An accounting of the highly sought-after BMW M70 850Ci 6spd manuals was recently completed for the 1993 model year. The North American 850i/Ci 6spd was produced for the 1991-1993 model years, including one special-ordered 1994 model for the Canadian market, for a total of 847 cars.
BMW introduced many upgrades and changed the model name from BMW 850i to BMW 850Ci, however, BMW drastically cut production of the 6spd to only 106 6spd cars for the 1993 model year.
BMW carried over the 1991 model year to the 1992 model year relatively unchanged until late 08/1991 production. For the annual engineering change, BMW had several engineering changes implemented based on the 18 months of warranty data and the movement of the seat heating switches from seat side to the console surrounding the gearshift. BMW cut production for 1992 model year over 50% from 1991 model year production because there were too much unsold 8er's on dealer lots and the effects of the Persian Gulf War and the recession..
As of 2010-03-15, the following applies:
- 13 of the 106 model year 1993 850Ci 6spds are either salvage junked or rebuilt, or 12.3% of the total. The state with the most salvage cars is New York at 4 8's (3 junked, 1 rebuilt).
- 5 of the 106, all USA-spec cars, have no records on file anywhere in North America; may be delivered elsewhere.
- The remainng 88 cars, or 83% of the 106 built, continue to show activity.
- The top 5 States/Provinces where the 1993 850Ci 6spds are active:
- 17 - California
- Top color: SCHWARZ 2 (668) - 4 cars
- 13 - New York
- Top color: LAGUNENGRUEN METALLIC (266) - 4 cars
- 8 - Florida
- Top color: STERLINGSILBER METALLIC (244) - 2 cars
- 7 - Georgia
- Top color: ALPINWEISS 2 (218) - 2 cars
- 6 - Virginia
- Top color: DIAMANTSCHWARZ METALLIC (181) - 3 cars
- 17 - California
The next step is to complete the accounting for 1992 model year 850i 6spds (212 cars) and then finally the 1991 model year 850i 6spds (528 cars). The lone 1994 model year 850Ci 6spd, a Canadian-spec car, is in currently housed with a collector and has been restored.
The 1991-1993 850i/Ci 6spd is the 3rd most collectable 8er in North American, behind the number one ranked BMW Motorsport 850CSi (225 cars) and number two ranked BMW M73 850Ci (363 cars).
