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From the August 1990 issue of Car and Driver.
Young car enthusiasts are the first to fantasize about high-performance GTs, but the sober truth is that precious few of them can afford such cars. With the exception of those in the inheritance, entertainment, or illicit-merchandise businesses, owners of expensive high-performance machines tend to be professionals mired happily in their prime earning years. In other words, successful mature adults—not the hot young bloods the gods probably wanted to exercise these sporting thoroughbreds.
BMW has targeted its new flagship, the 850i, at the well-heeled adults. That makes perfect sense, because that's where the money is. In this regard, the 8-series is simply following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the 6-series. If one were only to study the new 850i's profile and specifications, however, one could be forgiven for assuming that BMW has taken its new car in a considerably different direction.
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You can see at a glance what we mean. Though the old 6-series never had much of a rear seat, its personality leaned in the two-door-sedan direction. Its upright profile and elegant roofline implied accommodations for four. Moreover, the design dripped with elegance. The 6-series was the David Niven of automobiles—born to be parked in front of the Casino at Monte Carlo.
The 850i, on the other hand, has a far more hunkered-down and potent look. Though slightly lower and shorter than the 635, the 850i is more than five inches wider and has a rear-set greenhouse that results in a pronounced long-hood, short-deck profile. Pop-up headlights help keep the nose low, and bulging fender blisters cover the wide tires. The shape is aerodynamically efficient, with a drag coefficient of 0.29 and balanced, modest lift coefficient at both front and rear. All this notwithstanding, it somehow lacks the sophistication and panache of the earlier car. This one exudes a more brawny style—Sylvester Stallone in an immaculately tailored suit, rather than David Niven in black tie.
This powerful and purposeful appearance is anything but deceiving. Under the 850i's hood you'll find the same 296-hp, 5.0-liter V-12 engine used in the 750iL sedan. That's more power than even the M-engined versions of the 635 enjoyed. Moreover, this powerplant can be coupled to either the 750's ZF four-speed automatic transmission or an all-new, Getrag-built six-speed manual gearbox.
A brand-new rear suspension that departs completely from BMW's traditional semi-trailing-arm layout helps transfer the V-12's power to the pavement. It's a multilink design with, on each side, one trailing link, three lateral links, and a unique interconnecting link that joins the trailing link to one of the lateral links. Although appearing at first glance like one of Escher's retina-wrenching drawings, the design, which BMW calls the "Integral Rear Suspension," is yet another multilink layout conceived to separate the suspension's necessary functions and allocate them to the specialized parts. In doing so, each function can be performed with fewer compromises, thereby improving ride, handling, and stability.
The front suspension retains the proven dual-lateral-link strut design, but the steering mechanism reveals another shift in the sporting direction. Unlike other top-of-the-line BMWs, the 850 uses a relatively simple, variable-ratio power-steering system rather than an elaborate electronically controlled Servotronic unit. This results in improved road feel.
Consider this sophisticated chassis, the V-12 engine, and the sleek close-coupled bodywork, and you'll inevitably find yourself thinking of the 850i as a Teutonic Ferrari rather than as a competitor to the Lincoln Mark VII and the Mercedes 300CE. Despite its high-performance design, however, the 850i maintains the genteel manners and subdued murmurings that have characterized the long, proud line of BMW coupes still taking to the open road.
For example, the V-12 engine, powerful as it is, never develops a strong presence in the car. One might glance at the 850's 4050-pound curb weight and assume that such sheer mass would soak up the efforts of the V-12's 296 hp. Happily, that really isn't the case.
BMW claims a 0-to-60-mph time of 7.2 seconds with the automatic transmission, a claim that is eminently believable given that we clocked the slightly heavier 750iL to 60 in 6.5 seconds with the identical powertrain. BMW's claimed manual-transmission clocking of 6.1 seconds may be a bit harder to achieve, but it won't be far from the truth. Top speed with either gearbox is governor-limited to 155 mph; given free rein, the 850 could probably approach 170 mph. While not in Ferrari Testarossa territory, this performance is hardly that of an armchair cruiser.
Yet the car never seems to hurl itself forward with any hint of frenetic intensity. Instead, it gathers speed with a tightly controlled progression. You find yourself at 120 mph in no time and wonder how on earth you got there.
Part of this sense of disconnected speed comes from the powerplant's general unobtrusiveness. The V-12 is extremely silent and smooth at both the upper and lower zones of its rev range. Sometimes, between 3000 and 5000 rpm with the throttle wide open, the engine will make itself heard, but even then the result is a somewhat guttural sound that is certainly no more pleasing to the ear than that made by a BMW six. The engine generates neither the athletic shriek of an Italian twelve, nor the purposeful snarl of the 32-valve V-8 in the Mercedes 500SL, nor the silky smoothness of Jaguar's venerable V-12. Not that it doesn't do its job, mind you, it just does it without palpable flair.
