My BMW 850CSI and a friend's Ferrari F355

love your CSI...

 

de nada



will you consider selling the 850 when purchasing a new car?

 

ok compadre



love your car, we have a Portuguese member (docj) who also owns a 850CSI with a lot of alpina extras and is also a low mileage car...




passa pela Portugal Thread e diz olà...e sempre bom encontrar mais um compatriota por aqui

 

Not the same engine as the McLaren F1. The original 850Ci started with a 5.4 liter, 300 hp and moved up to 324 hp a couple of years into production. BMW was going to produce a vehicle actually called the M8 and built a 48 valve 12 cylinder engine that put out 550hp but nixed that project and decided to produce the 850Csi with a 5.6 liter, 24 valve, 380hp engine, 6 speed manual gearbox, improved suspension and some other goodies. The engine put in the McLaren F1 is the base M8 engine that started with 550hp but was upgraded to produce even more power and eventually produced 627hp. I loved the Csi but unfortunately, even though BMW allowed the engine numbering to show it to be an "M" engine, it was not the one originally planned for the car.

I believe you can see the difference between the two engines in the photos below. And that is my son waving out the passenger side of the McLaren F1 owned by my friend who allowed me the honor of having it for three days to drive.

I love the 850Csi and wish BMW had not killed them in the US. They continued to be produced in Europe until 1999 even though they had been dropped here several years earlier. The one in this thread is my favorite color in one. Maginficent. Beautiful car and I am envious that I do not own it.......

I sold the first 850ci in Texas and delivered it to a man in MIdland, Texas when they first came out. Later the same man bought a Csi. Later he bought a Countach, a Diablo, a MclarenF1(the one pictured below), an Enzo and now a Bugatti.
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Hi James
your insight into the CSi is indeed partly correct, it is not the F1 engine per se, but it is a derivative of the F1 engine. The basis for the CSi was the S70 engine, it is a smaller capacity 24V version of the S70, effectively detuned, and bears no resemblance to the M70 as fitted to the standard 850. In fact none of the parts are interchangeable with the M70 motor. This is also true for brake and suspension and engine management.
Also they did not produce the CSi beyond 1996.
Thanks for the pics, very nice.

 

Thanks for the correction Steve. I was attempting to pull facts back out of my memory from a number of years ago. I do not always remember everything ver batem but I knew it was not the same engine.

BTW, very nice car..........

Here is an interesting read about the car also.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.autocult.com.au/img/gallery/hologram110.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.autocult.com.au/NewsDetail.aspx%3Fid%3D148&h=350&w=480&sz=23&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=icWNHTdm0RfjqM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMcLaren%2BF1%2Bengine%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

 

Everyone wins in the S70 engine discussion and we all come away with more knowledge!

 

All the 850Csi's were 6 speed manual. The 850Ci was the automatic. Different engine dynamics, suspension, wheels and tires, seats etc.

Here are the specs on the CSi. Pretty impressive for the weight of the car.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fastestlaps.com/photos/BMW_850_CSi_(e31)_48013432e0f27.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fastestlaps.com/index.php%3Fpage_id%3Dcar%26car%3D48013403edfd1%26page%3Dlast&usg=__sDPL6KsHoicqCTzEx59ENxhh3Bs=&h=345&w=460&sz=31&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=t_yzEkgHdyQ6zM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBMW%2B850CSi%2Bengine%2Bspecs%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26sa%3DN

The 850 is a little heavy especially on the nose but is still quite a lot of fun to drive. It is more of a GT type coupe rather than a performance sports car like the 355.

 

I wouldn't rule out the 360 and because a lot more 360's were produced than 355's they are excellent value for money these days. More reliable, better build quality, faster and a lot more stable at high speed than the 355. I have to agree that it's difficult to beat the sound of a 355 in full song especially if fitted with a capristo exhaust but the 360 doesn't sound too bad either.

Beautiful 8 series by the way eventhough I don't like BMW. But as much as I dislike bmw's the 8 series is one of the few bmw's that I like (ok I admit it I'm a mercedes person!!!! ). My all time favourite BMW has to be the E30 M3 of the 80's.

 

It's different, but I like it. I also like the Technoviolet exterior.
Did any of the US cars come with headlight washers?