850 CSi or Ci anyone?

[burriana]

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

I wonder if he has been watching this thread ... surely he must have, if so he may be interested in the calypso red one?

[burriana]

Egbert Nobacon said:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260...

This is for sale in my local BMW dealer and I had a sniff whilst waiting for my car.

Cheers It is a bit steep though and if I widen the search to a 4.4 then it opens up a whole new selection of quite low mileage cars.

do you really not like bacon!!!

[burriana]

Mustard said:

or this one is seriously good value....

here



1993 119000 miles Calypso Red Motorsport M8 BMW 850 CSi. 5.6Ltr. 6 Speed manual gearbox. Rare opportunity to aquire this fabulous vehicle. 1 previous owner. Was bought with only 500 miles on the clock. Serviced regularly. High performance sports tyres fitted on motorsport wheels. No accidents or damage. Front spoiler has just been professionally resprayed. 6 Disc CD auto changer. 21.4 average mpg - more on a run. Immaculate condition. Long MOT. Only 17 imported into UK. The SSN 850 private number plate included. No time wasters please. Buyers over 25yrs only. Reason for sale: moving to a country location and now impractical. The calypso red colour is the most sought after for the BMW 8 Series. Herefordshire. £8,000


Private Seller:
Contact number: 01531 660571 or 07948 276908


The One of 17 must refer to the colour (160rhd 850CSi imported)
Al If its of interest and you were serious its pretty local to me (and I happen to be off work this week) so could give it a look over regards condition and history (though you'd want to get it proffesionally checked out mechanic)

Hi Paul - just dropped you an email about this one.

I need a relatively low mileage as I will need to sell it on within two years and I do 10k a year just as a weekend car, but if you are planning on keeping it/doing low miles, then it is certainly an outstanding price for what looks like a nice car.

ps: ok chaps, silent routine ... any CSi that you come across email ok?

Edited by burriana on Thursday 19th July 17:21

[burriana]

Blimey - hello DER! Sorry, I've only just noticed your post from 2 pages ago!

Funnily enough, StuB suggested an M5 last night but, whereas I appreciate that they have tremendous dollops of ooomph and a certain tenacity around bends ... it just doesn't excite me enough as my "weekend toy". As a daily hack, fantastic, but not "different enough" for the sunday car I'm afraid.

And Mr C sir - good morning.

Not a bad call on the 928 actually as they are another car that I have often coveted ... but I think that the running/parts costs would make even the 8-series look frugal!

And again ... if you compare:



versus



or



versus



Sorry - no contest

I am beginning to think that the CSi is simply going to be outside the budget. I can go for something like the Calypso red one for a very attractive price, but once I have 140k on it, it may well be unsellable. Why buy a CSi with 140k miles on for £6k when you could get a 5 year younger 840 Ci with 95k miles for the same money or less in two years time.

I am also thinking that although the V12 850i certainly has the power and grunt ... as it is not the Sports spec I would then need to spend money getting the suspension upgraded, and I still wouldn't have the nice M-Sport look of the 840 Ci S.

I know I'm going round in circles like a dog looking for his bed, but the knowledge is building all the time and I am slowly getting to grips with all the pros and cons of each model.

Thanks for all the input, it is very appreciated

Edited by burriana on Friday 20th July 09:03

[burriana]

Didn't help matters that Michael (Talkwrench) text me at about 9pm last night saying:

"Just took the CSi over to the workshop. God it's fast!"

[burriana]

hemibum said:

An 8 is really bought with the heart not the head.

Except in my case, it is actually one of the more 'sensible' Sunday cars that I have gone for

[burriana]

Apache said:

Ok, for the uninitiated....er me, what is the difference between the 4.0 and 4.4, when did it change etc

07/1993 - 02/1996, V8 (M60), 4.0
01/1995 - 05/1999, V8 (M62), 4.4

The 840Ci got an engine upgrade to 4.4l in 1995, although not unusually for BMW, both engines were available in 1995 and 1996 at the same time.

Both 286bhp but the new 4.4 had more torque and, more importantly, didn't suffer from the Nikasil problems.

ANNNNND ...

After doing a lot of sorting of info and weighing of pros and cons at least I now know exactly what model that I am looking for:

840 Ci Sport late 96-98 - approx 80k miles

First choice Hellrot Red, second Estoril Blue (but only because white ones are practicall non-existent!)

[burriana]

Anyone know West Sussex Specialist Cars? They have this one in, but it's a hell of a treck!

page 3 near bottom

[burriana]

Cheers Mustard. i was looking at that the other day. It seems quite a small site, no for sale section excaept a link to ebay and here, but a nice reference site.

Well, so far I have enquired about four ... 1) had dodgy mileage 2) was my ideal car but just missed it, and it went for a song as owner was moving abroad, 3) again, just missed it and 4) a deposit has just been taken ... ho hum.