Another reason for the engine's lack of presence is its remarkably consistent power delivery. The V-12 never seems to come onto cam and produce a rush of acceleration. It just pulls evenly from idle up to its 6000-rpm redline.
There seems to be no reason for the manual gearbox to sport six speeds, especially with its top three gears spaced so closely. This arrangement does, however, offer the driver a ratio for any purpose. First gear is low enough to launch the heavy coupe properly and to provide enough leverage for serious trailer towing in the mountains. At 100 mph, you can choose from any of the upper three gears and cruise in silence deep enough to make upshifting a purely optional activity. Even top speed can be reached in either of the top two gears. In normal driving you find yourself skipping gears to avoid constant shifting, leading us to suspect that this car would do very nicely with five speeds . . . or even four.
In its defense, the new gearbox is such a pleasure to shift that the multiplicity of gears is never oppressive. The linkage is smooth, light, and direct—just as we have come to expect from BMWs. The automatic transmission works just as well as it does in the 750 sedan, coordinating with the engine to provide the obedient, unobtrusive thrust that's ideal for a high-performance luxury sedan but perhaps a bit docile for a high-performance GT. Adults will probably like this.
The 850's dichotomous character got a firm push in the direction of posh cruiserhood when it received its allocation of creature comforts. In addition to the usual power windows, seats, locks, mirrors, and sunroof, the 850i comes standard with the following: a twelve-speaker stereo system that includes a six-disc CD player, a cellular telephone, an infrared remote control for the central locking system (that ties in with the antitheft system), a steering wheel that's power adjustable for angle and reach, heated front seats, a 70-function trip computer, and a memory system that preserves the mirror, seat, and steering-column positions for three different drivers, this last feature not surprising when you consider that ménages á trois are usually the province of well-heeled grownups. (Not all of the items mentioned here are on the German-specification car shown in the accompanying photographs.)
The many creature comforts coddle the front-seat passengers more than effectively. The seats are supremely comfortable, aided by their integral shoulderbelt mounts (see Technical Highlights below). The power-adjustable steering column helps achieve an ideal driving position, and it operates more slowly and with more ease of control than equivalent systems in the top-of-the-line Lexus and Infiniti cars. The visibility and outward view are excellent, though one does sit somewhat low in the car. The rear seat, for all intents and purposes, doesn't contribute much—least of all room. Two small persons could sit normally—but only if the front seats were occupied by persons of similarly reduced stature. A tall central console even rules out sitting sidesaddle.
For all of its comforts, the 850's interior is not notably sumptuous for a car in this class. The seating is all lovely leather, as is a strip running along the bottom of the dash and along the middle of the doors, but most everything else is plastic. It is undoubtedly plastic of a superb quality that will look none the worse after ten years of wear, but it does not look particularly rich when new. Had Italians built this car, the entire interior would be swaddled in soft hides.
German carmakers tend to concentrate their resources on the technical areas of automotive design, and the 850 continues this tradition. This newest BMW employs electric motors and solenoids to perform functions that most cars don't even need.
The most obvious example is a system that automatically lowers the windows a half-inch every time a door is opened. This system exists because the 850 is a pillarless coupe with no window frames. Such designs can develop noisy wind leaks at high speeds, leading the engineers in Munich to devise an elaborate solution. The windows are firmly captured in an inverted, U-shaped rubber channel located in the roof at the top of the window's travel. This prevents the windows from bowing outward and breaking their seal—but, unfortunately, such a design interferes with the opening and closing of the doors. The engineers solved this by installing switches on both the inner and the outer door handles that cause the windows to drop instantly every time you touch a handle to open a door. They stay down as long as the door is open, and they scoot back up the minute the door is closed.
The headlight washers are similarly elaborate, telescoping from the bodywork just forward of the headlight whenever called upon. The trunk is unlatched electrically, even though the release latch is a mere eight inches away from the locking mechanism.
Perhaps the most elaborate device on the 850 is BMW's new ASC+T traction-control system. This device operates somewhat like the systems from Cadillac and Lexus and, like those systems, aims both to reduce engine power and to actuate the rear brakes to prevent wheelspin and preserve stability. The system not only works from dead rest, but it also operates during cornering if one applies most of the tire's traction to lateral acceleration.
Fortunately, BMW provides a switch that disables the traction-control system for sporty driving. "Fortunately," because with the ASC+T in operation, the 850's handling is restricted to understeer as one begins to drive hard. The traction-control system prevents the driver from using power to adjust the rear tire's cornering grip and thereby balance the car.
