The BMW Z8 market hasn’t exactly been subtle lately. For years, values for the E52 have traced a clean, upward line—helped along by Henrik Fisker’s timeless surfacing, that 507 homage baked into every panel, and the car’s pop-culture afterlife as the Bond roadster that quite literally gave its life on screen. Now, with the 2026 auction season barely underway, a Z8-based ALPINA has just pushed the resale prices into a new bracket.
During BH Auction’s January 9–10, 2026 event at City Circuit Tokyo Bay—timed with the Tokyo Auto Salon crowd—a 2003 ALPINARoadster V8 crossed the block and rewrote the record book. The headline number: ¥78,810,000 (~$500,00) for chassis number 295, showing just 1,200 km (about 746 miles). In other words, not “low mileage” in the way enthusiasts usually use the phrase, but “still looks like it’s waiting for its first service stamp” low mileage. BH’s own listing leans into that point hard, describing near-new condition and a documented history despite not being a single-owner car.
What’s The ALPINA Roadster?
The ALPINA Roadster started with the baseline of a BMW Z8 which itself was produced in relatively small numbers—roughly 5,700 units—and has long since graduated from “modern classic” to “blue-chip.” BH Auction notes that the ALPINAversion is rarer by an order of magnitude: just 555 Roadster V8s worldwid*, with this example presented as an officially imported Japanese-market car. BH also claims only 18 were delivered to Japanese dealers, and that this one was delivered through Nicol Automobiles, ALPINA’s distributor in Japan. That’s the kind of provenance detail Japanese collectors (and increasingly, global bidders buying in Japan) tend to reward.
On paper, the ALPINA Roadster V8 appears to take a step back from the standard Z8’s headline act. The BMW Z8’s calling card is its drivetrain: the S62 V8 (famously shared with the E39 M5) and a 6-speed manual—a combination that feels like Munich’s last great analog flex before the industry’s broader shift toward automation and electronics.
ALPINA went another way. The Roadster V8 uses a 4.8-liter V8 known internally as F5, producing 381 hp (280 kW) but a stronger 520 Nm (384 lb-ft) of torque. Crucially, it’s paired with a 5-speed automatic (Steptronic), which immediately reframes the car’s personality. But this wasn’t Buchloe trying to out-M BMW M. They were simply looking at building the Z8 they wanted to drive across Europe at speed, one smooth gearat a time. Even the top-speed story flips the usual hierarchy. The standard Z8 is electronically limited to 250 km/h, while ALPINA’s Roadster V8 is officially raised to 260 km/h.
A record sale that fits the era
So why does an ALPINARoadster V8 bring world-record money in 2026? Because the market for analog rare cars has become hotter than ever. The most desirable cars aren’t simply the “best models”—they’re the best versions of the best models, in the best colors, with the best stories, in the best condition. A near-new, numbered ALPINA Z8 in Japan—where preservation culture can be obsessive, and where global buyers increasingly shop—checks a lot of boxes.
And there’s one more detail that feels almost poetic: Andreas Bovensiepen himself once resisted naming a single favorite from ALPINA’s back catalog—until, finally, he did. The car he pointed to as his personal favorite product? The V8 Roadster. You can see photos of the car at BH Auction. [Story via BimmerToday]
