If A Jalopnik Reader Doesn't Buy This Incredible 2000 Alpina B10 3.3 Touring Wagon, We Might As Well Give Up On The Manual Transmission Forever

Most of the time, when we write about cool, interesting cars that we've found for sale, we don't actually expect anyone to actually buy them. Sometimes you know a car's so cool, it's destined to sell for big money. Sometimes a car's guaranteed to be a reliability nightmare. Hell, sometimes a car is both. But this one? This 2000 Alpina B10 3.3 Touring on Cars & Bids has "Jalopnik reader" written all over it. I mean, it's an E39 wagon that Alpina made even more desirable, and it even has a manual transmission. What else could you possibly want?

As the "3.3" in the name suggests, there's no V8 hiding under the hood. Instead, you get BMW's trusty M52 inline-6 that Alpina bored and stroked to give the 3.3-liter engine 280 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque. So you won't be as quick as someone with an E39 M5, nor will the exhaust note sound quite as good, but not everyone wants a V8 and far more power than their rear tires can handle. As one of the auction commenters pointed out, what you lose in straight-line acceleration, you likely more than make up for with better cornering since the six-cylinder weighs so much less than the V8. 

Having previously owned an E39 540i, they're correct about really feeling the V8's weight up front. My old car was far faster up in the mountains that other drivers expected it to be, but I never really found myself wishing for more power as much as I wanted either a better exhaust note or a lighter front end. This car appears to offer both, thanks to the addition of a cat-back exhaust system. Even if it's not quite a V8, believe me when I tell you the E39 540i was quiet from the factory. As was befitting of a gentlemen's sporting sedan.

The Alpina treatment has always been about more than just the engine anyway. You get 18-inch Alpina wheels that look like they're still in pretty good condition and an Alpina bodykit, plus patterned fabric seats. Yes, fabric seats. If I'm going to insist a German wagon is perfect for one of our readers, you better believe it's going to have fabric upholstery. Then there's the Alpina suspension and the limited-slip differential that should improve the handling and comfort that the E39 was already known for. Let's also not forget we're talking about a wagon here, either, especially since the design is still pretty much perfect. 

As far as downsides go, the transmission is the one that will probably bug you the most. It's a manual, and all manual wagons are perfect, but this one is missing a sixth gear, forcing you to make do with only five of them. It's a 27-year-old German luxury car, so any plastics that haven't been replaced could give up the ghost without much notice, and the seller says you'll probably have to replace the tailgate's struts pretty soon. 

Cars & Bids

It also has 178,000 miles on it, so if you want something that's still showroom fresh, this isn't the Alpina for you. And if you like to drink liquids while driving, you should know the cupholders are a joke. At least neither one is broken, though. Some of the Alpina parts could end up being pricey to replace, but E39s tend to be pretty reliable and easy enough to work on when the next window regulator breaks. 

At the time of writing, there are still seven days left on the auction, so it's hard to tell how much higher the bids will climb. We're talking about one of only 70 ever produced, so it really is rare, but unless we're talking about something really special, older Alpinas don't usually sell for crazy money. I can't guarantee it'll stay under $10,000, but there's still a pretty good chance someone here could take it home with them. And why shouldn't you? You deserve to own an Alpina wagon with cloth seats and a manual transmission. We all do.