five special-edition models out in the wild.

Other embellishments take the form of Alpina door sills, an Alpina Switch-Tronic sport leather steering wheel that bears the “Lavalina” design and is hand-finished with bespoke stitching in white and Alpina green, and aluminium paddle shifters.

Perhaps its most enticing feature, the new B3 is equipped with an exclusive version of the 3.0-litre, inline six-cylinder powerplant found in the standard M340i as well as the flagship M3 Competition.

The engine benefits from two Alpina-made mono-scroll turbochargers that push its potential to a maximum of 364kW and 730Nm, which is channelled to the ground through an eight-speed automatic gearbox and xDrive all-wheel-drive system.

With this setup, the B3 rockets from 0-100km/h in a staggering 3.6 seconds – 0.1 seconds slower than the M3 – and reaches a maximum of 305km/h, which is 15km/h higher than its fully-fledged M car sibling.

The additional power is useless if it can’t be put down on the tarmac, and Alpina has therefore also equipped the B3 with a high-performance sports chassis; sport suspension with variable damper control; specific springs, bump stops, and stabilisers; distinctly-calibrated variable sports steering; four driving modes; and a braking system with special heat-resistant pads and drilled discs.

Finally, it was on the receiving end of an Alpina-made exhaust system, too, giving it characteristically sporty vocal chords.

BMW Alpina B3 50 Years of BMW South Africa Edition