BMW 850 CSi | Spotted

Nothing says '90s cool like purple paint, pillarless doors and a naturally aspirated V12

It took BMW a while - decades, in fact - to finally get around to topping off its lineup with a big, brawny grand tourer, but it did just that in 2018 with the new 8 Series, a car that (mostly successfully) followed on from one of the cult classics of the '90s. It was sleek (arguably one of the last good-looking cars to come out of Munich before the big grilles took over) and ticked all the luxury boxes you’d expect from a flagship GT. Let’s not forget that it was the first 8 Series to get a production M variant, too, something that was planned - working prototype and all - for the original but sadly never made it to production.

So why is it the G15 never received the sort of love that the original E31 gets? Perhaps it’s the lack of a manual V12, which was never going to happen in this day and age but, even with 625hp in M8 form, a twin-turbo V8 auto just isn’t the same. While it doesn’t look nearly as, er, divisive as some of BMW’s recent offerings, the newer 8 Series doesn't hold a candle to the original’s silhouette, pillarless doors and, of course, pop-up headlights. When you think of it like that, the new one didn’t stand much of a chance.

That being said, the E31 was hardly a runaway success in its day. The angular look was conceived by Klaus Kapitza in the mid-80s and though it was still fresh come its release in 1990, the quirky GT lacked something when compared to the gorgeous Aston Martin DB7 and svelte Ferrari 456 that arrived soon after. Therein lay another issue with the 8 Series: it was in the truest sense of the term a ‘luxury GT’, but at the time buyers weren’t entirely sure whether it served as the successor to the 6 Series or M1 supercar. That’s right, even during a golden era BMW was suffering from an identity crisis.

Then the car we have here, the 850 CSi, came along and delivered the flagship performance car BMW customers had been asking for. Though the M8 never saw the light of day, the 850 CSi was developed by M division and was vastly more capable than the 850i positioned below it. So overhauled was the V12 up front (bored out to 5.6 litres with a 5mm stoke increase, plus boasting a higher compression ratio and lighter pistons) that the M engine code prefix was ditched for an S. True, it wasn’t the same S70 as the one in the McLaren F1 (the S70/2), but it was still a naturally aspirated twelve-cylinder engine with 375hp and a six-speed manual - a combination that no one turns their nose up at in 2024.

Underneath, the suspension was overhauled with sportier dampers, stiffer springs and BMW’s Active Rear Axle Kinematics - the company’s first application of rear-axle steering. The bumpers were also redesigned to reduce lift at the expense of drag (the 8 Series was already a slippery thing at Cd 0.29, so it did little harm), while the wheels gained BMW’s achingly cool throwing star wheels.

Hard to think of a better colour to pair them with than this example’s stunning shade of Techno Violet - two-tone leather in light and dark grey is a fine choice, too. It looks especially good after a bare-metal respray was carried out in 2017, while more recent work includes replacement dampers up front, a new clutch plus discs and pads all around. It really is a beautiful thing, and looks to have been well cared for over the last 30 years and 70,000 miles. And it could be yours for £59,950. That’s a whole lot of '90s cool for the money, and a much cheaper way of getting your hands on an S70 than going down the McLaren route.

SPECIFICATION | BMW 850 CSi

Engine: 5,576cc V12
Transmission: six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 375@5,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 406@4,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Year registered: 1994
Recorded mileage: 70,000
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £59,950

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GreatScott2016

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