840 Running Costs

Can't really help you with this one, however a friend of mine has a 928 and needs a new radiator. It has been off the road for 18 months as a new part is £870+VAT!! You will find that 928's spend alot of time lying around because of these costs and as such suffer quite badly from lack of use.

Ian,

I don't know how much on an annual basis it would cost to run an 840, but doing 8k a year you are likely just to be paying out for 1 service, say 1/2 set of tyres (depending on how you drive). Give your local dealer a call and get a quote for servicing. The real cost with these cars is when something goes wrong or needs replacing, such as suspension components etc.

I would be very suprised if an 840 costs as much to maintain as a 928, although a lot of it depends on how good the car is in the first place. Buy a neglected example of either and it will bleed your wallet dry. Last time I was in the dealer I overheard a conversation between the owner of an 850 and the service manager. The service manager was explaining to the owner why it was going to cost £2500 to fix the aircon.

Good luck on the purchase.  I've read hundreds of posts on Nikasil vs Alusil on different boards and I think Nikasil has got a bad wrap just because of the high sulphur fuel in the States.

Nikasil is still used in performance bike & car engines. I thought the instances of high sulphur fuel in the UK was pretty rare or at least a thing of the past. There haven't been any reported Nikasil problems down under.

Ian

The block in my 540i was changed around July '96 for an Alusil M60 block at 66K miles. This was less than 3 years after the car was manufactured.

They were still putting Nikasil replacements in upto around '97  by all accounts, so you have to be careful.

Madly, the M52 Nikasil engines were still supplied new upto some time in '98 (my Dad has a '98 328 on Nikasil).

They repaired the faulty blocks with steel liners on these engines.

I can only presume that they had an excess of new engines (M52 and M60) so carried on installing them for some while after they new about the Nikasil issues.

Good luck with your search !!

Andy  West Midlands

For the 840 expect at least a £300-500 bill everytime you put it in the garage.  But don't waste your money with BMW main dealers, find a good independent who can handle most of the servicing, and just use a main dealer sparingly for the really difficult problems.

If your particular solution to the mid-life crisis needs a loud throbbing engine, buy the Porsche.  Otherwise the 840 is fabulous (I'm biased, but you do get a lot of car for your money) and will zoom you about in near silence as the sound proofing is so thick you cannot hear your wallet, wife and bank manager screaming. 

Just live for today, forget the pension and the kids inheritance, go out and get an 840 (97P or younger) as soon as possible.

So, the choice is clearly the 840.

A final reminder.....

The 928 looks like an Austin Allegro from the rear, often driven by the poorer of the footballers wives.

The 840 breathes and ouzes class, style, panache, "juno say kwa, Rodney".

And, for all the things mentioned above, the BMW wipes the floor with it's tutonic upstart of a brother.

I am within a year or two of you, and dealing with the same MLC!  But I am Old shape, I am considering a 6 series Shark nosed classic, or even an older Series 1, 3 series.  But I don't want a rolling restoration.  Good luck with your 8.  You know it makes sense.

Ditto the last post. I was just about to post and I find somebody already has. All a matter of taste I suppose.

928 always. 840/850 if you can't afford a 928.

Ah, you see guys, you are obviously young and bashful and want a car that runs on Viagra.

My "wipe the floor" comment is nothing to do with driving around with yer eyebrows touching, pedal to the metal at the lights etc.  It's to do with luxury, comfort, practicality, costs and the ability to scorch if you want to.

The "Looks" bit is entirely to taste, IMO the 911 is a true Porsche good looking shape.  I still stand that the hatchback appearance and Austin Allegro lights let the looks of the 928 down a great deal.  I have been in the 911 and the 928, and of course, the drivers were showing off the speed etc.  But, for old gits like me, it was too noisy, too bumpy.  It fely like I was sliding down a hill on a piece of cushionfloor!  Like we did as kids.

I like to cruise along at Motorway speeds, listening to music as a background entertainment, not having to put the CD on Volume 60 to get over the Lump-noise.

As for sound, it's a choice between the Raw Roar of a Porsche (Which in my opinion has an annoying after-rattle) or the Angry Purr of a BMW.  I prefer the latter.  Nothing sounds like a BMW.  The base-ball capped no*heads with Baked-Bean-tin exhausts are mimicking the sound of a Porche, with their Novas.  They can never get that BM sound though.

Anyway, it's all on taste.  And that's mine.

I'll shurrup now, you'll have me down as a ranter.