Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The 1995 BMW 850CSi we featured two summers ago is back up for sale on Bimmer Forums. The car has covered just under 1,000 miles in that time, but besides that fact, this has to be one of the best higher mileage E31s I’ve seen in some time. Along with its contemporary, the Porsche 928GTS, these big cruisers are bringing strong money these days. Will this one meet the ask this time around?
Both new and now as it gains modern classic status, “reasonable” has rarely been an adjective that comes to mind with the BMW 850CSi. Yet compared to the prices we’ve seen for nice, low-mileage examples over the past few years, this silver V12 M-Powered megacoupe is exactly that. A 50k-mile 850CSi was looking for mid-$60ks less than two months ago, while this June, Classic Driver was looking for almost $90k for one with 30k miles. That makes this two-owner, well-documented and maintained example extremely reasonable at $48k. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but these are quickly gaining more respect as collector cars beyond their baseline megaluxury and performance. With a 6-speed and 375hp out of twelve cylinders, that’s still a lot for less than $50k.
Well, folks, I have a new all-time favorite E32. Last time I made that claim it was a beautiful black on black example with M-Parallels and a nice front spoiler. I’ve long been a fan of Alpina’s recent B7s and think they’ve made the last two generations of 7-series much more attractive. Same thing here, with the often-frumpy E32 getting the full Alpina treatment with more power, a great front spoiler, and the classic striping. And the wheels, the evergreen, always gorgeous 20-spoke wheels. The 5.0-liter V12 gets much more than just a chip treatment, with higher-compression pistons and lots of valve work bringing the power from 300hp to 350hp. Lots of show, lots of go, this is a kickass 7-series.
BMW has traditionally taken large measures to set its biggest sedan platform apart. In the case of the first 7, the E23, BMW offered an ultra-luxury oriented version replete with full leather accoutrements inside. Dubbed the “L7″, it was an expensive and very exclusive model. When BMW moved on to the E32, it distinguished the large lineup with an extended wheelbase model which added 5” of legroom. This matched the long standard extended wheelbase S-Class models, but Audi had outdone BMW and Mercedes-Benz with their D11 chassis Lang V8 quattro, which added a full foot (30 cm) to the wheelbase of the normal V8 quattro. Having also stepped up the motor in the E32 to the double-six 5 liter M70 V12, BMW was left with a few options when it came to the next 7; they took all of these items and combined them into one ultra-luxurious, ultra-long wheelbase 750iL:
Following on to the 1989 BMW 750iL we featured yesterday, here is possibly one of the lowest mileage V12 E32s in existence. We featured this car four years ago and its back up for sale with barely any more mileage tacked on.
