850CSi servicing costs
Discussion
Hi guys, I am thinking of trading up from my E34 3.8 M5 to an 850CSi.
I am, however, concerned about some servicing horror costs.
Bearing in mind I heard the same costs about my M5, which has been perfectly reliable as my daily driver for the last two years, I am sceptical.
Any real world experience to add? I've done some searching and notice TalkWrench seems to have no problems ....
Thanks!
I am, however, concerned about some servicing horror costs.
Bearing in mind I heard the same costs about my M5, which has been perfectly reliable as my daily driver for the last two years, I am sceptical.
Any real world experience to add? I've done some searching and notice TalkWrench seems to have no problems ....
Thanks!
Nope they don't eat rear tyres, and nope they aren't difficult to service yourself.
They will be expensive in a dealer because it was the flagship of BMW and has a price tag to match.
They have a road presence that the 5 series could only dream about, and a totally classic/contemporary shape that means people will think its a new car all the time.
The performance is that of a GT tourer, and you will not compete with M5's or the like. But on anything other than a track where the weight of the car will count against you, you will certainly be able to keep up with virtually anything on the road.
That extra weight is there for a reason, and you, and anyone you have in the car will notice it in build quality compared to a normal BMW.
There is a lot of information you need on the car if you are going to 'service it' yourself, but its all out there to be found
They will be expensive in a dealer because it was the flagship of BMW and has a price tag to match.
They have a road presence that the 5 series could only dream about, and a totally classic/contemporary shape that means people will think its a new car all the time.
The performance is that of a GT tourer, and you will not compete with M5's or the like. But on anything other than a track where the weight of the car will count against you, you will certainly be able to keep up with virtually anything on the road.
That extra weight is there for a reason, and you, and anyone you have in the car will notice it in build quality compared to a normal BMW.
There is a lot of information you need on the car if you are going to 'service it' yourself, but its all out there to be found
I have an "expensive to keep on the road" E34M5 which is costing me an arm and a leg. My closest experience to the 850CSi was the 750iL, which, in a quiet and undemonstrative way, nearly bankrupted me. I think it's one of those things where if you get a peach, you'll be fine, if you get a lemon, it will make you bleed. I've no idea how you would tell that up front though.
I think the 850 now has gone to the point where I simply can't believe people take them to BMW at all.
I sold my fully functional 850 for 6K over a year ago now. There could not have been a more mint example.
Yet even at that age whenever I went near BMW I came away with a £1K estimate bill.
The jobs they charged £1K for were jobs I eventually did myself or realise had been misdiagnosed. The knowledge of the eight is very poor amongst most dealers. But the problems aren't confined to the eight.
My wife recently had an accident (her fault admitted) in her 1995 BMW 328 touring. A big dent in the front wing with luckily no structural damage, although one of the lower wishbone bushes were found to be defective. Estimated bill £3600 pounds and the guy had the temerity to tell us we were getting a cheap price because of the age of the car.
Ten minutes after we got home, I ordered the wishbbone bush for £14, and a new wing for £20 from euro cars parts. Paint cost £45 but then paint is rather expensive. I fitted the bush that weekend in about two hours. It'll take me half a day to spray the wing. A week to let it cure, before fitting which I'll take me about two hours.
Thats about £100 all told and about a weekend of my time when its all added together.
So that rather long explanation is to say beware if you are the sort of person who'll take the car to BMW whenever there is a problem.
I sold my fully functional 850 for 6K over a year ago now. There could not have been a more mint example.
Yet even at that age whenever I went near BMW I came away with a £1K estimate bill.
The jobs they charged £1K for were jobs I eventually did myself or realise had been misdiagnosed. The knowledge of the eight is very poor amongst most dealers. But the problems aren't confined to the eight.
My wife recently had an accident (her fault admitted) in her 1995 BMW 328 touring. A big dent in the front wing with luckily no structural damage, although one of the lower wishbone bushes were found to be defective. Estimated bill £3600 pounds and the guy had the temerity to tell us we were getting a cheap price because of the age of the car.
Ten minutes after we got home, I ordered the wishbbone bush for £14, and a new wing for £20 from euro cars parts. Paint cost £45 but then paint is rather expensive. I fitted the bush that weekend in about two hours. It'll take me half a day to spray the wing. A week to let it cure, before fitting which I'll take me about two hours.
Thats about £100 all told and about a weekend of my time when its all added together.
