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Into what kind of maintenance nightmare would I be getting if I were to purchase a 1991 850csi with 140K miles on it?

None. The CSi did not exist in the USA until the 1994 model year. I would be very afraid of purchasing a car from someone who would be so blatant in their misrepresentation of the facts.

Okay, cool. Now, please follow the link (if I posted it right) and tell me what you see on the left rear of this vehicle - I could very well not be reading it right.

Excuse me from ripping content from other peoples sites, but I think it is necessary to set this issue straight.

Only 1532 units of the BMW 850CSi were built in Munich's M-Factory from september 1992 until December 1996 and sold to the entire world.

As you can see by the backs of the two REAL CSi's shown there are three major differences that tell you this isn't a real CSi.

1. The badging of "CSi" is on the left side of car and even looks like it says "CSI". As with all of BMW's cars the model number is completely on the right side of the vehicle and a true CSi would read as 850CSi.
2. The tail pipe tips are square.
3. The rear spoiler (under the bumper) is not a CSi spoiler.

If you follow the link back to the page where you got this picture from you will see that the engine does not have the "M" emblem on it, thus finalizing the fact that it cannot even be considered a CSi. It might have been accepted (I doubt it) if someone were to replace the original V12 5.0L engine with the 5.5L M engine, and replace the suspension, the brakes, the spoilers, the badging, and some other things I'm sure I left out.

What you have here is just a very used 1991 850i at not that bad a price. If you wish to look like a fool and purchase this car with the intent of calling it a CSi then I would suggest you frequent another board. If you had read through the posts on this board prior to trying to prove something based on no personal knowledge you would have found out for yourself, as I did just recently, what is and isn't the the world of 8-series BMW's.

I have been reading this board for about two months and have found out almost everything there is to know about the 8-series by some very experienced and knowledgeable people, and would hope that you take my advice and do the same.

As a personal note to everyone else on this board, forgive me if I come off a bit harsh, but I felt it necessary to get my point across. It just irks me to no end when people argue a point to no end, and have to knowledge or proof to back it up. This is the first time I have ever written a comment of this nature, hopefully it will also be the last. I believe everything I stated is true to the best of my knowledge, but if there is anything I wrote that is wrong, please correct me, as I can accept that I do not know everything.

PS - I am still looking for the part for my rear view mirror that I posted earlier - http://www.bimmer.org/e31/messages/messages/4670.html - any help would be greatly appriciated.

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