BMW 850i

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Discussion

Lombie01

Original Poster:

4 posts

114 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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Hi all - newbie here!
I've just become the 'proud' owner of a BMW 850i. Love it so far, except the front shocks are shocking. I'm still trying to decide whether to try to keep it stock (which it is at the moment) or go a bit crazy.
Can anyone help with where to get standard shocks and springs? Thanks

Yertis

18,046 posts

266 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Can't help with advice, but I'm considering an 8-series at the moment. I assume you've found this website? Lots of useful info there, I thought.

BritishRacinGrin

24,691 posts

160 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Please keep it standard-ish!

Stock shocks will be Boge (Sachs Boge). There'll probably be suppliers out there who have them at a fraction of BMW's prices... Bilstein probably make an 'OEM equivalent' replacement insert too but they're a bit more harsh than Sachs Boge.

Lombie01

Original Poster:

4 posts

114 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Thanks guys. I have looked at meeknet its a really useful especially because it's so difficult to find service manuals. My instinct is to keep it as standard as possible. Keep the lovely BMW ride. So I'm going to try to get Sachs if I can.

deltashad

6,731 posts

197 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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850i... mmmm theres one sitting near me in Bucharest covered in dust. What a waste.

5000th post for me !!

A friend of mine always liked them too and test drove one, walked away very disappointed. Modify it.

Lombie01

Original Poster:

4 posts

114 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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It's not a particularly quick car by today's standards but it's a sweet looker! the styling has hardly aged

Lombie01

Original Poster:

4 posts

114 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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300 brake sounds reasonable until you factor in the 2 ton weight!

Talkwrench

909 posts

233 months

Saturday 25th October 2014
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Hi
Is it fitted with electronic dampers (EDC)? If so, it could be an expensive fix to remain as standard. I always recommend fitting Bilstein inserts into the front struts and do away with the EDC (it was never that great anyway. Even on 'sport' it was too soft!). You can fit inserts into the EDC struts.
The bushes on the front suspension are very sensitive too. Unless they're on top form, you'll get shimmy at the front end over bumps and irregularities.
Feel free to email me if you'd like any more information or advice on obtaining parts. I own two of these and have rebuild many more!

Yertis

18,046 posts

266 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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Talkwrench said:
Hi
Is it fitted with electronic dampers (EDC)? If so, it could be an expensive fix to remain as standard. I always recommend fitting Bilstein inserts into the front struts and do away with the EDC (it was never that great anyway. Even on 'sport' it was too soft!). You can fit inserts into the EDC struts.
The bushes on the front suspension are very sensitive too. Unless they're on top form, you'll get shimmy at the front end over bumps and irregularities.
Feel free to email me if you'd like any more information or advice on obtaining parts. I own two of these and have rebuild many more!
What would your advice be with regard running one of these as a daily GT? The Monaro I run at at the moment has been a fantastic long distance cruiser – comfortable and effortlessly fast enough. There are precious few cars out there at the moment that I really fancy, so I've sort of gone to my back-catalogue and the 840/850 is one car I've always liked the look of. I'd be doing about 18,000 miles a year. I'm not sure whether a. the cars are too old to handle that kind of mileage now / b. parts are a nightmare, and things always go wrong / c. it's a stupid choice, doing those sorts of miles I should have an A42.0Tdi. Obviously I'm used to pouring money into the petrol tank with the Monaro, so I don't anticipate any nasty surprises there with the 8-series. The Monaro has however been faultlessly reliable – how will the 8-series show in that direction? Should I buy a leggy cheap one and run it into the ground, or splash out a bit on a low miler and look after it in the proper way? (I'm quite fastidious about my cars servicing schedules). Also, are there any specialists for these cars?

sim16v

2,177 posts

201 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
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I wouldn't have thought they would struggle with doing the mileage, and they aren't that old.

Mechanically there isn't really anything special about them, the running gear is basically 5 or 7 series from the same era.

BMW are normally very good with parts for older cars, but the car specific bits will be expensive.

singlecoil

33,590 posts

246 months

Monday 3rd November 2014
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I think are the best looking cars BMW have ever made. I would love to have one, and either keep it standard or maybe strip it out and have it as the race car BMW should have made.

johnfm

13,668 posts

250 months

Sunday 5th April 2015
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Like that colour.

How's it going now? I just got one - love it.

Laughingman21

590 posts

211 months

Wednesday 8th April 2015
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Has anyone tried getting a child seat in one of these?

gvij

363 posts

124 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
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Has to be one of the few good looking BMWs in the history of the marque. A classic GT car and today for peanuts.

Mr Tidy

22,313 posts

127 months

Friday 17th April 2015
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Many Manpoints to the OP - I bought a 325 ti last year which is only half the car!
2.5 litre 6 to his 5 litre V12! Still like it though!
I think standard is preferable unless you go full-on with it but to be done nicely would surely get expensive.
Good luck anyway - look forward to updates.