1997 BMW 8 Series 840 CI from UK and Ireland - Comments

Radiator core corroded through, dumping coolant.

Both rear swinging arms required replacing.

The BMW 840 was not my first choice - I was looking for a 911 Carrera 3.2 (not too fussed about a G50 box).

My partner suggested we look at 840's, so of course, we did. However, I was surprised at how distinctive the car looked in the flesh. I remember when they were first launched - at the same time as the Vauxhall Calibra. The press went on about how good the Calibra looked and how cheap it was compared to the (very expensive) 840. In addition, the 5 litre was compared to the Porsche 928 GTS – which was lighter and quicker. So, the 8 series didn’t get off to a good start.

But, tell me, who looks at a Calibra today in preference to a BMW 840.

Exactly.

The 8 series has presence, it has the proportions of supercars (no, I agree, it is not a supercar, it just has the proportions). Its width to height ratio means that even people who know nothing about cars can tell it is out of the ordinary. The long bonnet, small cabin and long overhangs hark back to an era of car design now gone. Some say that means it is out of fashion, some say style doesn’t care about fashion.

I have a silver one with 17 inch cross-spokes, 235’s at the front and 265’s at the rear. I have seen larger wheels on thinner ribbons, but I think my wheels fit the proportions of the car well.

Enough of the aesthetics, what about performance? Well the car weighs about 1900 kg, so 286 hp means a power to weight ratio of about 150bhp/ton - not particularly impressive.

However, the car still manages the 0-60 in about 6.8. But, this is 6.8 seconds when in sport auto mode. So, when at the lights and Barry Boy has just pulled up in his Saxo with a family size bean can as a rear exhaust pipe, you can just floor the accelerator and do the “sprint” in 6.8 – no drama, just speed. And you can do this again and again, no need to slam the clutch in at 5,000 revs risking all sorts of damage just to achieve what the journalists say they can do (as they hand the keys back to a sobbing manufacturer’s rep). This is a real acceleration claim.

I have not had 155 out of the car (electronically Limited) but have enjoyed 145 (151 indicated), at which the car was stable and still civilised inside. At this stage I was gaining on the Ferrari 355 that had pulled away by 50 yards from a standing start.

The car will do about 22-23 mpg on a mix of town, country and motorway driving, with no thought for economic driving. I did see 27 mpg on one run when I kept it gentle.

I have had it converted to LPG, which I have been using now for 30,000 miles (about 8 months driving). This reduces the average consumption to 19/20 mpg, but of course costs about half as much, so I have a 286 hp car doing the equivalent of about 40 mpg – not bad eh?

Handling and ride are what you would expect from a BMW that was £60k when new.

Is it as good as a 928? – don’t know I’ve never driven one so it may well not be the same calibre of sports car that the Porker is. But it is a superb Grand Tourer, the gearing in fifth means that 100 mph equals 2800 revs – very relaxed.

Actually the suspension has been very impressive – I recently took a TVR Sagaris – not because I was faster (The Beemer is not even in the same league as the TVR) but because we driving over Norfolk B roads which is like driving across the back of a herd of Camels. At the speeds we were doing his suspension meant he was grounding out, mine kept me comfortable and in control. To put this in perspective, my mini cooper doesn’t ground out, but can only manage about 20mph less on the same roads before it starts to take off – or my teeth start to smash together.

If Mr. Sagaris is reading – I acknowledge that you had me completely beat when we got to the smooth roads – nice car by the way.

The noise situation is very muted, the frameless window design is superb. Actually, I should mention that the car is a pillarless coupe, so when the front and rear windows are wound down you have no obstruction of any kind in the window area. Very nice in the summer with the sun roof open as well – and also useful when trying to load anything into the back seats.

If you are thinking of getting one of these, go for the 4.4 litre engine if you can. The 4.0 litre versions had question marks over the Nikasil lining wearing out in the cylinder bores, which can happen at any time it seems. The 5 litre versions are for the brave.

The 4.4 also comes with “Selectronic” transmission, which in my opinion, makes all the difference. It means the five speed auto can be used as a sequential clutchless manual, push to go up, pull to go down the gears. I find this useful for fun on country roads – yes the car will hustle quite nicely up and down narrow lanes. It is also useful for overtaking when you can plan the overtaking manoeuvre (sport auto is better when you can’t plan). As far as I know, the 928 never had such an option, which for me would be a big downside. Not only does it allow manual control of the gearbox, but it will change up for you if you hit the redline and not allow you to change down if it means you will over-rev the car.

By the way, the overtaking capability is very useful. I can easily go past 5 cars in one manoeuvre. My partner and I regularly say “you couldn’t do that in a normal car” after overtaking – and its true!

All in all, the car has been good to me, the failure and maintenance costs (£2,000 for 33,000 miles) are acceptable. The car gets a lot of attention (more than I expected), I have caught Ferrari and Aston Martin drivers etc. taking a good look. The sound system (original) is too good to bother upgrading. A lot of people think it is far more of car than it really is, fuel stops are regularly interesting.

So, if you have this on your shortlist I can recommend it, I paid £11k for the car and £2k for the LPG, so 0-60 in 6.8, 155mph top speed and 40 mpg (equivalent) all for £13k.

What do you think?

Very useful reveiw.

Nice review, added to my desirable list alongside an Audi S8.

Great article and assessment... well done!

Question: how and where did you go to do the conversion to LPG? I am in the U.S., and would love to find a website that I could buy parts from to do the conversion. Could you help me out...?

Thank you

pdhand@yahoo.com.

Great review, I'm presently looking for a 840 and have found what appears to be fine example. It's a 1996, 6 speed manual in red and having only travelled 30,000 miles with full BMW history. The question is what would you expect to pay for such a car? I have never seen a another manual to compare?

Hope some can help, please email me if you can advise dave@scales.co.nz.

Very nice write up indeed! Covers all the salient points of what it feels like to own an 840Ci Sport.

Well done!

Derin

www.bmwclassics.co.uk.