BMW 850i - Car and Driver (blog)
The editorial belly is having trouble digesting the BMW 850i sports coupe. When it comes from Germany and wears the blue-and-white BMW badge on its hood, you expect it to send your blood pressure off the scale with its acceleration and handling, while coddling you as if you were a Saudi oil minister. The big Bimmer lets you blow past most of the proles on the road—with the exception of those driving Corvettes, 300ZX Turbos , and the like—faster than they can ask, "What was that. " Its motivation comes from the same splendid 5. 0-liter V-12 found under the hood of the 750iL sedan. Mated to a six-speed manual, gearbox (a four-speed automatic is also available), the mighty V-12 catapulted our 850i from standstill like an F-16 being launched off a carrier. Blast-off to 60 mph takes just 6. 3 seconds, the quarter-mile dash is over in 14. 9 seconds at 96 mph, and the speed doesn't stop coming until an electronic limiter steps in at 156 mph. It's like having a giant, vibrationless, hydroelectric generator under the hood. the Bimmer with the high-pulse-rate engine is the M5 sedan. With the 850i's speed and silence comes annoyance, however. A sports-luxury machine as expensive as this should be as sweet as homemade marmalade to drive, even if you're just on a run to the cleaners. No matter how gingerly you toe into the throttle, the engine lunges and snaps your head. Source: www.caranddriver.com
