Seb, how about a plug for the community?

Seb, just a thought, seeing your small column this month. One of the things that you have yet to mention is that ownership of an 8-series is a greatly enhanced experience precisely because of the existence of this site. I think its an important point. You could go along these lines...

....by acquiring an 8-series, you don't just get a fabulous car for a ridiculously small amount of money, you get to become a stakeholder in one of the most expensively designed and precision-engineered motor vehicles ever to come out of Germany...blah, bah, blah.....driving experience.....initial proving platform for all the integrated digital electronics found in today's models..... (see "BMW 8 Series" from Brookland Books ISBN 1-855-20701-X for a plethora of quotes along these lines)

.....but for some, the notion of owning a £70,000 car immediately rings alarm bells due to the fact that the youngest examples are now 10 years old and maintenance and servicing costs are assumed to be astonomical...availability of parts....BMW labour charges....

....however, when you buy an eight, you don't just get the car, you receive automatic and honourary membership to an international network consisting of 1000's of like-minded owners. These people, like you, LIVE for this car. You will never be alone while you own an 8-series.... You're a journo, so I am sure you could make up the rest of the story.

I say this because I think we need to "up" the understanding of what this car means in the BMW community at large. And you are uniquely positioned to do it. I'll be quite honest, these were some of my thoughts before I bought the 840 2 years ago. After all, who wouldn't have these concerns? But, when I look back, apart from £3,000 spent on what were essentially cosmetic touch-ups, plus one inspection-1, this vehicle has cost me nothing in 2 years and 8,000 miles of blissful motoring and in that time its done Scotland, the Lakes three times, Cornwall twice and Le Mans twice. OK, I've invested some of my own time, but then that's enjoyable into the bargain so doesn't count as a cost, more of a benefit really.

No, I am NOT thinking of selling, but I do get just a little dis-spirited when I see 1995 examples going for 6K in my local rag. If I had a garage like Peter's, I would definitely buy another. By the way, Sir, how is the Alpina donor project going?