The final 8er

The production of the BMW 8er Coupé commenced on July 12, 1989 starting with the VIN CB00000. Over the next few months series production of the other variants went under way.

No traces are left of the above mentioned pre-series cars. It is safe to assume that most if not all of the cars from the beginning of a production series found use as developmental cars for test purposes and were removed from service and scrapped at the end of the examinations. Up until today only one car with a production date of 1989 is known to have survived and to be on the road. CB57001, the second RHD 850iA is still roaming the roads of Britain.

Our insight into the end of the E31 production run is much deeper. The last production days were May 11 & 12, 1999. During the course of those two days 7 8-series Coupés of nearly all still in production model variants have been made with the majority destined for the UK.

Out of those 7 cars no less than 6 have been identified and archived in the last few years in a cooperation between 8er.org and 8Coupe.com

The picture for the second to last production day, May 11, 1999 looks as follows:

VIN	Location	Date	Exterior	Interior
CC41891 - last M73	Sharjah (UAE)	2010	Fashionred II	Creme white
CC61720 - last M62 Auto LHD	Germany	2006	Titan silver	Anthracite
CC67480	UK	Pix: similar car	Avus blue	Champagne/Estoril blue
CC67482	UK	2008	Royal red	Champagne/Imola red
CC67483	UK	2008	Glacier green	English green

The final day of production yielded another two cars of which the first one, CC36110 was destined to remain with BMW and can still be seen in the exhibition at the BMW Classic, formerly BMW Mobile Tradition in Munich. Effective January 2011 BMW Classic has taken over responsibility for the 8-series in general.
CC36110 is the final LHD 840 with M62 engine and manual gearbox. It was on exhibition in September 2007 alongside the BMW E31 convertible.

VIN	Location	Date	Exterior	Interior
CC36110 - last LHD M62 manual	Germany	2007	Barbados green	Anthracite

The second 8er with a production date of May 12, 1999 was selected to become the one tagged "Last BMW 8-series coupé". This car, CC67485 was not kept for exhibition purposes but rather delivered to a customer in the UK. The reasons for this particular choice have vanished in the darkness of times and are open to speculation.
In theory one would have expected that the Barbados green LHD manual CC36110 was destined to be celebrated as the last one off the assembly line but the pictures below, reproduced courtesy of the BMW production site Dingolfing, show that this was indeed not the case.

Picture source: BMW Werk Dingolfing, Germany

As indicated by the banner on the windscreen and the flower bouquet on the bonnet a ceremony took place on May 25, 1999 to commemorate the end of the E31 production cycle after 3575 production days and 30.597 cars leaving the Dingolfing factory. Another 24 CKD (Complete Knock Down) Kits had been assembled in Rosslyn, South Africa in the early 90´s to eventually yield a total of 30.621 E31 produced.

Along with the above picture of the car itself another one was taken where the final 8er is accompanied by a number of BMW employees. By the looks of it most of them are factory/assy line personnel (blue and green coats) plus a number of people wearing ties and lab coats not quite the outfit for a car production environment.

Picture source: BMW Werk Dingolfing, Germany

As it seems, the circumstances were rather austere than festive, which may also be the reason why the mood of the participants is probably best described as sombre. Likely the celebration party was not looking back at a happy near decade of 8er production but rather wanting to get over with it quickly.

What if anyone frequenting this forum had been part of such a commemorative event?
How big a smile would you expect to see?

8coupe.com not only is the worldwide registry for 8-series owners with 2000 registered owners to date but also holds the largest archive of BMW E31 specific data. Amongst all BMW 8-series data sheets the 8Coupe.com archive has nearly 150.000 pictures and documents for more than 7200 8ers on file.

Extensive research led to the conclusion that the car depicted indeed is CC67485, painted in Estoril blue metallic and finished inside in Tobago blue leather. Without any doubt remaining, attempts to track and locate this final E31 were under way since early 2008.

It took more than three years until the close scrutiny of the UK market was rewarded. During that period no less than 40 of the 128 UK-bound Estoril blue 8ers were identified. Fortunately this needle in the haystack was comparatively easy to identify by its unique interior, standing out from the vast majority of Estoril blue UK Sports 840Ci.

February 24, 2011 - alarm bells ringing!

Only a little while later CC67485 left the UK after nearly 12 years and has now taken residence "back home" in Germany.

Following extensive restoration work the time had come for a first public re-appearance, preferably meeting a bunch of 8-series enthusiasts happy to see the last one of the breed. The end-of-season meeting in the Bavarian Forest, Germany proved to be the ideal venue for the plans in the making...

An outline of how the presentation might be staged developed over the course of a few months. An idea to re-celebrate that very last day of the 8-series production incorporating enthusiastic 8-series owners took shape.

What set out as a big machine hall....

Time lapse video - building the stage 15.9.2011 - 10MB

Ended as a festively decorated vernissage room with an Estoril blue centrepiece

What started out as a bunch of flowers on the floor...

Time lapse video - Floral excellence 16.9.2011 - 7MB

Over time developed into a flower bouquet that resembled and by far surpassed the one used in 1999 - see what girls with attention to detail can do when no boys are in the way:

Volunteers needed! Dress rehearsal.

Time lapse video - Rehearsal - 17.9.2011 - 3MB

Showtime - 17. 9. 2011 - 19:30

Amidst the cheers of well over 50 8er owners, drivers and enthusiasts, entirely taken by surprise, this picture was presented to the assembled community on Sat. 17, 2011

That big a smile is what we expected to see!

The video clip below shows in time lapse what happened in the following hours:

Time lapse video - Presentation - 17.9.2011 - 20MB

...and late at night...

Time lapse video - Groupies - 18.9.2011 - 2MB

What might appear as a BMW roundel on the coats in fact was a commemorative button that (hopefully) all participants were able to take home.

Below an overview of what else was showcased in cooperation between 8er.org and 8Coupe.com alongside the last 8er (click pictures to load PDF files - 2-6MB per file):

333+1 Individual interior shots, 888 8-series for the local market

A Warholesque rendering of the last 8er in its first 15 minutes of fame back then on the last day...(10MB)

After a long night of relived history amidst friends of the 8-series the remnants of the big party were removed as quickly as they seemed to have appeared bringing the state of affairs back to normal.

Time lapse video - Back to normal - 18.9.2011 - 4MB

All participants were happy to have been part of this celebration which, aided by a digital time machine and professional creativity, eventually seems to have taken place in the all original environment of an unnamed Dingolfing factory hall.

To stage that celebration of "The Last of its kind" numerous 8-series fans offered much of their passion, energy and much more, hence a very big "Thank you!" goes out to all of you, the best 8er fans of the world, for being a part of the recreation of a moment of 8er history.

What remains next to the certainty that the last 8er has found its place in the 8er community are memories of a joyous celebration amongst friends and a testimonial that the 8-series, despite its age is still young in the hearts of those who care.

Cheers
Reinhard