Discussion
A friend of mine has had one from new (still under warranty) and I have had the pleasure of driving and being a passenger in it many times. To sum up, I love it, what a car! It looks fantastic, is lovely to sit in (could descibe it as a cockpit) and it is very fast. Oooodles of torque (more torque than power), and first cousin of Macca F1 engine. I love the little touches as well, eg self sealing windows/door mirrors drop when you put it in reverse/pillarless windows/4 wheel steer/fly by wire throttle etc etc etc. Unfortunately there are downsides, when you are pushing on you can feel the weight and it is very wide and very long. Cost a fortune to run, if he didn't have a warranty...big/huge bills.
If had to choose a car to drive across Europe in, this would be right up there, it is one of the greats! A technological tour de force!
I have no idea how many there are, I can tell they are rare.
>> Edited by chippy17 on Tuesday 7th March 15:10
If had to choose a car to drive across Europe in, this would be right up there, it is one of the greats! A technological tour de force!
I have no idea how many there are, I can tell they are rare.
>> Edited by chippy17 on Tuesday 7th March 15:10
Not that rare, but bloody nice car. Fuel consumption 16 around town and 20-22 on a motorway so pretty thirsty.
I would question why if you say you never cared for them you want one now.
The engine isn't very exciting in the boy racer sense. It'll be beaten by some very normal looking hot hatches and fairly standard sporty saloons for acceleration.
But its IMHO one of the greater Grand tourers ever made.
I would question why if you say you never cared for them you want one now.
The engine isn't very exciting in the boy racer sense. It'll be beaten by some very normal looking hot hatches and fairly standard sporty saloons for acceleration.
But its IMHO one of the greater Grand tourers ever made.
Julian64 said:
The engine isn't very exciting in the boy racer sense. It'll be beaten by some very normal looking hot hatches and fairly standard sporty saloons for acceleration.
I wouldn't go so far as to say the engine is boring, perhaps a little muted and undertuned. As for being beaten by hot hatches, perhaps 0-60/standing start, but other than that I seriously doubt it...
Julian64 said:
Not that rare, but bloody nice car. Fuel consumption 16 around town and 20-22 on a motorway so pretty thirsty.
I would question why if you say you never cared for them you want one now.
The engine isn't very exciting in the boy racer sense. It'll be beaten by some very normal looking hot hatches and fairly standard sporty saloons for acceleration.
But its IMHO one of the greater Grand tourers ever made.
I think you're misunderstanding, I'm talking about the 850C[B]S[/B]i not the normal 8-series Ci - it's what would've been the M8 but never was.
Has an 'M' 4-valve per cylinder V12 versus the normal 2-valve V12.
www.850csi.de/navtechnik_e.html
They used to have videos hoted there, but they no longer work. Sounded brilliant especially with 6-speed manual, and fast too. Shame it's still ~1.9 tons though.
pentoman said:
Not that rare, but bloody nice car. Fuel consumption 16 around town and 20-22 on a motorway so pretty thirsty.
I would question why if you say you never cared for them you want one now.
The engine isn't very exciting in the boy racer sense. It'll be beaten by some very normal looking hot hatches and fairly standard sporty saloons for acceleration.
But its IMHO one of the greater Grand tourers ever made.
I think you're misunderstanding, I'm talking about the 850C[B]S[/B]i not the normal 8-series Ci - it's what would've been the M8 but never was.
Has an 'M' 4-valve per cylinder V12 versus the normal 2-valve V12.
www.850csi.de/navtechnik_e.html
They used to have videos hoted there, but they no longer work. Sounded brilliant especially with 6-speed manual, and fast too. Shame it's still ~1.9 tons though.
yes I am talking about the CSI as well and you will not be disapointed with the performance, just looked at the pics on the link you posted, even today it is such a good looking car and all for £85k in 1993!!!
B17NNS said:
torque
remember clarkson testing one when they first came out on top gear.
he was parked up, put it into fifth and drove off..
It had six gears and I think he put it in six and drove off. The eight was 'just' capable of doing that but would require a lot of slipping of the clutch to do it.
