1992 BMW 850I Manual trans. V12 Pandem Wide Body
1992 BMW 8-Series
Please, read the entiredescription before you contact me or bit on the car.
For sale is a very special 1992BMW 850I
This is a very special car thathas been pampered since the beginning. Iam the 2nd owner and before the car came to me it was completelystock. I have owned the car since 2021and all the modifications were completed under my ownership about a year ago. Since I have put roughly 1,000 miles on thecar.
Origin:
The car is a rare European example. Being a European model, it came with a 6-speedmanual transmission. For the U.S. marketonly the 850CSI model came with a manual transmission.
Maintenance:
This car was maintained very wellfrom the beginning but being 31 years old, a lot of parts simply got old. It’s one thing if you want to own and olderEuropean car, just to say you own one, it’s another to keep it driving on the road. Anyone that’s done that will tell you that itis very expensive. That’s why I tookcare of everything on this car that was showing age or any signs of needingreplacing in the coming years.
The engine DME was opened andchecked for solder cracks, which is common with older BMW’s.
Here’s a list of parts that werereplaced with new parts.
Fuel system: 2 fuel pumps, filtersand screens, cleaned the fuel tank, all new fuel hoses
Engine: 2 distributors, 2 caps, 2rotors, 2 oxygen sensors, 12 injectors, wiring harness and ignition coil wasreplaced.
The car needed a new clutch, butBMW stopped making clutches for this car.After a bit of searching, I was able to find a factory BMW CSI clutch inGermany. And since the transmission wascoming down, I decided to also rebuild the transmission.
Aftermarket additions:
Exterior:
A lot of purists might hate me butI wanted to take the modest body of the 8-series and make itextraordinary. That’s why when I saw thePandem wide body kit (by Rocket Bunny) at the Sema show in 2021, I knew it wasthe perfect addition to make my 850 extraordinary. As soon as I got back from the Sema show, Iordered the wide body kit. The body kitincluded a front spoiler, 2 side skirts, 2 front over fenders, 2 rear over fenders,rear spoiler and an adjustable decklid spoiler/tail.
The open ducts on the spoilerlooked kind of empty. I understand they’remade for cooling the brakes, but since this car is not going to see any tracktime, I decided to fill those holes with fog lights. They added a more dramatic look.
Being that it’s a 31-year old carthe paint was starting to fade and there was no way to match the paint on thenew body parts, so I painted the entire car in the original red color that itcame with. All the body was performed byDTM Auto Body in El Monte, California. Theyspecialize in fiberglass work and wide body installations
Wheels:
There were a lot of choices for wheels. All the other Pandem wide body cars hadmodern wheels on them. I wanted to dosomething that a builder would have done in the 90’s. so I decided to go with a set of era correct 18”Hammann PG1 wheels with gun-metal centers and polished wheels. The only thing I had to do was extend the outerlips on the wheels to match the new wider fenders. And the final touch was the gold hardware tomake them really pop. Still have thefactory wheels and tires, and they come with the car.
Suspension:
The Pandem wide body kit was builtto run in concert with an air ride suspension, because no company out therecarries a coil over set up that will bring the car down low enough. So, I purchased the air ride system too. Later I decided to figure out a way to keepthis car on springs and not lose the ride quality to air suspension. After a lot of going back and forth I had acompany build me a complete coil over suspension set to accommodate my body modifications. And I was able to get the right stance. But now the car sits too low and the frontoverhang is pretty long. I might haveproblems going up steep driveways, so I had the same company build me a set ofair cups. These air cups sit on top ofthe font coilovers and at the push of a button, raise the car’s front suspensionseveral inches to clear steep obstacles.Some exotic cars have this feature, such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc… I was able to keep the car riding like a BMWand be able to clear steep driveways. I stillhave the complete air ride system I purchase in boxes. Never opened.Will be willing to work it into the price if the buyer desires.
Exhaust:
The car was missing a nice exhaustnote. The factory exhaust was doing aperfect job at muffling that amazing BMW V12 engine. The factory exhaust was replaced with anEisenmann cat-back exhaust system. That wasn’tenough to get the right sound so the secondary cats were eliminated. Now the car has an intoxicating sound (“Intoxicating,” might be a strong word but, realcar guys take the car sound very seriously).
Drivetrain:
The rear end gearing on this caris very tall. 5th and 6th gears are practically useless,so I replaced the rear end gears from the factory 265 to a 364 gear. The car felt like it got 50HP on thespot. It was one of the best performanceupgrades one can do to this car.
Interior:
The interior of the car was insuch a perfect condition, I didn’t touch it.Accept I had to replace the factory steering wheel. I replaced it with an new factory BMWsteering wheel with carbon fiber touches.The airbag in the new steering wheel is not functional but regardless I didn’twant to trust a 30 year old airbag anyway.Regardless, I still have the factory steering wheel and it comes withthe car.
It also has a rare and hard tofind factory phone in the car.
Electronics:
I replaced the factory stereo witha Kenwood brand stereo with Bluetooth capability. This enables you to play music from yourphone or even make phone calls. It alsohas a USB port. I still have still havethe original stereo along with the factory CD changer. They will come with the car.
Reason for selling:
I am a car guy, I am not adealer. My business is not cars. I am a real estate developer. I have a life-long passion for cars. I love cars and I love challenges. I build these cars, drive them for some timeand I sell them to make room for new projects that are close tocompletion.
I tried to give as muchinformation as possible on the car, but I am sure if you are a serious buyer,you are welcome to call me and ask me whatever questions you might have. The last car I sold, the buyer told me thatmy description was so thorough that there were no more questions left to askbut, “when can I come see the car?” Iwant the buyer on this car to feel the same comfort.
Let’s get to the price and thereason behind it:
A similar car with a manual transmissioncan be obtained for around $40,000 -50,000, but when you take into considerationall the money I spent on the maintenance and the modification, it’s an entirelydifferent story. An average car enthusiastwouldn’t understand the amount of money and effort needed to complete a carlike this. All they would see is a widebody 850 with wheels on. Wide body kitis $7,000 and the wheels and tires are another $9,000. Why would I pay that much? On the other hand, a seasoned car enthusiastthat has built a few cars, will look at everything and understand it. They would understand that it costs another$15,000 to install that body kit and paint the car. They would understand that the transmissionrebuild and the clutch replacement will cost around $7,500, not to mention therest of the maintenance bill would rack up about another $12,000. The list goes on. I spent over a $120,000 on this build. Not to mention all the time spent to overcomeall these obstacles? Countless calls andemails to Europe, tracking down parts. Talkingto engineers regarding building a custom suspension. I actually end up losing money on most thecars that I sell. That’s because I don’tbuild them with a sale in mind, I build them for myself. That’s why I mentioned earlier that this isnot my business, this is my hobby. I haveseveral projects finishing and I need the parking space. If this car doesn’t sell, ohh well… I will continue to enjoy it for years to come.
Feel free to contact me with anyquestions. Steve (818) 923-4040
- Make: BMW
- Model: 8-Series
- Type: Coupe
- Doors: 2
- Year: 1992
- Mileage: 98000
- VIN: WBAEG1319NCB42610
- Color: Red
- Number of cylinders: 12
- Fuel: Gasoline
- Transmission: Manual
- Vehicle Title: Clean Want to buy? Contact seller!