So that rather long explanation is to say beware if you are the sort of person who'll take the car to BMW whenever there is a problem.
julian64 said:
Nope they don't eat rear tyres, and nope they aren't difficult to service yourself.
They will be expensive in a dealer because it was the flagship of BMW and has a price tag to match.
They have a road presence that the 5 series could only dream about, and a totally classic/contemporary shape that means people will think its a new car all the time.
The performance is that of a GT tourer, and you will not compete with M5's or the like. But on anything other than a track where the weight of the car will count against you, you will certainly be able to keep up with virtually anything on the road.
That extra weight is there for a reason, and you, and anyone you have in the car will notice it in build quality compared to a normal BMW.
There is a lot of information you need on the car if you are going to 'service it' yourself, but its all out there to be found
I do agree that it is one BMW that everyone will turn their heads to double check what they have just seen go past them.They will be expensive in a dealer because it was the flagship of BMW and has a price tag to match.
They have a road presence that the 5 series could only dream about, and a totally classic/contemporary shape that means people will think its a new car all the time.
The performance is that of a GT tourer, and you will not compete with M5's or the like. But on anything other than a track where the weight of the car will count against you, you will certainly be able to keep up with virtually anything on the road.
That extra weight is there for a reason, and you, and anyone you have in the car will notice it in build quality compared to a normal BMW.
There is a lot of information you need on the car if you are going to 'service it' yourself, but its all out there to be found
I always admire them when I see them - and you don't see them often.
A mate of my owns a BMW servicing garage, and he had a LHD Calypso Red 850i in for a service. Sitting in the car, you wouldn't believe it is 17 years old - you'd think it was more like 5 years old, as it was way ahead of it's time.
Solid build quality. Agreed, the M5 is probably a better car to drive, but not as unique. The 850i wasn't that quick, probably due to it's weight.
My mate did tell me they do go wrong, and when they do, it does cost, especially if it is to do with electricals, etc.
I had an 850i but had lots of driving time in a CSI. The CSI had more top end poke, but they both felt the same mid range, and more improtantly they felt right.
The V8 cars never felt right. That car was always meant to be a V12 for the mid range grunt GT car feel.
Electrics weren't as sophisticated as you might think. the engine was basically two straight sixes bolted together with two competely seperate engine management systems. Conventional distributer on each bank
The V8 cars never felt right. That car was always meant to be a V12 for the mid range grunt GT car feel.
Electrics weren't as sophisticated as you might think. the engine was basically two straight sixes bolted together with two competely seperate engine management systems. Conventional distributer on each bank
Thanks for the input - much appreciated.
The performance of the CSi is virtually identical to my M5.
Thing is, I'm about to be able to go back to a brand-new EDC suspension setup for not much cash, I've just sourced a brand new MAF and everything else on the car isn't in bad shape, hence part of me thinks just keep the M5 and continue to enjoy it (had it for 2 years and 25K miles now).
I searched a bit more last night on here and noted the previous discussions, I've also a few friends who work in BMW garages trying to get some honest opinions from the techs.
For what it's worth the only time I go near main dealers is for parts - I've a trusted guy who looks after my cars (other one is a DC2 ITR track car).
If I consider an 8, it's gotta be the CSi!
The performance of the CSi is virtually identical to my M5.
Thing is, I'm about to be able to go back to a brand-new EDC suspension setup for not much cash, I've just sourced a brand new MAF and everything else on the car isn't in bad shape, hence part of me thinks just keep the M5 and continue to enjoy it (had it for 2 years and 25K miles now).
I searched a bit more last night on here and noted the previous discussions, I've also a few friends who work in BMW garages trying to get some honest opinions from the techs.
For what it's worth the only time I go near main dealers is for parts - I've a trusted guy who looks after my cars (other one is a DC2 ITR track car).
If I consider an 8, it's gotta be the CSi!
Vee said:
Genuine CSi's had a dog leg gearbox and lsd or am I mistaken ?
Lovely car if you can find one though.
I do not think it has a dog leg, I would imagine it has an lsd, it has 4 wheel steering amongst many other things.Lovely car if you can find one though.
I have a friend who has had one since new and consequently have spent a lot of time driving and being driven in it (he also had an E34 M5), all I can say is, it is one helluva a car, the egine is epic but when really pushing you can feel the weight, I would say it is faster than the M5 especially if you are not in the mood to stoke up the big six, personally I love it, it is a take to the south of France kind of car but it can still be hustled down a b road but ultimately it is not as nimble feeling as the M5.
