Retromobile 2023: BMW 850i, Elegance Incarnate

BMW’s design has been talked about a lot for a few years now. With a double bean that has become heavy on the brand’s recent innovations and increasingly complex and massive lines, modern BMWs tend to anger purists even as they sell admirably well. In stark contrast to the first BMW 8 Series, when it was released in 1989, it was unanimously praised for its elegance, but was not particularly commercially rewarded.

This first generation 8 Series is like a fine wine. Always pleasant to contemplate, this collection remains relatively affordable on the market. A stunning 850i V12 example from 1991 offered for sale by Artcurial on Rétromobile is estimated at between €35,000 and €45,000. And you can find it on some ads for less than that. But this copy has a manual gearbox, showing a reasonable mileage of 112,275 kms.

Do not forget to remember that the maintenance of such a diva will inevitably create some problems and can be costly. With a 300-horsepower V12 under the hood and on-board technology that was already sophisticated at the time, there were clearly no miracles.