BMW 800-series. [ BMW goes sportscoupe. ]

static

static

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What I know about this beatiful car is that there are 840i V8 and 850i V12 versions available. The car was introduced in early 1990s and the production ended in 1997 or so. I think there was one facelift but I don't know when it occurred. or what it did.
The 850i, or to be precise 850CSi has 220kW (roughly 310 bhp+) engine and the smaller 840CSi has 286 bhp.

It's pretty tough to find information about these two cars. They are pretty cheap nowadays but they've got lots of looks, power and they are loaded with accessories (erm, I mean the basic version has such a good level of everything, like A/C). I think a 840CSi would be superb GT-car with cruise control and everything.

But the model is so old that it must be a bitch to maintain.
So if you got any info on this car of opinions please shoot. It would be great if someone had ever driven this car, I would really like to hear what it was like.

bmw_850_csi.jpg
 
Beautiful cars and very quick.

From what I hear, though, it's pretty hard to find one that doesn't need majour repairs, atleast here.
 
A friend of mine has one hes a total car nut so it's ofcourse insanely well maintained.

I have gotten the pleasure to drive it a couple of times only beef i have with it is the interior - its.. Well black (At least in my friends) its black leather and plastic and its really creepy to drive in at night :cry:

Other beef is the turning radius dont know if its just a big car but it feels huuuuge!

(His is the 850 one btw)
 
Lilleput said:
(His is the 850 one btw)
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Hey you have to give me more than that :)

How (un)confort that car is, could one use it almost as a everyday car?
How does it sound, hows the ride in general?
 
The 8-series was pretty cool. :thumbsup:

There's a big difference between the 850i and 850CSi by the way. The 850i "only" had a 5 litre V12 with 310bhp, but the 850CSi had a 5.6 litre V12 with 380bhp! It had a few other goodies too, I think, and was pretty close to being an M8 instead of just a CSi. ;)
 
static said:
Lilleput said:
(His is the 850 one btw)
Click to expand...

Hey you have to give me more than that :)

How (un)confort that car is, could one use it almost as a everyday car?
How does it sound, hows the ride in general?
Click to expand...

Well driven it for like 4 hours combined so i can give a full blown "James May" but ill try :p

I cant see why it couldent be an everyday if you dont have basketball player size friends theres a backseat and the boot is good for everyday needs.

Driven it mostly on the highway and by the state danish highways are in it was a fair test of the comfort which is pretty comfortable it feels more like a Audi A8 or something so if you wants some hard power slideing thing this isnt it - Oh it also has some edc gizmo that adjusts the shocks to the type of road your driving.. Maby it was set in soft mode or something.

The sound was a little damp for my taste being my first V12 experience i was hopeing for a little more but it being a GT car (I guess) the low noise level is good i suppose.


Edit: I dont know what 850 version it was.. Have to ask him.
 
I heard that the McLaren F1s engine shared some basic designs with the V12 from the 8 Series. Before sales went down the drain, BMW were planning an M8 which would have had a 500 odd bhp V12 based on the existing one.....the F1 is where this engine most likely went.
 
There also were a few Alpina version's of the 8series, but I can image more than 1000 were have made :( I remember to have seen a german website with a lot of information about the 8series, in german of course. I could look it up again if you are interested. I think came across it on some weblog like flabber :D :D

[edit] The website is called http://www.e31.de/ and it's even available in english :D :D
 
Evo did a short story on one of those, as which BMW to get for ?20k. I can look it up, if you want.
 
They aren't cheap here in the states...I'd love to get my hands on one though.
 
This car is comparable to the current DB9 or Continental GT. It's more of a heavy GT cruiser than a really hardcore sports car. It has a powerful engine pushing around a very heavy body. Therefore, it can be outrun by newer cars pretty easily.

Parts for these cars are expensive because it doesn't share many parts with other BMW's. It's not a car to be used everyday unless you have a budget for a supercar.

It's a really cool car since most people don't even know that the 8-series exists.
 
Cheap to buy, of course, but maintenance is CRAZY expensive, esp. on the V-10.
 
jasonchiu said:
is the 850i the v10 one? i always thought they used engines from the 7 series
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My mistake...it's a V-12. Shows how much I know about BMW.
 
The 850CSi is pretty rare, very few in the US. So they are very expensive. The CSi engine was built by BMWs ///M division and it is actually considered a M Car. Its a 4000lb car, so it really is more of a cruiser. Its a great looking car, and now that its long gone its gaining more popularity. These will be harder and harder to find.

The other 8's are less expensive, but the V8 can be a bit slow for such a heavy car.
 
Apparently, the 8 series has a terrible chassis rigidity which doesn't make it much of a performance car around corners. Has a great engine though! just stay on route 66. :thumbsup:
 
joemoefro said:
Apparently, the 8 series has a terrible chassis rigidity which doesn't make it much of a performance car around corners. Has a great engine though! just stay on route 66. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I've heard that Route 66 is full of potholes, and bad tarmac. Maybe that's not the best place for a bad rigidity chassis car. :mrgreen:
 
ah... the world's first fully CAD designed car.

I seriously looked into buying an 850 and almost got one. I was so let down on the test drive that I backed out and got my Evolution VIII instead. The first thing to understand is that it's not fast - it has a lot of power, but it's very heavy. It's a lot like driving an SUV or truck. The power is smooth and the style is amazing... but the cost to run it before you factor maintainance is insane.

You may not have to pay $100,000 US to buy one of these anymore.. but you'll still have to pay the maintainance of a car worth $100,000

this would make a good weekend car for somebody who has the money. I prefer the 840 as you'll have a lot less problems with the V8 and it's almost as fast. (less power, but less weight)
 
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