Manual coupe with a freshly built 5.6-liter V12 and a Supersprint exhaust to let the music flow sells for surprisingly sensible money
- A 1995 BMW 850CSI just sold on Bring a Trailer for a surprisingly low $61,000.
- The 6-speed manual coupe had a newly-built V12 installed less than six months ago.
- Even allowing for a 1990s accident on its record, this CSI looked like a great buy.
BMW’s original 850i had a lot going for it on paper, including a design that referenced the old M1 supercar and V12 power the M1 was too early to enjoy. But it wasn’t until the more powerful, more driver-focused 850CSI rocked up in mid-1994 that the 8-series lived up to its promise. Which is why most CSis cost big bucks, this auction bargain being a rare exception.
A 1995 car with 81,000 miles (130,000 km) on its digital odometer, the black-on-black coupe sold for an incredibly reasonable $61,000 on Bring a Trailer, the online auction platform where people can often end up paying top money, and sometimes too much money, for cars.
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According to Hagerty’s valuation data, a condition #2 (excellent) example of the 850CSi would be worth $162,000 and a #3 (good), $108,000, with #4 (fair) cars netting $54,100. Sure, close inspection reveals a few very minor aesthetic defects on this one, but the overall condition of the paint and leather interior, plus the fact that it received a freshly built 5.6-liter V12 less than six months ago surely points towards a six-figure valuation.
So why was it so cheap? If you were nitpicking, you might complain that the V12 block used in the rebuild isn’t the original (though the original is included in the sale). And more problematic for some collectors, the history does contain evidence of an accident back in 1995 before the car was even delivered to its first owner.
To give the CSi the bite reviewers moaned the regular 850i lacked, BMW engineers opened up the V12’s capacity, bumped the compression ratio, and fitted new cams, new exhausts, and a new ECU, among other things. The sole transmission option was a six-speed manual.
The original 850i made 296 hp (300 PS) from a 5.0 V12, but the CSi pushed out 372 hp (377PS) in the US, dropping the zero to 60 mph (97 kmh) time from 6.3 seconds to just 5.3 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
You even got the word ‘Motorsport’ embossed in the door handles to tell you which BMW department was responsible for the uprated engine and tweaked chassis, and to remind you this was no ordinary 8-series: only around 225 cars were sold in America in a two-year run.
Do you think this CSi’s new owner got a bargain? Leave a comment and let us know. The auction has finished, but you can still see the listing here.
