Did BMW make any 8 Series with a manual box?
Discussion
BadRedWedge said:
BadRedWedge said:
Very interesting thread, thinking about an 8?0 to replace my 450SE so what do I get ? an 840 ? an 850? a 4L 4.4L 5L etc etc. now I know this is a subjective question, and I dont want to start WW3 but which one is best,and what should I look out for ?? We want to use the car as a weekend / GT.
Thanks for any help
Thanks for any help
Consensus would appear to be that the later 4.4 840Ci Sport is the most sensible and best looking choice.
But, almost all are autos (see figures above) and you may left with the nagging thought that you could probably get a V12 for less money.
The 850CSi has a 5.7 M Sport engine with manual box, but only 160 ever made in RHD, so very rare, and very expensive.
julian64 said:
I used to have a 1991 850i RHD manual 
. I sold it last year for 6K.
It was the best gearbox BMW ever made or is likely to make.
And the heaviest!. I sold it last year for 6K.It was the best gearbox BMW ever made or is likely to make.
When I changed the clutch on my CSi, I couldn't believe the weight of the thing! Although the case is all lovely ribbed alloy, the internals are massive and very heavy. Every gear has a triple synchromesh cone assembly and the actual cogs and bearings are very large. People in the States pump 1000bhp through these boxes and rarely have a problem.
They can be a but clunky and agricultural when cold but warmed up and filled with the right oil, they really are superb.
Talkwrench said:
julian64 said:
I used to have a 1991 850i RHD manual . I sold it last year for 6K.
It was the best gearbox BMW ever made or is likely to make.
And the heaviest!. I sold it last year for 6K.It was the best gearbox BMW ever made or is likely to make.
When I changed the clutch on my CSi, I couldn't believe the weight of the thing! Although the case is all lovely ribbed alloy, the internals are massive and very heavy. Every gear has a triple synchromesh cone assembly and the actual cogs and bearings are very large. People in the States pump 1000bhp through these boxes and rarely have a problem.
They can be a but clunky and agricultural when cold but warmed up and filled with the right oil, they really are superb.
Job38 said:
So, are we saying the over-engineering is a good thing because its bomb-proof; or are we saying its a bad thing because its unnecessarily heavy and over-complex? 
Over engineering is a very good thing when you are looking at a gearbox that is probably 10+ years old! While mine was out, I planned on changing anything that was showing signs of wear (it had done 100k miles). I ended up replacing..... erm.... the bushes on the gear linkage outside the box! Everything else was like new.
When I couldn't find the cause of the rattle in my gearbox. I took my gearbox to a large firm of transmission specialists in gravesend, Kent.
They couldn't believe the gearbox had done 100K miles. They managed to get hold of the float/micrometer settings from getrag, and mic'd the whole thing. They finally turned round and said the gearbox was 'as new' perfect and the rattle wasn't comming from the gearbox. (They subsequently turned out to be right)
They did say they had gearboxes that could take 1000Hp, but even they weren't much compared to the BMW 8 series gearbox.
They couldn't believe the gearbox had done 100K miles. They managed to get hold of the float/micrometer settings from getrag, and mic'd the whole thing. They finally turned round and said the gearbox was 'as new' perfect and the rattle wasn't comming from the gearbox. (They subsequently turned out to be right)
They did say they had gearboxes that could take 1000Hp, but even they weren't much compared to the BMW 8 series gearbox.
burriana said:
So "full throttle then pinging the brake off" starts at V.Max shouldn't be a problem then? 
Ahh, we were talking about the 6 speed manual box. The autos are not quite so over engineered. Theyre still tough boxes though and last a very long time. A good few of the twin turbo boys in the States run bog standard auto boxes in their V12's without any issues.
Okay... so I rule out the 8 on the grounds of its size maybe rendering it a tad awkward for my favourite roads... and rule it out further on the basis that I don't want an auto and manuals are too hard to find... and then I discover this baby... (Scroll down to the Estoril Blue 840Ci Sport). http://www.gtsbillingshurst.co.uk/8000.html
Now this is so utterly gorgeous I'd buy it anyway, despite it being an auto! My only concerns are that the distance of 202 miles from where I live would make arranging an inspection with an expert somewhat difficult, and they've omitted the mileage which is what dealers do when the mileage is so high that they they know it would put prospective buyers off if they included it in the ad.
Now this is so utterly gorgeous I'd buy it anyway, despite it being an auto! My only concerns are that the distance of 202 miles from where I live would make arranging an inspection with an expert somewhat difficult, and they've omitted the mileage which is what dealers do when the mileage is so high that they they know it would put prospective buyers off if they included it in the ad.
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