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BMW Celebrates 25 Years of the 8 Series with 120 Car Parade

At the 1989 Frankfurt International Auto Show, the audience was shocked to see a car codenamed E31 by BMW, for the first time. It was the unveiling of what would eventually become an icon in the brand’s history, the rare 8 Series.
BMW 8 Series Anniversary 27 photos
Photo: BMW
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A car that ended up being used as a sort of prototype for all the newest technologies developed by the Bavarians, the coupe was the sports coupe of the 90s.

Built between 1989 and 1999, the 8 Series was sold in 30,621 units in total, 24 of which were hand made at BMW’s Rosslyn plant in South Africa. You might wonder why. Well, back in those days, for South African orders, it was cheaper to assemble the cars locally rather than import them, due to tax reasons.

More than two thirds of the total were fitted with 12-cylinder engines and only one in six were equipped with the specially developed 6-speed manual gearbox.

Speaking of technical specs, we have to tell you all about the beasts that hid under the bonnet of this car. Initially, the 850i used a V12 5-liter engine making 300 HP and 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque to take the 1.8 ton car up to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 6.8 seconds. That acceleration time is impressive even by today’s standards. Imagine how good it was back then.

To keep that power in check, the car was fitted with new technology such as Automatic Stability Control plus Traction (ASC+T), for the first time in BMW’s history. It also had Electronic Damper Control (EDC) for the first time, to offer the best possible ride.

The second version of the 8 Series cam in 1993. It was called the 850 CSi and used an uprated version of the original 5-liter V12. This one had its displacement increased to 5.6-liters and the power went up accordingly, to 381 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque. With the new specs, the CSi version reached 100 km/h (62 mph) in under 6 seconds.

Of course, the chassis was also tuned to match the new performance, by the M division, nonetheless. The rear wheels, for example, received active axle kinematics, the forefather of what BMW is using today for the Integral Active Steering system for the 5, 6 and 7 Series.

The 850i model became the 850Ci and had plenty of modifications in its sleeve too. In autumn 1994, this model received a 5.4-liter V12 that used to make 326 HP , hooked up to a new 5-speed automatic gearbox. An 840Ci entry-level model also joined the line-up one year earlier, powered by a 4-liter V8 making 286 HP.

Since this iconic model was turning 25 this year, BMW decided to invite its most avid fans to the Munich headquarters to have a proper celebration. Members of the 8er.org community and ClubE31 Worldwide Owners Group e.V. were present on the spot with their cars, to say happy birthday.

BMW organized the event and took the 260 participants from 20 countries on a tour of the BMW Plant Dingolfing, where the car was built over a full decade, from 1989 to 1999. A photo shoot was also in order, and you can check it out in the gallery below.
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