#THE LAST INSTANT TRANSMISSION MANUAL#
#THE LAST INSTANT TRANSMISSION FULL#
#THE LAST INSTANT TRANSMISSION SERIES#

#THE LAST INSTANT TRANSMISSION MANUAL#

Have an 850i and want to manual swap it? Good luck, the Getrag 560g costs north of $6000 if you can even find one for sale, and then you have to find all the other bits and pieces to make it happen.Instant Transmission (瞬間移動, Shunkan Idō lit. Same goes for a lot of the suspension components, especially if you have the EDC (Electronic Damper Control) system. The manual shift knob/boot is $350 and has to come from Germany. Need a radiator? It’s Genuine-only, and like $600.

The other side of it is that parts are quite hard to get, since there’s not a ton of aftermarket support for these E31’s. The E31 gives you Ferrari looks but drives like a 7-series coupe. I remember selling an 840ci on behalf of a friend and it sat around for months, because every time somebody would come by to look at it, they’d drive it and be disappointed at how not sporty it was. Unless you’re lucky/rich enough to have an 850csi, the performance and driving characteristics don’t match up to the exotic looks. Having driven every variation of E31 that was made (840ci, 850i auto, 850i/6, 850csi), I can see why they’re not as beloved as some of the other BMW’s of that era. Plus, there were V8s starting in 1992, with a 4.0-liter making 282 horsepower this was replaced in 1995 with a 4.4 making the same horsepower but 15 more lb-ft of torque. The 850i later became the 850Ci and got a 5.4-liter V12 making 332 horsepower. In 1992, the 850CSi joined the 850i, and swapped the 5.0-liter V12 for a 5.6-liter that cranked out 375 horsepower – up 99 over the 5.0.

#THE LAST INSTANT TRANSMISSION SERIES#

Oh, and yes, you read that first quote right: You could get an 8 Series with a V12 and a six-speed manual transmission - the first-ever pairing of a V12 and a six-speed stick.

#THE LAST INSTANT TRANSMISSION FULL#

In 1986, engineering and pre-production testing kicked off, and after burning through the equivalent of $900 million in developmental costs, the E31 BMW 8 Series made its full production debut at the 1989 Frankfurt auto show as the BMW 850i. With dollar signs in its eyes and the precedent set for a successful big-money, hi-tech BMW coupe, BMW fixed its sights on Aston Martin’s and Mercedes-Benz’s top-dollar grand tourers with the initial design and conceptual development of the range-topping BMW 8 Series in 1981. The design wasn’t “out there,” it was streamlined and elegant the car came out during a glory era in BMW’s history and, for the most part, this trade-in was in great shape. This week’s car, a BMW 840i is also interesting, but for totally different reasons. Last week’s Dodge Nitro was interesting because it was so “out there” design-wise, it was a fascinating vehicle during a rough time in Chrysler’s history, and it was in such rough shape (a catalytic converter had been hacked out and the interior was gross).

But what makes a car interesting? Well, that’s a complex formula. But, as I learned when I drove the trade-in, the 8 Series deserves so, so, so much better, for it is truly a glorious machine.Įvery day I get a list of vehicles recently traded in to Galpin’s many dealerships, and every day, I look attentively for something interesting that I can drive. But unlike everything else that His Airness touched, the 8 Series hasn’t really realized true glory, and today it’s largely forgotten by the American public. Today’s trade-in is a 1997 BMW 840CI, a V8-powered, popup headlight-having, B-pillarless swaggermobile that stood at the pinnacle of BMW’s lineup in the 1990s, and was even owned by Michael Jordan.

Welcome to Trade-In Tuesday, a regular feature in which I drive a vehicle that has been traded in to Galpin, The Autopian’s sister-company run by cofounder Beau Boeckmann.

The last instant transmission