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!

Hi Neil, You could be right. I know of 2 examples of the 3.6's that were sold new - a white example (sadly now written off) and a Macao Blue example formerly in the Whangarei area - now residing in the Wellington region. I also remember an NZ new 3.8 5- speed surfacing from Whanganui around 2008 - it was in Avus blue for memory, and was sold to a gentleman in Auckland. The other 3.8 5 speed I am aware of is the pristine Daytona violet example that has been marketed a few times over the last 5-6 years; most recently for sale in Christchurch until this very week for $99000. However, about 3-4 years this very same discussion came up on this site (which is a remarkable repository of knowledge on NZ BMW's). Some guy on this site (I have forgotten who sorry) who knew what he was talking about recited a list of 3.8 5-speed cars sold in NZ. The figure was around 7-8. I was shocked - for a long time the word on the street was that NZ only got 2 3.6's and no examples of the 3.8's.

I don’t believe it will last long. Great colour/ interior. The majority of 3.6 E34’s in nz are imported. Story I heard was that only 3 3.6’s were delivered new, and about 7 3.8 5- speeds. The first 2 generations of M5’s were sold in such small numbers in NZ.

Interesting how an Australian is asking questions- despite their intensive importing processes and relatively high import costs, our prices are compelling compared to their prices. A few Kiwi 8’s have been shipped over the ditch recently. This seems like a nice car. However without a CSI body-kit that many later 840i’s were optioned with, coupled with some pretty average wheels - this car in my opinion simply doesn’t excite!

Nice work Julian! Nice clear indicator lenses too. Love how the buffalo hide is looking lots better too. Ross from BM workshop is a good man and it’s nice there are people still out there who have the knowledge and experience in working on these modern classics which are nigh on 40 years old now. A friend of mine who was heavily involved during the infancy of the BMW community claims that Mark only used high octane aviation fuel on your M635!

This is a cool looking car with body kit and clear lenses. No doubt a bit of fun with a M88/3 power plant. However, not sure that the demand is there for a car like this at that price point.

Julian, you are the perfect owner. Nice to hear that it is now being driven. I remember Mark telling me how he wanted his M635 to be unique - and he certainly did a great job by sourcing the Schnitzer body kit, and customising a rear whale- tail whilst embarking on getting Dinan engine mods. However after all of that, they stopped driving it - and parked it at the back of their garage. Don't know what the mileage is now, but it was one of the lowest in the country for an E24 M635. Glad it also remained in New Zealand. About 6 (mixture of NZ new and ex UK imports) have now been shipped to Australia! One that was sold for $34k in Auckland in 2017 is now for sale in Melbourne for $185,000 AUD!

Wow there has been plenty of discussion on a Facebook site for Australasian 8 series owner about the Dakar yellow example- they are all saying it is cheap! Your car has the 4.4 M62 V8 too! I heard about your car nearly 20 years ago when a friend did research- trying to track a 8 series for sale. Your mileage is really low and I remember it was orient blue. good luck! Sounds like a great car.

They are 'boulevard cruisers' - designed to be comfortable, and great for long drives. They were my 2nd love behind the M635csi - the original M6. The M6's only came with a manual transmission and were more sporty (mainly due to the nature of the race-bred M88/3 power plant). However, my 840ci had a 4.4 manual gear-box coupled with sports suspension -which was a far more entertaining drive than the automatic variants I sampled. However, the automatics are still great with both V12 and v8 formats- they provide a very smooth drive. They were made very well, and the interior is a nice place to be. They are not outrageously fast by modern standards - but can still generate decent speeds. Where they show up a little - is around the twisties - it's a big car without the technology of what you get with suspension today on large performance cars - my E39 M5 for example is a different beast. They were however never designed to be M3's - that was never the point. My buddy Treone, fellow Bimmersporter is an ardent BMW enthusiast who has owned 3 E31's and he told me that they handled better than a modern Monaro he owned (hope he pipes up). The 8's are still a very nice car to drive - even today. Depends on who you are - but I always found the rare manual options more compelling to drive - and in an ideal world would loved to have owned my ultimate version - the super rare M-fettled 850csi!

Yes do it @treone - you could replicate this in your backyard ...

I live in the USA so I was initially confused why he would make this purchase. Doing a little due diligence looking at the cars sold/available in the USA- there is a shortage of E34 M5’s in the iconic, eye-catching M colours like Daytona violet. Everything seems to be in white or black with the standard leather interiors. This ex-Christchurch car spent the majority of its time near Wellington. I had heard of this car for years - people talked about this purple M5 with m cloth interior- a spec I similarly coveted. My buddy owns a white ex-UK M5 that was brought into NZ and has black leather with M cloth inserts. So insanely cool too! So I get it. This cat in Illinois was not going to find one like this in the USA very easily - despite the population. Awesome spec.