Now that the second-generation of BMW 8 Series is officially on its way, the fondness for the first-gen car has grown. While the original 8 Series was never a brilliant car, it has a large cult following. Its stunning good looks and grand-touring style make it a car that BMW fans seem to love, despite the fact that it probably doesn’t live up to expectations in the real world. Having said that, the idea of a V12-powered BMW 850i is still a bit too good to pass up. Which is why Tyler Hoovie bought the cheapest 850i available on Autotrader, which makes him both a lunatic and brilliant.You’ll understand why in this new video, after the Stranger Things-style intro.
The reason he’s a lunatic for buying such a car is because it’s going to be a nightmare to live with. The BMW 8 Series was notoriously unreliable, a fact that’s exacerbated by the 850i’s extremely expensive V12 maintenance. However, he’s brilliant because it’s such an interesting car to own and drive that it’s likely worth the headaches it will almost certainly bring and he got it at such a cheap price. While around $8,000 might not seem cheap for a car that’s almost 30 years old and has 150,000 miles, it is for a V12-powered BMW 8 Series that originally wore a sticker price of almost $100,000.
While Hoovie had a couple of issues with his new BMW 850i, they’re minor. So it has a bad tensioner pulley, which is almost expected from a car as old as this, a bad A/C compressor, again not unheard of in a car this old, and it needs a bit of front-end work. Still, though, for a car as old as this 850i and as complicated, he made out really well, especially considering the price.
The only real knock against this 850i is that it’s an automatic model. The real dream is to get one with a six-speed manual, as the idea of a V12-powered BMW GT car with a manual is impossible to resist. Hoovie plans on doing a manual swap, though, and godspeed to him, as the BMW 850i is famously finicky to work on.
