Number 31 of just 99 ALPINA B3 GT3s ever built rolls across the auction block at Historics Auctioneers on May 16 as part of the “Flight of Elegance” sale at Farnborough International. It’s a right-hand drive example, one of only four, finished in Mineral White with 26,000 miles showing. For a car that left the factory nearly 15 years ago, this is about as close to a time capsule as the collector market gets.
The B3 GT3 was ALPINA’s 2012 farewell kiss to the E92 3 Series, a machine built to honor the Buchloe firm’s B6 GT3 race car while squeezing every last drop of credibility out of BMW’s outgoing coupe platform. Production was capped at 99 units. That number alone puts it in rarer territory than most M cars BMW has ever stamped out.
Under the hood sits the same twin-turbocharged inline-six as the standard ALPINA B3, but here it breathes through a titanium Akrapovič rear exhaust section that shaved roughly 11 kg and freed an extra eight horsepower. Final tally: 402 bhp and 398 lb-ft of torque. Respectable, but the engine was never the headline act.
The chassis was. KW supplied a fully adjustable suspension with camber plates. The brakes, 380-mm six-piston fronts and 355-mm four-piston rears, were bigger than anything fitted to the contemporary E90-generation M3.
ALPINA draped the nose in a carbon fiber splitter with dive planes, added a carbon rear diffuser and a proper rear wing, then offered Michelin Pilot Sport Cup+ rubber for anyone brave enough to take the thing to a circuit. This was not a cosmetic exercise.
ALPINA quoted a 4.5-second sprint to 62 mph and a top speed nudging 186 mph. The wing and gearing likely clipped a few ticks off what the powertrain could otherwise deliver in a straight line, but that was the point. The B3 GT3 was set up to work corners, not autobahn runs.
The auction car presents in what Historics describes as near-new condition, its special ALPINA interior with race-spec bucket seats showing minimal wear. Only three exterior colors were offered, Mineral White, ALPINA Blue II, and Black Sapphire, and White may be the most understated of the trio. It’s the kind of choice that lets the aero hardware do the talking.
Historics hasn’t published a pre-sale estimate that’s easy to pin down, which in the current market usually signals confidence that bidders will sort out value on their own. Given the production number, the right-hand drive scarcity, and the condition, this car should attract serious attention from a very specific slice of the collector community. These are people who understand that ALPINA’s best work often happened in small batches at the margins of BMW’s lineup.
The same sale includes a few other lots worth a look for the BMW faithful: an ALPINA B3 Convertible, a V10 M5 Touring, and a race-prepped E28 M5. None carry quite the same combination of rarity and focused engineering as the GT3.
Ninety-nine cars. Four right-hand drive. One on the block tomorrow. The math is simple. The bidding probably won’t be.
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