2003 Z8 (#61993) Topaz/Crema 74,500km - Sold

[crevierca]

I have the above referenced vehicle and I am thinking about possibly bringing it to market after spending all her time in our family. Looking for advice on the best possible approach to make sure if I do decide to part with her that she ends up in a good home. I also don't want to leave any money on the table either and I know these vehicles range widely in price based on the color codes. Any feedback is welcome. Thank you in advance.

Christopher

[DirkZ8]

Hello Christopher - if there is one reason that would make me sell my (silver over black) Alpina, it would be to replace it with a blue over creme Alpina, in similar condition.
That is just one gorgeous color combination. I do not believe that this color combination was ever offered on an Alpina in the USA. Where is the car located? This is important, as custom duties and possible government-mandated conversions come in play. I do notice the all-red US spec tail lights, but then again, the gauges are in kilometers. Canada?

While the color combo is a factor in determining the value, so is mileage. The mileage on your car is very high, too high for collectors, maybe not for enthusiast drivers, but those are not the ones who pay premium prices.

Damn, that's a beautiful car!

[crevierca]

This vehicle is located in Orange County, California. The vehicle was originally purchased in Vancouver BC and is currently registered in the State of California. The DMV did not make me replace the speedo thankfully ($1000 savings) so its still obviously in KM. She is a real beauty and I turn a lot of heads to say the least, but the car turns more Most common conversation always revolves around the color combo. The mileage is high all things considered but originally it was purchased as a daily driver and then the market caught up with the vehicle and we have since limited her to special occasions. I appreciate the compliment Dirk and I'm open and any and all reasonable offers.

Christopher

[macfly]

I remember that car being sold for 115k a bunch of years back and always regret not buying it. Today I'd value it in the 240k region because it os one of only 6 Topaz/Crema US VIN cars that was sent to Canada, so its rare.

[crevierca]

Thank you Andrew. I value your opinion.

[hayvenhurstkid]

Pretty sure the color is Alpina Blue, not Topaz so it is really really rare.

[zed8]

Also the interior color looks darker than crema.

[crevierca]

Alpina Blue....Didn't quite realize that. I was under the impression it fell within the Topaz color code even thought the engine compartment tells me its Alpina Blau. Now that that's been cleared up (Thank you Zed8), how many were produced in this color combination and what does that do to the potential value?

[hayvenhurstkid]

I believe there were six but at least two were European models. So I would say four US models like this at the most.

[Z-acht]

9 Alpina blue metallic were delivered in the US. They belong to the first 22 delivered.

[macfly]

Having been given access to a Dropbox full of images of this car I must amend my original quote.

There is a quite a lot of damage to the paint, and much of it on the aluminum panels, which means the car will need a lot of paint work be be brought up to concours condition. This means that the car’s paint meter readings will always show it has been resprayed. I believe that the cost and consequence of this is significant, as is the replacing the missing ancillary parts and replacing/restoring the things that show the car has been used as more of a daily driver than an enthusiast’s pride and joy.

To do the repairs I would want either BMW Classic in Europe, or one of BMW NA's two Aluminum body repair centers in the US to do and fully document the repairs to ensure minimal impact on the long term value.

I believe that based on what I have seen in the pictures, and assuming that the inspection doesn’t reveal any unseen issues, then this car would really be more correctly priced in the 185k range.

[macfly]

On the rarity, it is a rare car by color. As far as I know all the US VIN Alpina Blue/Crema cars were sent to Canada along with the five or six Midnight Metallic / Arizona Sun cars, apparently at the request of a chap called Manfred who worked for BMW NA/Canada, but he was later mysteriously fired and disappeared without any record. This I know because I'd tried to track him down and do an interview with him about his time there, and his vision to order these unique color combos.

I wasn't aware that as many as 9 Alpina Blue cars had US VIN's, Ton, can you confirm that?

Of the total Alpina production run I am not sure how many were Alpina Blue either, but I know that pretty much all the 450 US VIN cars were Silver or Black, and so it must be a pretty small slice of the remaining production run, maybe a total of 20-22 cars?

I know that numbers 554 and 555 were both Alpina Blue, as I photographed both of them at different times on BMW Z8 Club drives in Europe, and both were originally owned by the family behind the Alpina brand.

[Z-acht]

I wasn't aware that as many as 9 Alpina Blue cars had US VIN's, Ton, can you confirm that?

61816
61900
61903
61971
61975
61985
61986
61993
62002

Of the total Alpina production run I am not sure how many were Alpina Blue either,

AH: 9 AF: 59

I know that numbers 554 and 555 were both Alpina Blue,

.....and 553 too!

[Z803]

#550 as well

[macfly]

Amazing info, thanks for clarifying, Ton. Do you happen to have access to a full VIN - color history for the cars?

[EDEZ8]

I may have missed it, what is the asking price?

[Z803]

Amazing info, thanks for clarifying, Ton. Do you happen to have access to a full VIN - color history for the cars?

Hi Andrew,

we got a lot of details of the cars from Hattat in a different thread (Z8 EU & US versus TOTAL PRODUCTION by color? (and year?)). He listed the all VIN from Alpina including colours. I asked at Alpina to verify those Details but they told me that they had to do the jpb by hand due to the fact that the records are not in the computer. That would take to much time and therefore they refused to verify the VIN from Hattat.
That is all I know. We are still looking for the last Alpina (Hattat only found 554 by VIN).

[Z-acht]

He listed the all VIN from Alpina including colours.

That was my source :-)

We are still looking for the last Alpina

Was that one not owned by Burkhard Bovensiepen, the founder of Alpina ?

[Z803]

Sorry Ton, I did not know that it was fantastic piece of work

[Z-acht]

Sorry Ton, I did not know that it was fantastic piece of work

Hi karsten, I mean that I used Hattats information so the fantastic work are his credits!