With the system turned off, however, the 850 is delightfully neutral. The new rear suspension does an admirable job of reducing the tail end's sensitivity to sudden throttle changes, yet it allows the driver to let the tail drift out as desired. The 235/50ZR-16 tires on 7.5-inch-wide rims provide plenty of grip in both corners and during braking, giving the four large disc brakes plenty of purchase to slow the car.
Still, this is no throwabout sports car. Weighing more than two tons even bereft of passengers or luggage, the BMW does not have a feather-footed feel. But as a high-speed GT on open roads, it can cover ground quickly and securely. Adult motoring at a high level of excellence.
An excellent ride is also part of the 850's dynamic package. Though the German roads on which we previewed the 850 were much too smooth to let us draw final conclusions about the suspension's comfort, there's a suppleness to the suspension action that suggests an ability to absorb North American pavement irregularities.
Designated BMW's flagship, the 850 carries the highest price tag in the lineup—$73,600, plus a $1500 gas-guzzler tax to atone for its sub-20-mpg EPA city and highway fuel-economy figures. The only option is a set of forged-aluminum wheels of a different design than the standard cast ones (add $1000). The total price is high, but certainly not unreasonable when compared with $76,900 out the door for a Porsche 928S4 or $85,050 for a Mercedes 500SL.
With only 3000 of the anticipated 10,000-unit annual production slated for North America, exclusivity is likely more important than value to the purchasers of these cars. But BMW's existing 6-series owners, well-off though they may be, could be shocked at the huge increment they'd have to fork over to trade up to the new model. Despite the sizable upgrade in price, BMW insists that there will be no six-cylinder, lower-priced, entry-level 850. Such would lessen the flagship's luster. A convertible version, definitely under development, would not commit this unforgivable sin.
We can't help wishing that the new BMW had just a bit more personality in its styling and driveline. Absent that, when used as a device for generating Sunday-morning thrills on a mountain road, the BMW falls slightly short of high exhilaration. But as rapid, sumptuous transport for a well-heeled couple (well, okay, maybe a threesome) for a long, hedonistic weekend, the 850i excels.
Technical Highlights
Although BMW's new 850i is equipped with only a driver-side air bag, it offers a feature that may provide even greater safety benefits to front-seat passengers than dual air bags: an integrated seat-and-belt system.
In concept, this system is much like the one on the new Mercedes SL roadster, and its primary reason for existence is also much the same. With no B-pillar on the 850i (and no fixed roof on the SL), there is simply no good place to attach a conventional shoulder belt.
Designing an integrated seat-and-belt system isn't easy. The seat frame must be reinforced to withstand the forces that a shoulder belt generates in a severe crash. These reinforcements cost money and add weight.
The benefits of such a system, however, are worth the costs. The primary advantage is optimal belt location. In the 850i, shoulder-belt height is keyed to headrest height, which remains constant as the seat is adjusted up and down. BMW's research indicates that both tall and short drivers tend to position their heads at the same height when driving a car. Thus, with this system, their shoulders tend to remain in the best possible relationship with the shoulder belts at all times. The lap-belt anchors are likewise mounted in the seat, so the lap belts also maintain the proper position and angle no matter how the seats are adjusted.
An additional benefit of the system is improved resistance to side impacts. A belt-clamping device is located at the point where the shoulder belt exits the seat; in a crash, it locks the belt, thereby reducing the length of the belt that is subject to stretching. Also, the seat transfers crash forces to the floorpan, where they can be absorbed gradually.
At present, integrated seat-and-belt systems are feasible only in cars with fully power-adjustable seats—so don't expect to see them appear in econoboxes. But the benefits of such systems are great enough that you'll likely be seeing them soon on sedans as well as coupes and convertibles. —Csaba Csere
Specifications
First Drive
Specifications
1991 BMW 850i
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base: $73,600
ENGINE
SOHC 24-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 304 in3, 4988 cm3
Power: 296 hp @ 5200 rpm
Torque: 332 lb-ft @ 4100 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 105.7 in
Length: 188.2 in
Width: 73.0 in
Height: 52.8 in
Curb Weight (C/D est): 4050 lb
MANUFACTURER PERFORMANCE RATINGS
60 mph, manual/automatic: 6.1/7.2 sec
Top Speed, manual/automatic: 155/155 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
City, manual/automatic: 12/12 mpg
Highway, manual/automatic: 19/18 mpg
Csaba Csere joined Car and Driver in 1980 and never really left. After serving as Technical Editor and Director, he was Editor-in-Chief from 1993 until his retirement from active duty in 2008. He continues to dabble in automotive journalism and WRL racing, as well as ministering to his 1965 Jaguar E-type, 2017 Porsche 911, 2009 Mercedes SL550, 2013 Porsche Cayenne S, and four motorcycles—when not skiing or hiking near his home in Colorado.
