BMW 8 series talk to me!

[entropy]

Spotted an 840 in Northampton on Monaday.

[illmonkey]

Money pits.

[Loplop]

Cool as. I do have a soft spot for them and I *want* one, but I keep telling myself that a tidy E24 is a better buy.

[Six Fiend]

Better off asking in the BMW forum, you'll get some sense

Oh and yes I'd love one!

[Baryonyx]

They have a reputation for being expensive to run and complex. More expensive than a Fiesta, but they aren't hugely complex these days and a good BMW specialist should be able to look after them with ease.

They're not as fast as you would think day to day, but the long gearing is good for 180mph+ if you can find a road long enough to wind one up to that speed. Definitely a GT too.

[Loplop]

If I was gonna get one it'd be a later 840 with the steptronic box and 4.4 V8.

[Robatr0n]

Baryonyx said:

They're not as fast as you would think day to day, but the long gearing is good for 180mph+ if you can find a road long enough to wind one up to that speed. Definitely a GT too.

Really?

The 850 CSi could just about hit 170mph and yet the 840 can do 180mph..?

[Loplop]

Robatr0n said:

Really?

The 850 CSi could just about hit 170mph and yet the 840 can do 180mph..?

This isn't to try and prove a point as I know how indicated speed isn't necessarily actual speed, but this is cool nontheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpvrRB79koU

[Baryonyx]

Robatr0n said:

Really?

The 850 CSi could just about hit 170mph and yet the 840 can do 180mph..?

I'm sure there is a YouTube video of dash can footage of someone doing over 180mph on an Autobahn.

[Loplop]

Great minds Baryonyx...

[Loplop]

The Crack Fox said:

Quite a few tatty ones about now, sadly

Did you see the lime green, kitted, DUB-Rimmed 850CSi that was on a few classified sites several months ago? Most upsetting.

[Lee540]

Great looking car, perhaps a little dated now.

I had the same 4.4 V8 in my 5 series..

I would still have one, but try and find a manual

[tintopracer]

My Dad had one, an 840ci with the auto box which had different settings you could chose. In economy mode it did 18.7mpg, in sport, 18.3!.

I had a 740i (e38) at the same time which seemed more frugal, was much more comfortable (im 6'4" and couldnt get comfy in the 8) and although not as striking as the 8 was, it was more enjoyable to drive. Somehow the 8 seemed heavy by comparison. I'm sure it wasnt but I don't think the engineers could decide it it was to be a GT car or something more. The 850's I've driven felt the same, but I haven't tried a csi (yet).

Watch out for electrical gremlins, especially the immobilisor. I remember taking mine to my specialist in Warwick when it first went wrong and meant you neover knew if it would start. Dad was giving me a lift home in his 8 which when we came to leave had developed the same fault. Taxi for two please...

Having said that, would I have one? Yes, but an e39 M5 beckons first.

[Robatr0n]

Loplop said:

This isn't to try and prove a point as I know how indicated speed isn't necessarily actual speed, but this is cool nontheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpvrRB79koU

Completely agree.

I've always had a soft spot for them.

[Loplop]

This one is only down the road from me

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C337013

[4key]

I've been looking at picking up a cheap one for a giggle recently, just because ive always wanted one after a schoolfriends dad bought one new. Anyway there are some nasty cheap ones out there, as proven by the white one in the PH classifieds.

What the good ones are advertised for does not seem to be what they are selling for though, Ive seen a couple of very tasty looking ones go for 3k on ebay and the standard 850ci with full service that I had in my watch list ended at just over £2k yesterday.

[CampDavid]

Robatr0n said:

Really?

The 850 CSi could just about hit 170mph and yet the 840 can do 180mph..?

Indeed. My 7er with the same drive train as the 840i didn't feel wholely inclined to go much beyond 150mph. Frankly, neither did I.

For a true 180mph+ example one would need to go to the good people of Alpine.

For me, I'd probably not bother with the 8 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, a late 740i gives you that drive train in a much more spacious body while the M5 is really the one for a proper drive and, secondly, the 928 does the GT thing better.

[interloper]

CampDavid said:

For a true 180mph+ example one would need to go to the good people of Alpine.

Because you wouldn't want to go that fast with out Radio 4 on to help calm your nerves?

[Loplop]

CampDavid said:

secondly, the 928 does the GT thing better.

(Ignore the Schnitzer wheels.) This example with fine coachwork and displaying it's pillarless lines in all their glory begs to differ.

[CampDavid]

interloper said:

CampDavid said:

For a true 180mph+ example one would need to go to the good people of Alpine.

Because you wouldn't want to go that fast with out Radio 4 on to help calm your nerves?

Aplina. I blame autocorrect