Automotive

Cruising at triple digits speeds was unlike anything else in the 850, the v12 was ever present but so smooth and would hum away on the freeway. Cabin ergonomics were some of the best in nay car I've every driven, the b-pillarless design plus a sunroof made the car a fun and airy drive weekend driver with a great greenhouse despite the low roofline, and the 6 speed made it silly car in first and second with great torque off the line. I used to sometimes start in 3rd if I was feeling lazy or it was snowing out. Yup, drove it year round on summer tires. By today's standards it's a small car, when the new 6 series came out I remember pulling up next to one and being shocked to find the top of the door was almost at eye level. Compared to the epas systems today, the 8 had way better steering feel, and 4k lbs isn't really a heavy car anymore. It's modern enough it has most of the conveniences we need and 300 ish hp with a manual is plenty for a weekend car. My car had custom sway bars with welded subframe reinforcements, stiffer springs/shocks, poly bushings all around, enlarged intake manifolds, shorter final drive LSD from a 750, and the old school ecu tune that required swapping eproms

At the time I think the 850 was a failure because it was so much bigger than the cars the came before it. Next to my E28 which seated 4 comfortably, the 850 was gigantic, soft, and heavy while feeling tiny inside. The automatics were TERRIBLE and totally masked the character of the v12 and while it was fastish, the design made it look faster than it was. If it has been designed to look like a bentley no problem but since it looked more like a ferrari, perceived performance was a little disappointing unless you got the CSI which even then was probably outclassed by the 3.8L E34M5, only 340hp an down on torque but a more aggressive sporty engine in a lighter chassis and quicker shifting 6 speed. Today though, taken on it's own instead of relative to the pack at the time, it's such a unique and pleasant driving experience that I would love to have one if space allowed. Maintenance was not as bad as the media made them out to be, just electronics here and there to be replaced and of course you have to buy two of everything over the previous BMW i6 models, but the engine and transmission were overbuilt so mechanically these things were tanks.

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