SO FAR SO GOOD!

OWNING THE SEXY AND COMPLEX 850CI HAS GENERALLY BEEN A GOOD THING, BUT IT'S HAD ITS CHALLENGING MOMENTS

- GUY ALLEN

IS IT FIVE YEARS ALREADY? Where on earth has the time gone? Really, I would have sworn it was mere months ago when partner Ms M and I committed to buying the long and low Bimmer.

What started this was muggins had a serious itch to scratch: Namely to own a V12 at least once in my life. There are plenty of choices out there, primarily from Italy, the UK and Germany, and the harsh reality of our limited budget meant we were looking at either an XJS Jaguar or maybe an 850 Bimmer.

Ms M blanched at the idea of the Jag, even though we both love them. As luck would have it, old mate Clive from Makulu Car Services got wind of my interest and was on the blower. He and a friend had bought a collection of BMWs and the one car they didn't want was a complete, if tired 850ci from 1993. However, the seller said they took the lot or nothing at all.

Clive and Jimmy over at Southern BM fixed up the 850, got it running nicely, and offered it at a price that was too good to turn down.

Weirdly enough I have a long relationship with these things, as I went to the Australian launch of this car and the E34 M5 way back in the early 1990s.