850CSi Brings Manual V12 Goodness, Fetches Huge Auction Price
Beautiful 850CSi coupe offers the rare chance to row through gears manually with a V12 Engine. Unfortunately, it comes at quite a cost.
The first iteration of the BMW 8 Series, which first appeared in 1990, is an absolutely stunning coupe. Though it was short-lived, it has a cult following of diehard enthusiasts who keep them on the roads. BMW offered this line-topping beast with either a V8 or V12 engine. Additionally, both powerplants were available with a manual transmission. However, seeing a manual V12 8 Series for sale in the U.S. is not all that common, especially if it’s the 8 Series cream of the crop, the 850CSI.
Proving that sentiment is the fact that this stunningly beautiful 1994 BMW 850CSi on Bring a Trailer just sold for an eye-watering figure. This beautiful Oxford Green coupe with black leather interior has 83,000 original miles and nearly fetched a dollar per mile. The hammer dropped at a whopping $77,031. We know that’s a weird bid. That’s also a ton of money. Then again, it’s a ton of car. Considering its rarity, it’s likely only going to go up from here.
The Perfect Blend of Sport, Luxury, and Style
Under the hood of the 850CSi is the legendary BMW S70 5.6-liter V12 engine. The S70 is the spiciest version of the iconic BMW V12 that, in essence, came from slamming two M20 inline six-cylinder engines together. It even uses two distributors and two ignition coils, effectively making two straight sixes hum together in perfect harmony. Additionally, the foundation of the S70 engine is what also went behind the driver’s seat of the almighty McLaren F1.
This harmony resulted in a whopping 375 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. That’s more power than you got out of a Ferrari 348 and nearly the same torque figure as the Lamborghini Diablo. Best of all, though, BMW mated this particular example’s V12 engine to a six-speed manual transmission.
According to the Bring A Trailer listing, only 225 of these beasts ever made it to the United States. According to NADA Guides, their original MSRP was a soul-crushing $98,500. That works out to over $190,000 in today’s money with inflation.
This 850CSi Is Likely a Solid Investment
Although over $77,000 may seem like a lot for a BMW that is nearly three decades old at this point, this was probably a relatively secure investment. After all, another 1994 850CSi with over 106,000 miles was sold on Cars and Bids back in November of 2020 for $63,581. Of course, it’s hard to say what this one would have sold for within that time frame, but it’s safe to assume it was likely far less than this buyer just paid.
We don’t anticipate this vehicle is going to be any sort of daily driver. However, it is nice to see that a one of only 225 BMW was driven like it should have been for at least the first couple of decades it was around. These CSis lived their lives, and now they’re garage queens and collector’s items. That’s fine, though, so long as we get to see them every once in a while.
Photos: Bring a Trailer