From 500 rpm however you could forget about the clutch and just put your foot straight to the floor. Or was he using an automatic stuck in fifth gear, at which point he'd just be cheating?
I'm certainly not knocking the 850i 850Ci or CSI. I would however knock the v8's for being a compromised to the fuel crisis.
I loved the car, a lot. But it wasn't a boy racer car, even the Csi wasn't a boy racer car, and the weight of the car could be a real handful in a corner.
I have the original roadtest on the car at home where they compared it fairly unfavourably and unfairly with an XJS, and a ferrari. It lost out to both on a track, and to lose out to an XJS was dissappointing.
The times I drove a CSI it didn't seem that different to my 850i, although it had a good extra bhp, it also held a whopping 100Kg extra weight penalty from the all wheel and suspension rubbish that did little to help its handling. That website you posted illustrates that with only a second difference in acceleration and kilometer travelled figures.
but it sounds like I'm knocking the car and I'm not. I recently sold mine, and I currently have an M5, TVR Cerbera, and an AC Cobra. So ask me why I recently made the guy I sold it to an offer to buy it back?
Julian64 said:
torque
remember clarkson testing one when they first came out on top gear.
he was parked up, put it into fifth and drove off..
It had six gears and I think he put it in six and drove off. The eight was 'just' capable of doing that but would require a lot of slipping of the clutch to do it.
From 500 rpm however you could forget about the clutch and just put your foot straight to the floor. Or was he using an automatic stuck in fifth gear, at which point he'd just be cheating?
I'm certainly not knocking the 850i 850Ci or CSI. I would however knock the v8's for being a compromised to the fuel crisis.
I loved the car, a lot. But it wasn't a boy racer car, even the Csi wasn't a boy racer car, and the weight of the car could be a real handful in a corner.
I have the original roadtest on the car at home where they compared it fairly unfavourably and unfairly with an XJS, and a ferrari. It lost out to both on a track, and to lose out to an XJS was dissappointing.
The times I drove a CSI it didn't seem that different to my 850i, although it had a good extra bhp, it also held a whopping 100Kg extra weight penalty from the all wheel and suspension rubbish that did little to help its handling. That website you posted illustrates that with only a second difference in acceleration and kilometer travelled figures.
but it sounds like I'm knocking the car and I'm not. I recently sold mine, and I currently have an M5, TVR Cerbera, and an AC Cobra. So ask me why I recently made the guy I sold it to an offer to buy it back?
yes I remember that Clarkson review now you mention it, I recall he rather liked it! I also remember it being reviewed against the 'new' DB7 and 928GT in Performance Car, beat them both.
I would agree re the handling, you could sum it up by saying 'good for its size and weight' but IMO it was a fair bit faster than the 850i...
chippy17 said:
torque
remember clarkson testing one when they first came out on top gear.
he was parked up, put it into fifth and drove off..
It had six gears and I think he put it in six and drove off. The eight was 'just' capable of doing that but would require a lot of slipping of the clutch to do it.
From 500 rpm however you could forget about the clutch and just put your foot straight to the floor. Or was he using an automatic stuck in fifth gear, at which point he'd just be cheating?
I'm certainly not knocking the 850i 850Ci or CSI. I would however knock the v8's for being a compromised to the fuel crisis.
I loved the car, a lot. But it wasn't a boy racer car, even the Csi wasn't a boy racer car, and the weight of the car could be a real handful in a corner.
I have the original roadtest on the car at home where they compared it fairly unfavourably and unfairly with an XJS, and a ferrari. It lost out to both on a track, and to lose out to an XJS was dissappointing.
The times I drove a CSI it didn't seem that different to my 850i, although it had a good extra bhp, it also held a whopping 100Kg extra weight penalty from the all wheel and suspension rubbish that did little to help its handling. That website you posted illustrates that with only a second difference in acceleration and kilometer travelled figures.
but it sounds like I'm knocking the car and I'm not. I recently sold mine, and I currently have an M5, TVR Cerbera, and an AC Cobra. So ask me why I recently made the guy I sold it to an offer to buy it back?
yes I remember that Clarkson review now you mention it, I recall he rather liked it! I also remember it being reviewed against the 'new' DB7 and 928GT in Performance Car, beat them both.
