1997 840Cia on Trademe

[LemonHunter 583]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=1175864433

It looks in amazing condition, I doubt anyone has ever sat in the back looking at the leather.

Has only been driven an average of 1000k  year for the last decade. https://carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=WG8101

Other than fancy seats the options list is pretty uninspiring, but hey, it is an 840 http://www.etkbmw.com/bmw/EN/vin/decoder/CB97510/EN/

 

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

Lovely example! But pipe and slippers spec :-(

[Eagle 1680]

Would of thought it would be packing the M62 motor

[Michael. 2313]

That's one really nice E31

4.0 M60, as its a 840i

4.4 M62s were in the 840Ci versions. 

It's actually a 840i, with a changed badge, cheeky. 

I don't think it matters which engine they have really, E31 should have come with an S62 as a factory option, and a rack & pinion front steering setup. 

[polley 916]

9 minutes ago, Michael. said:

 

I don't think it matters which engine they have really, E31 should have come with an S62 as a factory option, and a rack & pinion front steering setup. 

Yeah, the V12's are too lazy for the cars looks and dosent sound right. At least the V8 ones make the right noise, just need a bit more power. S62 would of been good.

[Michael. 2313]

28 minutes ago, polley said:

Yeah, the V12's are too lazy for the cars looks and dosent sound right. At least the V8 ones make the right noise, just need a bit more power. S62 would of been good.

yeah, such a dosey engine, in sound and performance. Never stacked up to the original asking price!

The V8 S62 would have made much more sense, especially as the CSi version. But then I suppose they didn't appear until the late 90s. 

[ssbmw 223]

Pretty sure this popped up for sale in Wgtn 2-3 years ago for Low $20's. To be fair, looks like a solid car. For whatever reason, wasn't a highly spec'd example. A set of style 5's or some M Parallels coupled with a CSI body kit would add so much to the aesthetics. We still seem to have some (relatively) Low k examples around in NZ with good provenance. 

[treone 649]

Yip this was a Wellington car and was looked after by local BMW dealer. I parked my 1996 840ci next to this in their car park one time and noticed the key mechanical differences - 4.4 v 4.0, tiptronic v standard auto etc. I asked why the differences as they later model didn't seem right - the 4.4 and tiptronic came standard in mid-1996. Was told that they were produced for different markets but I didn't believe them :-). Mine was a March 1996 car and came from the UK. This one I suspect is probably has an early build date and first registered in 1997... but I can be mistaken.

[ssbmw 223]

Yes- from memory this was like more than a few E31's in the 90's - they sat around for awhile before being sold. Pretty sure this one is actually a 94'or 95' build. Mine was built in March 96 but sold in Aug 98. Once again though most of the other examples in NZ of the same vintage had better options than this particular example. This spec is similar to early 850i's - circa 1990. 

Edited October 9, 2016 by ssbmw

[Autoglym 255]

If I remember correctly when I worked at Shellys in Wellington, it was owned by a local surgeon, he also had a Jenson Interceptor, I recall his wife came to pick it up one day, I gave her the keys, we had parked it in the drive for her, she came back a few minutes later, she said I can't tell which car it is?? I took her out to the drive, there happened to be two other Boston Green cars there, one 3 series & one 5 series, she couldn't tell, even with a remote key!!

man did I laugh!!

[TermiPeteNZ 1319]

Think I use to hang out a bit with the son of said surgeon. Lived in Karori, city end ....

[Matth5 471]

Someone needs to swap in an E39 M5 engine and gearbox. Perfect one to use since it's got the crappiest engine and transmission they'd have. 

[Neal 549]

19 hours ago, TermiPeteNZ said:

Think I use to hang out a bit with the son of said surgeon. Lived in Karori, city end ....

Surname starting with K.

same Wellington car ? Orginal owner had passed away and the car had 97,000 kms in 2014. Was immaculate then and still looks as good.

Isn't 210 kw enough ?

[treone 649]

Agree that this an immaculate example. However... something like this would be nice!

http://www.carpoint.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=SSE-AD-4104753&Cr=3

[ssbmw 223]

I have seen this for sale in Aussie for awhile- think he wanted over $100k awhile back. Agreed - seriously cool. I think there are well over 3 S62 conversions though around the world. 

Secondly, as much as it is oozes cool, I personally would rather have a factory original 850csi. For this type of money you'd secure a Low k, lovely example. 

[Matth5 471]

21 minutes ago, ssbmw said:

Secondly, as much as it is oozes cool, I personally would rather have a factory original 850csi. For this type of money you'd secure a Low k, lovely example. 

Even if you could find an 850csi for sale, I think it would be very, very expensive. Probably more expensive than getting an 840i and doing the S62 conversion.
Used S62 engines are roughly $10k on Ebay.

There's at least one S85 (M5 V10) conversion out there too. That would also be pretty bad-ass.

If I had the money, I might do it. The thought of it is pretty awesome, in my opinion.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Matth5

[ssbmw 223]

Agreed, definitely  cheaper than a 850csi. I think it also begs the question then- what is the market value of a lovely, yet un-original car like that?   No doubt this S62 'transplant' was done very well. However, it has been marketed for a little while now,with no bite.  The performance must be incredible - as my 4.4 manual is a lovely car to drive already with a plain M62. 

What would people pay for an E31 with a S62? Not my cup of tea as I love originality yet it is rather compelling as the car's looks befits that type of performance! $40-$50k in NZ??

 

 

 

[Matth5 471]

I reckon most people are wary of buying another person's custom job, hard to judge the workmanship. You never know what corners were cut ect. Same reason modded cars are harder to see. People would rather mod it themselves. 

Only certain types of enthusiasts will see the appeal, so the market is pretty small. Only way I'd spend that much money on a custom car is if it's exactly as I'd want it (or very close, maybe). For example, I wont buy that one on carpoint.com.au, wrong colour, and I really dislike that leather colour too, I'd rather buy the black one in the OP and arrange conversion work myself so I can have it done my way.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Matth5

[NZ BMW 368]

The way I look at it, a big coupe like this is more of a grant tourer than a hard track/sports car. In that way the transplants of M powered engines into them is not as desirable as people might think.