850: the search continues....an ongoing saga.....

As I wrote before, it was because of a lovely Austin-Healy many years ago, that I have decided to search for a BMW 850. I expect this search to take quite a long time, during which I will learn as much about these fascinating, classic touring cars as I can. I intend to be very picky, and am sure that I will have to travel quite a bit to "interview" potential cars.

When I was looking for something to replace my trusty Porsche 944 with, I had pretty much decided that it was time to have a 911. Now, the last 911 that I had driven, was an '87 Cabriolet, and I was singularly unimpressed. It seemed, well, just OLD fashioned. Fast, to be sure, but replete with cowl shake and it seemed entirely too much like a Teutonic Austin-Healy Sprite to deserve serious consideration. A nice toy, but leave it in the garage if your trip involved more than a jaunt around the corner.

A friend, who was a dealer and knowledgable about things Porsche, suggested that I look seriously at a 928, since my chief interest is in long distance touring.

Well, I started doing my research, and really liked what I learned, and that will be the case with the 850.

Initially, I made my search nation wide, figuring that the one car that I would get would likely be in the far west. Later, I narrowed my search to east of the Mississippi River. Eventually, the car was found in New Hampshire, having spent all of its life in an up-scale Massachusetts community north of Boston. I was able to speak with the original owner, and the selling and servicing Porsche dealer.

So, basically, my criteria is as follows....so far as it is developed now:

I will be looking for BMW 850...for now, I don't care which 850.

Color, in no particular order, black, silver, green, deep red (burgundy), or other, unusual color. Interior should be black, but that isn't cast in concrete. VERY light, or white interiors will nix the car entirely.

The car will have between 30,000 and 75,000 miles, and be a one-owner vehicle. There can be an exception to this, and that will depend on the service history of the vehicle. If the service history can be documented, and is uninterrupted, then a two owner vehicle can be considered, and the upper mileage limit can be raised.

Now, let's talk about service history. When I mean service history, I mean documents supporting the service that has been performed on the car since time of deliver. I will be looking for a file holding the original workshop service orders, showing the date, service event, and service performed. This sort of documented service history makes the car worth the price asked for it, otherwise, in my opinion, a nice car is just a nice car, and is worth whatever the wholesale market will offer.

Accident history. Of any sort. Forget it.

I will be looking for an automatic car, I think. The reason is that the consensus that I have read so far, is that BMW doesn't do smashingly well with V8's and manual transmissions, compared to their six cylinder and four cylinder/manual matings. Besides, this is a touring car, and my "boy racer days" are really pretty much in the past. Besides, my wife cannot drive a stick, so the BMW will be more appealing to her. (Of course, she will drive it once or twice and then prefer that I drive it. She is a bit intimidated by the Audi V8, so I imagine the 850 will be more of the same!)

In watching the eBay auctions for these cars for a little while now, I find it interesting to see the displays of cars, and the opinion that some have of their worth. Like the Porsche owners, there are sellers out in cyberspace who are delusional concerning the value of the cars that they are selling.

In the meantime, I had begun to lay plans for a new kitchen to be built onto this house. Once my wife is blinded by her new kitchen, I will be able to sneak the BMW 850 into the garage.

For now, I am listening, reading and learning. I expect the car to be out there. I expect a long search.

...the saga continues

How much do I plan to pay? I dunno, which is one of the pieces of the puzzle to discover during "the search". Right now on eBay, there are several interesting 850's....one '95 (I think) silver/black with very low mileage that will probably sell in the low thirties; recently a '91 with less than 80K, sold for the low twenties...either would do. The early car was very interesting because ALL service records and document was with the car.

By comparison, right now on eBay is a very, very nice Porsche 928GTS, 5 speed with mileage in the low 30K, I think. The seller is expecting to get in the low to mid $40,000 range for the car, and is delusional, unless he can find a delusional buyer, of course.

But please understand that it is not a "garage queen" that I wish to have, but a near, garage queen that I wish to buy.

Once bought, I shall proceed to drive the car at any and every opportunity, as many miles as it will take, and perhaps be buried in it!

Winters here in eastern Maine are really problematical for these cars, though. Sometimes the frost heaves on the state road to town were so severe, that it was impossible to drive the 928 at normal posted speeds because the heaves would have taken the chin spoiler off, or worse.

Then of course, there is ice and snow, and I doubt that the "8" will be of much use in five inches of new snow and ice, regardless of what is on the wheels. So, I expect that the car will be largely garaged for three to four months of the year...but after that, LOOK OUT!

A better question is whether or not, when I find the "ultimate" 850, will I be willing to spend the cash for it? Depends on whether or not my wife's new kitchen is done!

What are they worth?

I've been watching the auctions on eBay for quite a long time, and have bought three cars through the eBay auction process. My first car was a 2800CS like I had always wanted. Then recently, I bought an Audi 200 20Valve Avant, as I always wanted to have one of those, quite rare, cars. That one was bought knowing that I would have to do some restoration work, and I will do so, then have a pretty neat, hot wagon to drive around in for not a lot of money invested.

Most recently....November....I bought an extremely nice '92 Ford F150 4X4 Flareside pickup to use as a plow truck. Fairly low mileage, and a New Mexico/Florida vehicle that is in impeccable condition. $5400.

And, of course, I am watching the BMW eBay listing daily, now.

I really think that the eBay process, over, say, a 30-45 day period gives an excellent indication of what cars are really worth. My observation is that KBB, Nada Guides, and all of those "books" are utopian, and seldom will a car actually bring the high end of what they say.

The real value of ANY car is what someone will actually lay down cash for. I think that a late manufacture 840, with low miles, is probably going to actually BRING in the low thirties, and so also for a very late manufacture 850. In order for it to do that though, I think it would have to be a one owner car, with verifiable service history, and be in impeccable condition.

Today, I am watching the process and learning a lot more about these cars. Today, I am not ready to hop in my car and drive for several days to look at an 850....not ready, but when I am, I expect to follow a lead, and to go to see the car that I am interested in, taking the time to investigate it. My choice will probably be a '94 850, with less than 50,000 miles.

But not before my wife's new kitchen is done..... [/u]