Forgotten & Fallen - The BMW 850? Your Opinion?

[slow&rusty]

Guys - I happen to be flipping through the local paper on my lunch today and came across a beautiful '91 850i for sale locally.

Car had 109K on it and was burgundy with tan interior. I called the seller and the car is in good shape and has been maintained and runs perfectly. He is asking $11K or best offer!

I was thinking that is ridiculously cheap, as these cars were $75+K brand new. I spent 30or so minutes and did some checking on eBay and Autotrader and that appears to be the actual ball park for these once Heavy Hitters. I was shocked! There appears to be little love for these cars, I always thought they were spectacular.

Not sure what they are like to maintain, but I am sure they are full of the usual electrical gremlins that haunt these older very complicated machines.

Their acceleration is mediocre 0-60mp/h in 6secs and have 300hp/300ft.lbs moving a huge coupe.

What are you guys thoughts on them?

Here is a pic I dug up on Bimmer Forums:


Yasin

[89911]

Yes, nice car and it has fallen drastically. The car in the picture has had some work done that makes it look sleeker. As long as nothing major is wrong with it, it sound like a nice car. Just be careful someone not trying to dump a car that needs serious work.

[the]

I like the looks of them, all BMW Big Coupes are beautiful.

I'd rather have an 840, with the V8 instead of the V12. Just seems easier and less costly. And make sure it's a manual!

[fastpat]

There was an 8-series convention in Northern California just before I moved from there, in 2005. A knowledgeable group of guys I'm sure.

As a BMW enthusiast, but not an 8-series owner, my impression is that these cars suffer the same maladies as all of the late '80's and early '90's cars do, electronic gremlins. Pay special attention to this part of the car, and get the one with the most thorough documentation. Same as any originally expensive car, parts purchaes can be the stopper of enjoyment of the car.

The most desirable of the series seems to be the 850CSi.

PS- Manual tranny equipped car are rare, but out there.

[slow&rusty]

I might go check it out tomorrow and take it for a spin....I agree the 850CSI would be the one to get....I found this as well:

Model: Engine: Power: Topspeed: Year:

840Ci M60 8 cylinder 286 HP 250 km/h 1993 - 1996
840Ci M62 8 cylinder 286 HP 250 km/h 1996 - 1999
850i M70 12 cylinder 300 HP 250 km/h 1989 - 1993
850Ci M70 12 cylinder 300 HP 250 km/h 1993 - 1994
850Ci M73 12 cylinder 326 HP 250 km/h 1994 - 1999
850CSi S70 12 cylinder 380 HP 250 km/h 1993 - 1997


Yasin

[Don Plumley]

I am almost positive you don't want the 12 cyl.

[scottmandue]

Yeah I want one of those soooo bad... and the prices are right too.

Did a little research and the maintenance/gremlins problems described scared me away. Can't say I was too surprised to hear that when you consider the deprecation.

Although like a 928 if you find one that has been well taken care of and are not afraid to keep on top of maintenance is seems like a killer deal.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by slow&rusty
I might go check it out tomorrow and take it for a spin....I agree the 850CSI would be the one to get....I found this as well:

Model: Engine: Power: Topspeed: Year:

840Ci M60 8 cylinder 286 HP 250 km/h 1993 - 1996
840Ci M62 8 cylinder 286 HP 250 km/h 1996 - 1999
850i M70 12 cylinder 300 HP 250 km/h 1989 - 1993
850Ci M70 12 cylinder 300 HP 250 km/h 1993 - 1994
850Ci M73 12 cylinder 326 HP 250 km/h 1994 - 1999
850CSi S70 12 cylinder 380 HP 250 km/h 1993 - 1997


Yasin

I think all of the 850CSi's were 6-speed cars, and some of the 840i and 850i's were as well, but I don't know for sure. Do a web search using the terms "BMW 8-series forum" and see what you get. With luck, there will be a rich vein of info on one.

[89911]

Prices are all over the place here:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?num_records=25&search_type=both&distance=0&address=15237&style_flag=1&make=BMW&model=850CSI&make2=&start_year=1981&end_year=2007&min_price=&max_price=&transmission=&engine=&drive=&doors=&fuel=&max_mileage=&color=&keywordsfyc=&sort_type=priceDESC&body_code=0&certified=&advanced=&default_sort=priceDESC&keywordsrep=

[VaSteve]

It's a cool car, iI think it suffered from the same issues as the 928 though... technologically advanced, but expensive to fix....

Eight-fifty i.s. if you need a lift
Whos the kid in the drop
Who else will smith
Livin that life some consider a myth
Rock from south street to one two fifth
Women used to tease me
Give it to me now nice and easy
Since I moved up like george and wheezy
Cream to the maximum I be askin em
Would you like to bounce with the brother thats platinum
Never see will attackin em
Rather play ball with shaq and um,
Flatten em
Psyche
Kiddin
You thought I took a spill
But I didnt
Trust the lady of my life she hittin
Hit her with a drop top with the ribbon
Crib for my mom on the outskirts of philly
You trying to flex on me
Dont be silly
Getting jiggy wit it

Chorus

[alf]

Those are very nice looking Grand Touring cars; i do worry about upkeep costs though.

[JeffO]

That engine in the 7 series was an electricle nightmare. Be very careful. I would love the 8 cyl version. I had one follow me on the interstate and fell in love with it.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've been eyeing them for a while. One of my dreams is to pick up a wrecked one with a V12, then use it to create the world's first mid-engine, twin-turbo V12 Porsche 944. Bwahahahahha!!

They're beautiful cars on their own though too.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by alf
Those are very nice looking Grand Touring cars; i do worry about upkeep costs though.

I don't because I don't own one

[JonT]

nothin a small block chevy couldnt fix

[epbrown]

I used to own a 928 and I didn't worry about the running costs. It's like getting a free club membership - you've saved a bundle getting in, why quibble over the green's fees? I still wouldn't mind a black 5-speed 928GT, but those are almost as hard to find as a manual 8-series. These days, if I were GT shopping I'd likely get a used Jaguar XK8.

[AFC-911]

IIRC, don't most people consider the V12 to be more reliable than the 8?

[widebody911]

I've always like the looks of them; one of my neighbors has a frequent visitor with one.

Too bad they didn't make an "M" version...

[the]

The 850CSi is kinda considered to be an "unofficial" M version, you can see on the chart above, it has an "S70" engine, while the others have the regular "M" series engines (ironically, the "M" engine designation denotes "regular" engines).

The "S" series engine has some connection with the Motorsport M division. Don't recall exactly what it was.

[K. Roman]

This is a great site for the 850 enthusiast. It has many videos on the autobahn, 0-60, 0-160 to 0 etc...love it!

http://www.e31.net/english.html