Iconic BMW 850CSi: dreamed about even today (17 photos + 1 video)

High speed. Rapid acceleration. Clear braking. Excellent handling. Cool design. These are suitable descriptions for BMW 850CSi. The CSi was the top-of-the-range variant of the BMW 8 Series, which at the time time was known as the BMW E31 and was produced by the German car manufacturer BMW from 1990 to 1999.





BMW is a company associated almost from the very beginning with motorsport, unfortunately, the offer of the Munich manufacturer did not have not a single supercar. In the late 80s, BMW management decided to change this, releasing a car that will wipe the nose of Ferrari and Lamborghini. beautiful, fast and very modern coupe, designated 850i, was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989. However, the entire 8 series in the factory nomenclature received the symbol E31.



Under the hood of the first evolution of the eight was a 12-cylinder engine with a volume of 5 liters and a power of 300 hp. However, this was only a prelude to a real racing monster. Considered version of the M8 was supposed to debut somewhere in late 1990 - early 1991. The 6-liter V12 engine was supposed to develop about 550 horses, the car sometimes called the killer Ferrari. Unfortunately, the production of M8 ended on one prototype, the company from Munich simply could not imagine allow the release of this supercar. 6 liter engine after significant improvements was under the hood of a supercar of all time, then there is a McLaren F1.





To wipe the tears of BMW fans, in 1993 there was top model 850 CSi, in the development and production of which participated people from BMW Motorsport. Under the hood is a heavily modified 850i engine. Its capacity was increased to 5.6 liters. Power increased to 385 horses, but the torque of 550 Nm was much more impressive.



The six-speed manual transmission is borrowed from the 850i and the differential was designed specifically for the CSi. First, it was changed its gear ratio, which after the release of the electronic lock allowed the car to accelerate to 290 km / h.



Some changes also affected the suspension, it was lowered by 1.5 cm and an important novelty was what in German was called Aktive Hiterachs Kinematik. This is a special system that turns the rear wheels when cornering. Special sensors analyze the angle of rotation steering, vehicle speed and g-force and transmit the data to the computer. The latter issues a command to special actuators, turning the rear wheels at an angle of not more than 2.5 degrees.



The effects are impressive: the 850 CSi left no chance for the then supercars with a Porsche 911 Turbo during a slalom ride. This system was available on the BMW 850i for a fee and included in the standard CSi package. It should also be added that a year earlier (1990) a similar system was installed in the Honda NSX, which also beat all the then cars in motion between the cones.





The 850 CSi performance was as follows: a hundred in 6 seconds and a maximum speed limited to 250 km/h after lockout 290. These indicators, combined with good manageability, made it possible to successfully compete with the Porsche 911, but the Ferrari 512 TR and Lamborghini Diablo in in particular, they did not give the Munich construction the slightest chance.



The supporting structure and body are made of steel. Stylistically figure eight looks very impressive even today, after almost 30 years after the premiere.







The cabin can accommodate 4 people (layout 2 + 2) and 320 liters in luggage compartment. The production of the described model ended in November. 1996, a total of 1510 pieces were made, for comparison of all eighths, both with V12 and V8 engines, 30,621 units were produced, much less than expected (production ended in 1999). Cause bad sales, of course, was the high price of this car. At present time eight, which undoubtedly refersto the group of cult cars cost a lot of money.