I would agree re the handling, you could sum it up by saying 'good for its size and weight' but IMO it was a fair bit faster than the 850i...
Yep I think you could sum it up by saying that if ever a car shouldn't be judged by its specs than this was it. Clarkson, I think took a DB9 to the south of france and commented that he arrived feeling fresh as a daisy. The 8 series was/is that sort of car, quite a rare thing in a car, and even at ten years old still looked great. Unarguably the best looking car BMW ever made.
Of course I am biased but I think its a better looking car than a DB9.
Julian64 said:
torque
remember clarkson testing one when they first came out on top gear.
he was parked up, put it into fifth and drove off..
It had six gears and I think he put it in six and drove off. The eight was 'just' capable of doing that but would require a lot of slipping of the clutch to do it.
From 500 rpm however you could forget about the clutch and just put your foot straight to the floor. Or was he using an automatic stuck in fifth gear, at which point he'd just be cheating?
I'm certainly not knocking the 850i 850Ci or CSI. I would however knock the v8's for being a compromised to the fuel crisis.
I loved the car, a lot. But it wasn't a boy racer car, even the Csi wasn't a boy racer car, and the weight of the car could be a real handful in a corner.
I have the original roadtest on the car at home where they compared it fairly unfavourably and unfairly with an XJS, and a ferrari. It lost out to both on a track, and to lose out to an XJS was dissappointing.
The times I drove a CSI it didn't seem that different to my 850i, although it had a good extra bhp, it also held a whopping 100Kg extra weight penalty from the all wheel and suspension rubbish that did little to help its handling. That website you posted illustrates that with only a second difference in acceleration and kilometer travelled figures.
but it sounds like I'm knocking the car and I'm not. I recently sold mine, and I currently have an M5, TVR Cerbera, and an AC Cobra. So ask me why I recently made the guy I sold it to an offer to buy it back?
yes I remember that Clarkson review now you mention it, I recall he rather liked it! I also remember it being reviewed against the 'new' DB7 and 928GT in Performance Car, beat them both.
I would agree re the handling, you could sum it up by saying 'good for its size and weight' but IMO it was a fair bit faster than the 850i...
Yep I think you could sum it up by saying that if ever a car shouldn't be judged by its specs than this was it. Clarkson, I think took a DB9 to the south of france and commented that he arrived feeling fresh as a daisy. The 8 series was/is that sort of car, quite a rare thing in a car, and even at ten years old still looked great. Unarguably the best looking car BMW ever made.
Of course I am biased but I think its a better looking car than a DB9.
What gets me is the 8 series is better looking more technologically advanced and weighs about the same as the new 6 series and the 6 is selling better, perhaps it was timing, there was a recession in the early 90s and it was quite expensive!...the 8 was a showcase for their expertise so in that sense it probably was the best car they ever made. IMO it is one of the best looking cars ever made, I think you can tell I am a bit of a fan!
[/quote]
Has an 'M' 4-valve per cylinder V12 versus the normal 2-valve V12.
[/quote]
Sorry but the CSI also has 2valve heads it's block gained 4valve heads from the M3 for the Mclaren F1.
It gains the extra power (80bhp over the 5.0L varient) with a higher CR and stiffer cam along with a capacity increase to 5.6L.
I'd have an 850 instead of the M3, but the wife doesn't like the shape which is a shame as I much prefer it to the M3.
Has an 'M' 4-valve per cylinder V12 versus the normal 2-valve V12.
[/quote]
Sorry but the CSI also has 2valve heads it's block gained 4valve heads from the M3 for the Mclaren F1.
It gains the extra power (80bhp over the 5.0L varient) with a higher CR and stiffer cam along with a capacity increase to 5.6L.
I'd have an 850 instead of the M3, but the wife doesn't like the shape which is a shame as I much prefer it to the M3.
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