ssbmw

You know it’s funny. A good old friend of mine who told me me so much about BMW’s from the 70’s and 80’s told me repeatedly too that the 840’s equipped with the 6 speed manuals were so much rarer than 850csi’s ( in rhd). He was right. Only 54 with the M60 4.0, and 3 with the M62, 4.4. Our NZ new 840 6 speeds’ were even appointed with the Euro CSI body kits ( including mirrors that the Us spec CSi’s never got). I have a good friend who has 2 NZ new examples- lucky boy! I miss my 8 - it was a stunning car and only had 53,000 k’s so drove like new.

I wonder how many CSI’s are in NZ now? We had none originally ( Oz had 2-3). A few have come through. At one stage, Mr Alan Ferguson imported a number of special E31’s including Alpina’s, (not to mention CSI’s) but some have been shipped off shore now. I had a very rare 6 speed 840ci sport but always wanted a 850csi! The ultimate!

To be fair, I believe that car in Christchurch would be worth 90k all day if it wasn’t for its history. It’s a late model, LCI in a lovely color combination. Mileage is moderate. I believe that the E39 M5 with the lowest mileage that we know of in NZ sold for around the $100 mark privately in the last year. A nice example. However, there is another special example lurking in NZ - in pristine, Lemans Blue. Equipped with a few very special mods, this car is off the market but the owner deems it to be a $110-$120k car. One might question that, but try getting another LCI, fully spec’d vehicle in the right colour - and of this incredible level of presentation. They just didn’t have that many in NZ. It’s pretty expensive to import one from the UK these days too. These cars are addictive- so many ‘car guys’ have one - they may not be new anymore- but they look and go great - an all time classic from BMW. Think I will be importing mine from the US one day!

Agreed the car has not been presented properly. Even the photos are a shambles versus the ones taken of the Lemans blue example in Christchurch. However, agreed, don’t think you can compare the selling price versus E60. Having owned a E39 M5 for 6 1/2 years, they are not that expensive to run versus an E60 M5 that comes unstuck. Lot less E39 M5’s too!

Sorry mate! There was a Bimmersporter here many years ago ( and I thought his name was Brad) and he managed to bring in this ex UK, beautiful purple 850csi ( Daytona violet or Technoviolet- can’t remember which one). It had clocked some relatively big miles but he couldn’t get compliance due to a nasty case of rust. There was talk of transplanting parts from a donor car - but never heard anymore. Would have been a magnificent car in its hey-day.

It’s a June 2000 production car that has been owned by a member of the NZ E39 M5 Facebook group’s father. It’s actually Oxford green 2, and is a pre LCI car ( a fair chunk of NZ cars were pre LCI) so has the older steering wheel and sat nav screen. 1/4 in Oxford in NZ ( known of) and the other 3 have caramel leather. The asking price is kind of commensurate of dealership prices in recent times. I think we can all remember how a cheap one a few years was around low $20’s and a minter was $40-$45. Sadly, those days are gone.

Hey Brad,, were you the Brad who talked about having one in purple- imported from the UK about 15-16 years ago???

I remember this car! Back in the early days, this and the hell red Ex Singaporean 850csi were the only ones to grace NZ roads. A number crept into the country after these cars. I heard that this car had a faulty AHK ( 4 wheel steering) system. Not sure if that was true. I was told it would cost $20k in NZ to repair. It was an option for all E31’s but the US 850csi’s didn’t have it as a standard option like the Euro 850csi’s. Apparently it really helps the handling!

Love the statement 'only 46 in this colour with a sunroof.' In actual fact - 556 were made in LMB in rhd. Most had sunroofs.

Hi James, I believe that your car may have had the DSP audio set up vs the M-audio that this car has been optioned with. I have the M-audio system identical to this on my M5. Irrespective of the 'M-Audio' moniker, I am not overly impressed with the sound- and it has been universally criticized - not befitting a sound system of a luxury car.

It’s been discussed many times over the years…. Rolled down a hill in Wellington… owner got a black one to replace it… this car was written off and put together and sold. Front end damaged… sold a few times over the years…. Now been traded into a Christchurch dealer. One of the most desirable colour / interior combo’s( despite the ostrich sports leather and titanium trim being the poverty pack option in its day).

This car has re-surfaced again Has been discussed numerous time over the years ! As mentioned, Bimmersport has been a great place for 'intel' over the years. The right colour and spec.

This is a great clip. I was astounded how good the mechanical condition of this car is in -despite the inter-galactic miles. Such a beautiful colour combo.

Gorgeous car man. Mauritius is such a period colour - lots of 850i's in the same colour . Wonder how many NZ cars were actually delivered - here is another example for a register. Shame that BMW hasn't got information on how many were sold per country. Even with the E39's - no one at head office can tell you. All we know is that 235 were sold to Australia / NZ.

Mate, I know that at one stage the owners were sending it from Wellington to Auckland annually to get it serviced! Lovely car - Macao is almost like a violet / blue colour and this one had full cream leather. HAd around 245,000 k's 20 years ago!