Originally posted by louisw:
Nice pick. I've driven the 840 and 850 before. The 840 is decently quick and is adequately powered, but the 850 V12 is fantastic. The power is better matched to the bulk of the car, and the V12 song is even sweeter than the 840 V8. The 840 was an automatic, but the 850 was a 6-spd (definitely the way to go). I haven't driven the 850CSi (the unofficial M8) but I imagine it's that much faster. Word of warning, this car is the essence of a GT. It's big, fast, impractical, and it's not going to win track events, but for cruising and general driving, what a car.
As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of this car as well. Check out http://www.e31.net for more information and some cool videos. I want to get one also, but with under 7k units imported into North America, my chances of finding that perfect black 850CSi are slim to none...The Contour is probably going to be parked right next to it in the driveway. Two years from now a `96 Contour Zetec/ATX with (assuming recent driving) 130K+ is going to be worth next to nothing. I will keep it. I'll park it in a field before I let some dealer give me $1000 for it. :rolleyes:
I have never been much of a racer, just out to enjoy the (rather fast) ride. None of my current vehicles, or former for that matter, have been fast. I have always had the cars that are just a few notches slower then permagrin.
I bought the Contour without knowing how fun it would be when I ran it through the twisties. It only got better too. For what the BMW is, I am sure it can hold its own. I wouldn't have wanted to go drop their asking price to have something that handled like a `77 Olds.
Another thing nice about the 8-series, I rarely see them around here.