[burriana]

Just love that bonnet

[burriana]

Podie said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1993-BMW-850-CSI-RED_W0QQite...

Very VERY bad form. That is the one that was on here at around £11k ... re-advertised due to time waster.

Re-advertised because people found out that instead of 83,500 miles, it had 163,000 miles on the clock back in 2003 when it last visited a main dealer more like!

The seller is also fully aware of this because I personally told him on the telephone! No doubt the previous 'time waster' did also.

Edited by burriana on Tuesday 24th July 18:27

[burriana]

I have sent him an email, though he still seems adamant even in the face of all the facts!

I did consider reporting it to ebay, even typed the email, then I thought, well, the guy bought it off ebay, has genuinely spent nearly £5k at the main dealer so, maybe give him a bit of a break. I am sure that most people will do the simple thing and check the service history, it costs nothing and takes no time, so he is unlikely to sell it to someone who isn't fully aware ... and someone may get a good, if slightly tired CSi for a knock down price.

Fingers crossed I will hopefully confirm a very nice, full provenance 850Ci at the weekend, with a few optional sporting extras ... right under my nose too

[burriana]

A Mauritius Blue 850 Ci complete with a few sporting tweaks

It is at the moment in the hands of Talkwrench who is basically re-comissioning it for me after it has stood doing nothing for the past two years.

Everything is being taken apart and either cleaned or replaced and then put back together again, that includes the seats and carpets (have you felt the weight of an 850 front seat - Jaysus!), wheels (Alpinas), suspension (replaced with lowered Eibach springs and Bilsteins), and most of the engine bay!

I just have to remain patient for another three or four weeks ... which as many of you know, is not one of my strong points

[burriana]

He said - "you're going to have to be patient as one thing's for certain, it's not leaving here until it's absolutely perfect."

I said -" What ... not even for V.Max?"

He said - "Especially not for V.Max"


I was just touching 170 and there was this strange wobbl...........

[burriana]

Seen it - that's even more than my 525 Tourer!

And one thing those cars are certainly good for is eating miles

[burriana]

Apache said:

Is it much more expensive to run one of these over a 4.0?

Marginally heavier on fuel ... but for a weekend car that's not a major concern and the V12 will be no worse than a Griff.

Apart from that, you have four more plugs, leads and, and, oh, a bit more oil.

The main thing is that as there are so few of them about and, as a lot of dealers hardly ever see them, they are not as experienced/knowledgeable/quick with them as the V8s, hence they tend to add a premium onto the servicing ... but again, we're not talking any more than RV8 TVR servicing.

The thing that persuaded me over the 4.4 V8 was simply the power delivery. The V8 is quite peaky and needs to get to about 3000 revs before it really hits the torque, which then runs to about 5000 revs.

The V12 has a very flat torque curve with nearly all of the torque available from about 1000 right through to 6000 revs. (may be a fraction out but close enough to illustarte the point) ... so you hoof it in any gear and it goes like a train!

I went out in Talkwrench's CSi on Saturday, and he put his foot down, up a VERY steep hill ... bloody hell it's astonishingly fast!

[burriana]

The 4.4 is still a great car, and you can get one with less miles as they are a lot younger.

Here are some rough guides after a fair few weeks trawling through PH and autotrader;

4.4 V8 - 97/98 - c 80,000 miles - £10-11k
4.4 V8 - 97/98 - c 100,000 miles - £8-9k

5.0 V12 - 92 - 80,000 miles - £9k
5.0 V12 - 94 - 95,000 miles - £7k
5.0 V12 - 94 - 120,000 miles - £5k

taken from here

The thing with the V12s is that there are so few of them about, 9 available in autotrader versus 42 for the 840.

My wife also thinks they look dated, but she has taken a bit more interest since her brother said "an 850? I love those cars, they're gorgeous!"

Ask her when was the last time she saw one on the road.

The secret is to pay fair money and get one that is in A1 condition, including the interior, then they really do look the £80,000 car that they are

[burriana]

Mustard said:

Al.... YHM

Much appreciated, thanks :-)

[burriana]

Egbert Nobacon said:

Why was it laid up for two years ? Got any pics of work in progress - we are all on tenterhooks here

As far as I am aware, the guy simply didn't have the time to use it. Talkwrench has known him for a few years and the guy eventually felt that it was a crying shame to have it sat there doing nothing. He figured that Michael, having two 850s himself and being the perfectionist that he is, would do it justice.

Hopefully I will also be able to do it proud and use it as it was intended.

Work in progress? pics? You think I'm going to show you my car with no clothes on ... how very rude Sir!

[burriana]

Yes and no.

The base price that I am paying is about market value for the age/mileage ... but what I do get is the knowledge that Michael has gone through it like a dose of salts and the car will come to me somewhere near as good as it can possibly get, with all the components that normally need replacing at that age being replaced.

Also, whilst the work is being done, it means that I can take advantage and have a few tweaks carried out