E31 850i

[duluth 41]

https://www.trademe.co.nz/3095161405

Wow.

 

[aja540i 1906]

Looks like it is probably a gorgeous car let down by below average photos! If you want 42k for your 850i spend a couple of minutes with a decent camera / phone in some decent light and get some decent photos, please!

[Michael. 2313]

They look so good with the right colour and having that front bumper extension. Style 5 wheels suit it perfectly too. 

[balancerider 758]

Great colour for one of these - missing the nice sports seats with extendable leg bolsters though.. Sreten from M539 Restorations makes these look straightforward to look after 😂

[coop 261]

Nice example. I would rather this over something new before the price is taken into account. 

 

But whats the go with the head of BMW of this era. Bloke must have had the largest garage. It seems every tidy model offered for sale was his car when it was new. 

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2958]

Or every person trying to sell their classic Bimmer is using the same BS to try and make their car sound more important.

No matter whose car it was it would still need to have number plates on it to be driven.

[Simca 49]

2 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Or every person trying to sell their classic Bimmer is using the same BS to try and make their car sound more important.

No matter whose car it was it would still need to have number plates on it to be driven.

I swear every e38 has the same story of "the President of BMW used to own this, I just cannot prove it" - like okay fellers, leave some buyers for the rest of our non-BMW-President-Owned cars.

[Bennyboy 199]

9 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Or every person trying to sell their classic Bimmer is using the same BS to try and make their car sound more important.

No matter whose car it was it would still need to have number plates on it to be driven.

That’s a good point, how long can you legally run a car on dealer plates for 🤨

[leichtbau 525]

14 hours ago, coop said:

 

But whats the go with the head of BMW of this era. Bloke must have had the largest garage. It seems every tidy model offered for sale was his car when it was new. 

TBF Mark Gilbert did have some awesome BMW’s during this era, the family had some cracking BMW’s in addition to whatever range topping car he would have had that week as CEO.

[balancerider 758]

I would imagine the performance isn't facemelting - 220kw seems light for a 5L V12. 'All terrain tyres' sound interesting...

Edited May 15, 2021 by balancerider

[aja540i 1906]

In 1991 a 5 litre V8 HSV only managed 180kw, so not too shabby for the day!

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2958]

4 hours ago, Bennyboy said:

That’s a good point, how long can you legally run a car on dealer plates for 🤨

Only whilst using it for “purposes pursuant to operating a vehicle business” or some such, which means only whilst doing a customer test drive.  

2 hours ago, leichtbau said:

The family had some cracking BMW’s in addition to whatever range topping car he would have had that week as CEO.

E31 would have been before the start of MGs reign as MD would it not? And i’d be most surprised if any of those vehicles would have been owned, rather than company cars or borrowed. 

[Michael. 2313]

Even the hottest cars of 1991 were around 400hp, maybe 450hp. Corvette ZR1, Testarossa, Viper V10... but all those were 100s of kgs lighter than the 8 series so extended the performance gap.

That said the Mercedes 6.0 V12 of 1991 was 400hp so showed up the 850i quite a bit..

I've always thought the 8 series should have come out as the 850 csi as the model from day one, 375hp would have made a lot more sense given the RRP. 

[balancerider 758]

3 hours ago, aja540i said:

In 1991 a 5 litre V8 HSV only managed 180kw, so not too shabby for the day!

Fair point - probably not fair to compare a diesel wagon to a 90's supercar 🙃

[Eagle 1662]

The M70 came out in '87 to take on the 5.6L V8 S class offerings at the time. May of worked for few years but given the tech it hasn't aged very well. The Mercedes V12 is in a different league, makes sense given the objective was the blow BMW's flagship away.

I agree with Mike, it should of had S70 but perhaps the RRP may of been too much.

[KwS 2425]

3 hours ago, aja540i said:

In 1991 a 5 litre V8 HSV only managed 180kw, so not too shabby for the day!

Not to mention the M70 puts out 450NM of torque....

[ssbmw 220]

Yes, it was a common theme to hear that the a particular 8 series during the 90's-  was the MD of BMW's personal transport! In other words, due to the asking price they didn't exactly race out of the dealership! My car is a 96'build but was sold new in 98' and is a 840ci sport - despite being cheaper than the V12! Gerry Hodges had a fantastic 6 speed 840ci that was a 95' build but sold in 1999' - leading may people to believe it had the M62 -opposed to the M60 V8 that it had.

I agree, shame the 850csi came later, and was poorly marketed / distributed by BMW (none came to NZ new) . Even today, many people are oblivious of how special the CSI was, and how different it was to the standard 850i. If it was launched at the outset of the release of the E31 it would have presented a totally different message to the market. Jeremy Clarkson was incredibly complimentary about the 850csi. The 8's are a very pretty car too - thie granite silber example looks superb. I'd add a CSI body kit / M mirrors to give it a little more presence though! 

 

[coop 261]

19 hours ago, aja540i said:

In 1991 a 5 litre V8 HSV only managed 180kw, so not too shabby for the day!

To be fair, if you’re going to compare top of the range, the VN Group A SS was 290hp/215kw. 
As far as power goes the M70 was decent in the late ‘80s but a disappointment to carry it through into the ‘90s for flag ship models when the game had moved on.
Coupled with the E32s ultra tall gearing made it a bit of a slug. The 560 Benz walks away from it. The m60/m62 v8s showed them up. 
Unsure if the first E31s had the same gearing as the E32, but I think the lack of performance from them can be excused with how they look. 

[KwS 2425]

15 hours ago, coop said:

To be fair, if you’re going to compare top of the range, the VN Group A SS was 290hp/215kw. 
As far as power goes the M70 was decent in the late ‘80s but a disappointment to carry it through into the ‘90s for flag ship models when the game had moved on.
Coupled with the E32s ultra tall gearing made it a bit of a slug. The 560 Benz walks away from it. The m60/m62 v8s showed them up. 
Unsure if the first E31s had the same gearing as the E32, but I think the lack of performance from them can be excused with how they look. 

I'm not convinced the comparison would be the Group A SS as that was a limited release motorsport model. That would be a competitor to something like the 850csi. 

The top mass production model would've been the Clubsport. 

[coop 261]

35 minutes ago, KwS said:

I'm not convinced the comparison would be the Group A SS as that was a limited release motorsport model. That would be a competitor to something like the 850csi. 

The top mass production model would've been the Clubsport. 

Fair enough but in that case there’s really no comparison at all. 
A budget four door sedan with a V8 to a high end German grand tourer V12 coupe? 
Fact is someone who forked out mega dollars for an 850i in the early 1990s had comparable power to a V8 Holden which cast iron block and heads dates back to the ‘60s. 
‘91 had the 200kw VP GTS/Senator, 1993 the VR stroker 215kw and 95 the 225kw.