As for maintaining all I can say is he was very grateful he kept the warranty up otherwise it would have run into the 10s of thousands by now!
As has been said it just looks so good even now and the interior is about as good as it gets IMO.
I can't resist posting on this one!
Same 6 speed gear pattern as the M5 and an LSD. Rear wheel active steering which makes the car surprisingly nimble. In standard form, CSi's are awesome cars and amongst the very best BMW driving experiences. The engine is like no other and produces more torque than any other BMW before or since, including the M6 V10. They are not expensive to maintain as long as you never go near a dealer and they really are straightforward to work on as long as you understand them.
Parts are readily available and most service parts are available as OEM parts from 3rd party suppliers at very reasonable cost. I have just replaced full steering linkage comprising 4 TR ends, two track rods and idler link with bush for well under £100.
On line info is plentiful. Just make sure you buy wisely!
If you really want to play, they respond well to modifying. After a top end polish, de-catting and chipping, my CSi is showing 420bhp at the flywheel and sounds superb! I have Bilstein sports dampers, negative camber plates and M5 control arm bushes and I have posted lap times faster than an M5 on the same track, same day. If you need more help or info, email me!
Same 6 speed gear pattern as the M5 and an LSD. Rear wheel active steering which makes the car surprisingly nimble. In standard form, CSi's are awesome cars and amongst the very best BMW driving experiences. The engine is like no other and produces more torque than any other BMW before or since, including the M6 V10. They are not expensive to maintain as long as you never go near a dealer and they really are straightforward to work on as long as you understand them.
Parts are readily available and most service parts are available as OEM parts from 3rd party suppliers at very reasonable cost. I have just replaced full steering linkage comprising 4 TR ends, two track rods and idler link with bush for well under £100.
On line info is plentiful. Just make sure you buy wisely!
If you really want to play, they respond well to modifying. After a top end polish, de-catting and chipping, my CSi is showing 420bhp at the flywheel and sounds superb! I have Bilstein sports dampers, negative camber plates and M5 control arm bushes and I have posted lap times faster than an M5 on the same track, same day. If you need more help or info, email me!
You might also want to consider they had without a doubt the best six speed manual gearbox ever seen on a car. The box on my M5 is a complete tiddler in comparison.
The flywheel and gearbox of the eight series is used as an upgrade to M5's when they want to do drag racing.
I once took the gearbox off my eight and took it to a well know gearbox specialist to identify a rattle. Turned out it wasn't responsible but the guy who took the gearbox apart told me it was the most bulletproof well made and over engineered gearbox he'd ever seen. By comparision he thought the M5 gearbox was a pile of poo.
But although they are great cars and I wish I hadn't sold mine, I will take issue on one point. I find it very difficult to believe the eight would ever worry an M5 in a straight line or especially round a track. We are talking 400bhp E39 M5 though. You'd have to have substantially more that 500bhp just to make up for the weight difference,and thats forgetting the corners. When I first took my M5 to brands hatch my father was in his CSI and he was about ten seconds a lap slower!
Luckily though I think dinan used to do a twin turbo setup for the eight. However it doesn't really matter because on the drive home behind him in my M5 it was him getting all the admiring glances.
The flywheel and gearbox of the eight series is used as an upgrade to M5's when they want to do drag racing.
I once took the gearbox off my eight and took it to a well know gearbox specialist to identify a rattle. Turned out it wasn't responsible but the guy who took the gearbox apart told me it was the most bulletproof well made and over engineered gearbox he'd ever seen. By comparision he thought the M5 gearbox was a pile of poo.
But although they are great cars and I wish I hadn't sold mine, I will take issue on one point. I find it very difficult to believe the eight would ever worry an M5 in a straight line or especially round a track. We are talking 400bhp E39 M5 though. You'd have to have substantially more that 500bhp just to make up for the weight difference,and thats forgetting the corners. When I first took my M5 to brands hatch my father was in his CSI and he was about ten seconds a lap slower!
Luckily though I think dinan used to do a twin turbo setup for the eight. However it doesn't really matter because on the drive home behind him in my M5 it was him getting all the admiring glances.
The Mich are good but the best tyres I've ever had on the CSi for outright grip and feel are Goodyear F1's. Superb. Oh, and they don't eat rears that quickly unless you track 'em! But they do chew the outer shoulders off the front if you hammer the corners (neg camber plates cure that one!)
Whereabouts are you, Squigg?
Whereabouts are you, Squigg?
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