BMW 850i 1991

Reluctant sale of my immaculate 850i.  I bought this car to appear in a forthcoming sci-fi film and my original plan was to keep it simply until the release of the film in which it appears.  You can see the car in action in the film's trailer (search for 'Narcopolis trailer').

However. the film's release date now looks like being late 2014. by which time my eldest son will be 17 and I will need to find something for him to drive which is insurable (so sadly not an 850i). As a result. I'm starting to look for a buyer.

I have owned the car since March 2011. It had lots of previous owners (around 12) and was generally feeling a bit sorry for itself. I spent over £2k to get it through the MOT (mainly on steering/suspension) and then another £4k at the start of 2012 with Chris Burton to get everything else done. including:

1. Replace power steering pump.
2. Supply and fit HID lighting system to dipped beam front lights.
5. Replace boot wiring loom
7. Drivers seat twisting in to centre tunnel – strip out and replace drive cable adjust and reset.
8. Remove roof card and A / C posts – re-trim in new auto roof fabric (light grey)
9. Examine rear sun blind operation – faulty rear drive motor. Remove interior seating (rear) remove motor from carrier and harness.
10. Re- trim parcel shelf with auto fabric (black)
16. Battery drain established as boot wiring issue
18. Fit Becker Indianapolis radio – complete re- wire speaker cabling through car as BMW line cables heavily modified from previous installation
21. Attend to rear shock absorber top mounts pulled through
22. Address excessive play in front brake reaction arms
23. Address excessive play in rear tie rod bushes to body
24. Address excessive play in rear upper control arms
28. Established Brake servo assist leaking from rear connection to brake master cylinder.
29. Front wheel alignment – due to track rod change

Since then it's been pretty much trouble-free.  Total mileage is almost 150k (it was around 144k when I bought it).  The only mechanical issues have been:

- persistent battery drain: eventually traced and fixed; new batteries fitted a few months ago
- has gone into 'limp home' mode twice: first time was failed cam position sensor. second time failed MAF sensor (both replaced).
- new front wheel bearings (no shimmy!)

The bumpers have just been resprayed and the wheels refurbished. so it looks pristine.  You can see lots more photos of the car on Flickr; I can send a link if you PM me.

The only current issues are that the rear sunblind has broken again (not the motor but one of the fittings) and the headlining is coming a bit unstuck in a couple of places.  I can get both of these fixed if the buyer wants; neither issue particularly bothers me at the moment.  All the electrical items and aircon are working fine. and the car pulls like the proverbial train.  As mentioned above. it passed the MOT in early March and is taxed until the end of next March.

The 850i is a rare car. particularly with a high specification like mine.  According to the main registry. it seems that 1. 46 850i (or 850Ci) automatics were made for the UK market (or other Euro RHD markets). Of these. only 41 were granite silver (there were also 2 850 CSis in that colour). There were also only 31 UK 850is with black buffalo leather interior (of which I suspect not all had the sport seats and/or heated seat options). My car came with the following options/specification:

Code No. Description
223 ELECTRONIC DAMPER CONTROL (EDC)
245 STEERING COLUMN ADJUSTMENT ELEC
301 ALARM SYSTEMS
303 BURGLAR AL. WITH TILT ALARM SENSOR
401 SLIDING/VENT ROOF. ELECTRIC
416 SUNBLINDS
428 WARNING TRIANGLE
459 SEAT ADJUSTM. . ELECTR. W MEMORY F DRIVER
481 SPORT SEATS F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
494 SEAT HEATING F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
500 HEADLIGHT WASHER SYS/INTENSIVE CLEANING
528 AUTOMATIC AIR RECIRCULATION CONTROL(AUC)
537 PARK VENTILATION
676 HIFI LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
687 RADIO PREPARATION
694 PREPARATION FOR CD CHANGER
812 ENGLAND VERSION

The car can be viewed in London NW3 (Swiss Cottage) or W1 (Warren Street). Professional inspection welcome.  

Thanks for reading this far!

Jonathan 07879 888342
The legal stuff:
- Private sale: sold as seen.  No warranties. no returns.  Top bidder is obliged to buy it - if you want to inspect. do it before bidding. - £500 deposit required by PayPal within 48 hours after auction end.  Balance by cash or PayPal on collection. - Collection and final payment required within seven days from end of auction.

Want to buy this car?