I present to you, the (likely) highest mileage 850CSi in existence...

[BMWM5LOVER]

Long time member, BMW owner and e31 owner. I had two, but couldn't turn this one away!
My 93 850Ci J Spec Auto with 50K Miles (pictured)
My 91 850i Manual with 80K Miles (for sale in the spring!!!)
and now my recent acquisition,
1994 850CSi with 350K MILES

Long story short, it got traded in on a brand new M850 and my plans are to bring it back to its former glory.
It was owned by the second owner, a doctor, from 1998(bought in the US by him) until I obtained it 1 week ago. Mainly used to commute from Toronto to New York for most of its life as his daily driver. What he called (and I cannot disagree with) 'the best car he's ever owned'.

The car obviously needs some love, but is rather tidy for the daily use and many miles it has seen.
It came to me running on 6 cylinders, with a shot suspension, tires and generally needing a 'once' over. In my opinion, it didn't see THAT much road time in recent years. Presumably, he maintained himself and fairly well over the years, but of course, it became too much as the mileage/age racked up and he likely drove it less and less. (he kept his plates unfortunately)

I have it running smooth and well now, seems to still like to spin tires in second and have begun making a list of "to do's" for it.
Full tune up (I've replaced the ignition coil that got it running on 12 again), changed the air filters and replaced the oil.
Next: front suspension overhaul, new shocks (possibly needed?), spark plugs, rear brakes, and tires.
Followed by a general 'detail/paint cleaning"
When I run out of things to do to it, I will have it completely repainted as the body has some problem areas. This is long term plan.
I hope to get it to an excellent running/driving/performing condition and enjoy it in its current 'patina' state. I plan to keep it fairly original.
It has a few cool upgrades, such as rear fogs, Euro CSI (stubby) mirrors (that I loathe), and sport seat from a EU car.

On to the pictures. Feel Free to ask Qs or to even suggest resources.

[BMWM5LOVER]

a few more.

[Dr. T]

Nice to see my baby went to a good home!!

PS> Who’s is the other 8?

[BMWM5LOVER]

My brother and I own 3 between us!
She is in the right hands, guaranteed. Plan is to do as much work on it ourselves.
If any info is incorrect or there is anything good or bad to know about it, I want to know it!!

[Fatandre]

Amazing to see such car in good hands. The MK motorsports look good on the other car.

[TedBobo]

Looks good in the pics! Nice score.

[buildit]

What a cool car

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[rogbmw]

Neat story. I love the sport seats too!

[clockwork]

I have it running smooth and well now, seems to still like to spin tires in second gear.

I only have a Jpn auto 850i with 3.64 rear diff, and I know a CSi is much more powerful, but I consider my 850i well maintainted yet I'd never be able to spin tires on an oil slick in a rain storm... I'm running Mich PSS3's but still, the car just seems like it could never spin tires if asked... I read stories of guys saying they spin tires and I'm amazed at just how much my vehicle must lack power. I truly am jealous of the CSi and higher horsepower e31s that exist.

[master6]

Hi M5Lover,

Good to hear, that you are going to restore CSi, back to original.

If you need help on rebuilding various parts, I rebuild A/C compressor, PSP and Booster, and door handles.

Please see my footer for my links,

Best,

[WildKarrde]

Awesome, congratz! I woulda jumped on that in a heartbeat. Bet you got it for a pretty good deal, despite the mileage.

- - - Updated - - -

I only have a Jpn auto 850i with 3.64 rear diff, and I know a CSi is much more powerful, but I consider my 850i well maintainted yet I'd never be able to spin tires on an oil slick in a rain storm... I'm running Mich PSS3's but still, the car just seems like it could never spin tires if asked... I read stories of guys saying they spin tires and I'm amazed at just how much my vehicle must lack power. I truly am jealous of the CSi and higher horsepower e31s that exist.

My stock M70 850Ci can spin the rear tires with the traction control off, especially if I'm accelerating around a corner. But then, I'm only running 225's right now.

[Major Cheese]

Awesome! What's the vin #?

[pollack138]

Nice to see DR T's CSI is staying in Toronto. It's the only one I've ever heard about in GTA and I always wanted to see it in the flesh. There are a few GTA owners on this forum but unfortunately we haven't gotten together in a while. Maybe in the spring we can work something out. Congratulations and good luck with it.

[CaifanSC]

I was wondering if it was you, Dr T! For some resaon I thought your car was green...but I was mistaken.

Man, shame to see you go...but glad the ride stayed local and within the enthusiast community.

[TexaZ3]

Barely broken in.

[Dking078]

Traded in?! Dang. I hope he got fair value :O

[Alec Cartio]

Which US-CSi number is this?

[BMWM5LOVER]

Amazing to see such car in good hands. The MK motorsports look good on the other car.

Yes! My Favourite wheels on a e31! These are e31 specific with 285s in the rear!

- - - Updated - - -

Neat story. I love the sport seats too!

My understanding is that they were swapped in from a EU car. I am fairly certain US spec CSi's came with regular (upgraded) leather seats. They make a world of a difference compared to my regular seats in my J Spec Ci.

- - - Updated - - -

I only have a Jpn auto 850i with 3.64 rear diff, and I know a CSi is much more powerful, but I consider my 850i well maintainted yet I'd never be able to spin tires on an oil slick in a rain storm... I'm running Mich PSS3's but still, the car just seems like it could never spin tires if asked... I read stories of guys saying they spin tires and I'm amazed at just how much my vehicle must lack power. I truly am jealous of the CSi and higher horsepower e31s that exist.

I find that weird. I have a J Spec Auto that used to have the open 3:15 in it. I could spin my 285 tires (although not completely effortlessly). Now I have a 3:64 LSD in and it will still spin them here and there if I punch it from a stand still. I am also chipped (wokke). The CSi is a whole other animal in terms of performance (from the limited driving I did of it prior to storage).

[BMWM5LOVER]

Nice to see DR T's CSI is staying in Toronto. It's the only one I've ever heard about in GTA and I always wanted to see it in the flesh. There are a few GTA owners on this forum but unfortunately we haven't gotten together in a while. Maybe in the spring we can work something out. Congratulations and good luck with it.

I would love to get together with some fellow Torontonians. Myself and a few friends have a bunch of 8s locally, we take them out to some local shows here and there.
I have a feeling my Jspec 8 will become even more of a garage queen than it has been up to this point as I anticipate that I'd drive the CSi more frequently once I get it all sorted out mechanically. I want it to be a driver for some time before I deal with a full paint job. It will wear its high mile patina for some time.

I will also be looking at selling my Canadian Sport 850i Manual, once I address a few of the small TLC items on the agenda.

- - - Updated - - -

Which US-CSi number is this?

I have to dig up the vin, I don't think I have it handy at the moment.

[pollack137]

I'm north of Oshawa but store my car in Richmond hill. Are you guys close to either of those locations?

[BMWM5LOVER]

So a few of you reached out and asked for some more pictures of the 350k mile CSi. Here you go. I'm sure some others would appreciate them too.
I spent several hours doing a clean up and paint polish with my brothers help. Please note there are still plenty of troublesome areas that would only be rectified by painting the car, but as far as 'patina' on a 'driver' goes, she looks great from a few feet away.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...68hmWLLJWCN_OM

[CaifanSC]

Ahh...sports seats. Very nice!