Can an ordinary bloke possibly run an 840??
Discussion
this depends on the status of the ordinary bloke and his attitude / solvency to maintain a car such as the 840.
if this is his daily driver , then on mixed driving 14-18 mpg can be expected - 3 times more expensive than an average ford / vauxhall
service costs will be double that of another marque, tyres triple , im not conversant with the size but on the previous X5 4.6is / 535's ive run a rear tyre was over £300 each
then comes repairs , these will be expensive whatever goes .
so if you ant to run one proporly on a budget - best of luck otherwise id recomend a more mundane car if budget is an issue
IMHO
if this is his daily driver , then on mixed driving 14-18 mpg can be expected - 3 times more expensive than an average ford / vauxhall
service costs will be double that of another marque, tyres triple , im not conversant with the size but on the previous X5 4.6is / 535's ive run a rear tyre was over £300 each
then comes repairs , these will be expensive whatever goes .
so if you ant to run one proporly on a budget - best of luck otherwise id recomend a more mundane car if budget is an issue
IMHO
hi; I have 2 850's a 1991 koenig special + a 1993 850ci there not cheap to run every thing that breaks costs £850. 19mhg ain't bad, you can't get that from a landcruser. mind you flat out I can get 7mpg not bad @166 on a private road of cause. clasic insurance, the 8 is 20years old this year.
You could run one provided you get ones thats been cared for and has FSH. Get the 1996-1999 version with the M62 engine to avoid any nikasil issues and you'll be surprised how easy the engine is to work on. I'd imagine the 8s suffers the same as the 7s in terms of front suspension due to the heavy engines. You can comfortably get 25 mpg cruising at 70.
julianm said:
Keep thinking one of these would be lovely, but are they horrific in running/repair costs? - Would like some idea from an owner if poss please -
Thanks, Julian
HiThanks, Julian
I think it depends on your definition of "ordinary".
I would say that you should probably be able to put aside £250 per month towards servicing and anything unexpected. Some years you won't use much of it, but sooner or later you will
I have a '98 840ci.
From a maintenance point of view it has the same engine as many 5 & 7 series of the time plus Range Rovers, so engines are pretty well covered by most decent mechanics and have no surprises. Ditto the auto trans.
The suspension at the front is pretty much identical to the E32, so again easily covered by most. I just had the control arm bushes swapped for £130.
Brakes are just the same if a little bigger and subject to more wear than any others. There can be a problem with ABS but pretty simple to fix.
There are hordes of electrical items, but by '98 any niggles seem to have been well sorted.
Pretty much everything is available from BMW, next day from Bracknell, but Euro Car Parts and GSF have all the common service/repair items much cheaper.
Day to day, insurance can be really cheap if on a classic policy, c£200, road tax is £190, the only big expense is fuel, but that is countered by not much depreciation. I would rather swap £3000 a year depreciation for 660 gallons of petrol, even at 15mpg thats almost 10,000 miles! (My OBC reckons 17.8 average)
So the answer is YES!
From a maintenance point of view it has the same engine as many 5 & 7 series of the time plus Range Rovers, so engines are pretty well covered by most decent mechanics and have no surprises. Ditto the auto trans.
The suspension at the front is pretty much identical to the E32, so again easily covered by most. I just had the control arm bushes swapped for £130.
Brakes are just the same if a little bigger and subject to more wear than any others. There can be a problem with ABS but pretty simple to fix.
There are hordes of electrical items, but by '98 any niggles seem to have been well sorted.
Pretty much everything is available from BMW, next day from Bracknell, but Euro Car Parts and GSF have all the common service/repair items much cheaper.
Day to day, insurance can be really cheap if on a classic policy, c£200, road tax is £190, the only big expense is fuel, but that is countered by not much depreciation. I would rather swap £3000 a year depreciation for 660 gallons of petrol, even at 15mpg thats almost 10,000 miles! (My OBC reckons 17.8 average)
So the answer is YES!
Ean218 said:
I have a '98 840ci.
From a maintenance point of view it has the same engine as many 5 & 7 series of the time plus Range Rovers, so engines are pretty well covered by most decent mechanics and have no surprises. Ditto the auto trans.
The suspension at the front is pretty much identical to the E32, so again easily covered by most. I just had the control arm bushes swapped for £130.
Brakes are just the same if a little bigger and subject to more wear than any others. There can be a problem with ABS but pretty simple to fix.
There are hordes of electrical items, but by '98 any niggles seem to have been well sorted.
Pretty much everything is available from BMW, next day from Bracknell, but Euro Car Parts and GSF have all the common service/repair items much cheaper.
Day to day, insurance can be really cheap if on a classic policy, c£200, road tax is £190, the only big expense is fuel, but that is countered by not much depreciation. I would rather swap £3000 a year depreciation for 660 gallons of petrol, even at 15mpg thats almost 10,000 miles! (My OBC reckons 17.8 average)
So the answer is YES!
Me too. 98 Sport. Make sure you go for a Sport or at least the 4.4 M62. Superb car. Not the very quickest on earth but matters not! Mine has just turned over 100k miles and still feels as solid and tight as my previous one that I bought new in 98! I have a great local indie garage that doesn any work required which up to now has been minimal. From a maintenance point of view it has the same engine as many 5 & 7 series of the time plus Range Rovers, so engines are pretty well covered by most decent mechanics and have no surprises. Ditto the auto trans.
The suspension at the front is pretty much identical to the E32, so again easily covered by most. I just had the control arm bushes swapped for £130.
Brakes are just the same if a little bigger and subject to more wear than any others. There can be a problem with ABS but pretty simple to fix.
There are hordes of electrical items, but by '98 any niggles seem to have been well sorted.
Pretty much everything is available from BMW, next day from Bracknell, but Euro Car Parts and GSF have all the common service/repair items much cheaper.
Day to day, insurance can be really cheap if on a classic policy, c£200, road tax is £190, the only big expense is fuel, but that is countered by not much depreciation. I would rather swap £3000 a year depreciation for 660 gallons of petrol, even at 15mpg thats almost 10,000 miles! (My OBC reckons 17.8 average)
So the answer is YES!
Look out for ABS warning lights and no doubt some pixels will have failed on the OBC. If its an ABS issue then it can be resolved for way less than a main dealers fee. Lots of info on www.8er.org
Choose colour carefully and avoid Barbados.
Godo luck..Post some pics up if you get one. Pic of mine on profile
Seb d said:
Yes Had my 840 for about 18 months now and while it's been expensive it's not been a crippling experience and I love it so in my current frame of mind I consider it all to be money relatively well spent.
Saw your dyno thingy in your mag Seb. How is the old bus? Are you doing anything special for the 20th anniversary? Had my 840 for about 18 months now and while it's been expensive it's not been a crippling experience and I love it so in my current frame of mind I consider it all to be money relatively well spent. E31Shrew said:
Seb d said:
Yes Had my 840 for about 18 months now and while it's been expensive it's not been a crippling experience and I love it so in my current frame of mind I consider it all to be money relatively well spent.
Saw your dyno thingy in your mag Seb. How is the old bus? Are you doing anything special for the 20th anniversary? Had my 840 for about 18 months now and while it's been expensive it's not been a crippling experience and I love it so in my current frame of mind I consider it all to be money relatively well spent. 
V12Les said:
As an ordinary bloke you can run an 840...but not an 850
well....I told I'm quite ordinary but I'd be happy to prove people wrong - I'm running a 1997 850 and it's not that bad, mind you, in the engine department you've got two of everything which can add up a little.Plus the real problem is the temptation to spend wads of cash on little necessary "improvements" - especially when you join the owners' club and see what's around :-)
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