| These cars are not as unreliable as people who don't own them make them out to be. Most of the problems arise from owners who do not properly maintain them. The car does require maintainance on the level of the near $100,000 car it is. Many people who buy them forget that and treat them very poorly. But if you compare it to cars like Ferraris (which you shouldn't be) and other V12 equipped cars it far surpasses them in reliability. The 8 series was ahead of its time in many respects, similar in some ways to what the new 7 is today, but without the bad styling and poor build quality. The 8 series is the most solidly built car I have ever been in, and that says a lot.
There is talk about their performance. For one thing you need to understand it is not a sports car but a bahn-storming high speed cruiser. And it excels at that to the point of near perfection. There are very few BMW's today that can match the highway power and smoothness of this car. The V12's in these cars are detuned and they respond unbelivably well to modifications. The 850CSi boasted 372 hp and 402 ft/lbs of torque vs the E39 M5's 400 hp and 369 ft/lbs of torque. Where an E39 M5 will start to become squirelly at high speeds, the 8 series is just entering the pace it is most comforatable at.
It is a shame the M8 never went into production, that would have been BMW's answer to Ferrari's GT market with well over 500 hp in a lighter platform then the standard 8 series.
The V12 later evolved into the near 630 hp McLaren F1 engine and the LMR race engine, so it is clear BMW had mastered the V12.
With regard to which 8 series you should go with, the appeal to the V8 is there are supercharger kits and other modifications readily available for it. The 840 only came in automatic however. With regard to the V8 engine problems, that was an issue with all BMW's equipped with the 4.0. The engine blocks were becoming damaged as a result of the material used to construct them. All later cars were switched to the 4.4 and on most cases BMW replaced the 4.0's for free. If you have money to spend try to pick up a nice 850CSi or purchase a 91-92 850i 6 speed and company's like Korman can rebuild the V12 to 6 liters and over 500 hp. It is all a matter of what you are trying to achieve and what you are willing to put into it.
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