830i The 830i was a prototype that did not reach production. As the potential entry-level model, the 830i was to use the 3-litre V8 with from the 530i and 730i, known internally as the
M60B30. Eighteen cars were produced, thirteen of which had an automatic gearbox fitted. The model was dropped in favour of the 840Ci and almost all of the 18 cars were dismantled; one car is in a BMW museum.
850i Cabrio The 8 Series had been planned from the start with a convertible version in mind. Although the 850i Cabrio was developed to production readiness, it never went into production. At a relatively late date it was decided that this model was unlikely to recover the cost of putting it into production. A prototype in red resides in the BMW Museum in Munich. Although an official convertible variant never entered production, there have been aftermarket companies who have converted small numbers of 8 Series coupés into convertibles. A common misconception is that this is the same engine that powered the
McLaren F1. The
S70/2 used in the McLaren F1 was not based on the prototype 48-valve V12 used in the M8, and was a completely new design. The car was given two intakes by its rear arches for engine and differential oil cooling. It was also given a wider track via a wider drive axle as well as uprated front brakes. The interior was completely stripped, with bucket seats and additional gauges for oil pressure, oil temperature, and water temperature. The M8 was given a
B-pillar to retain structural rigidity as well as having its pop up headlights deleted from the car. Other modifications include bodywork modifications such as a new front bumper, new wing mirrors, more flared wheel arches and a vent in the bonnet. The car's kerb weight was reduced to less than by making elements of the car
glass reinforced plastic (such as the bonnet, doors and boot lid), using carbon fibre wheels and removing the rear seats from the car. The windows were made of
Lexan. The oil reservoir was moved to the trunk of the car; oil pipes went through the roof of the car. The project was eventually scrapped because BMW decided that there was no market for a high performance variant of the 8 Series primarily because of the on-going economic recession of the 1990s. The only prototype ever produced (one that was reportedly not even safe for normal road usage) was locked away by BMW in the company's
Giftschrank (poison storage). BMW and the M Division had strongly denied that the car was even a possibility since the initial stages of its development. A world exclusive feature in the February 2010 issue of BMW Car Magazine, however, revealed that the M8 prototype still exists in its entirety. The car was unveiled to journalists for the first time on July 2, 2010, at the BMW Museum in Munich. The only public showing of the car happened on August 17, 2012, during 'The Legends of the Autobahn' car show held in Carmel, California. The car was specially shipped from Germany for the appearance. Although the M8 was never produced, the 850CSi was also tuned by BMW's
M division. Aside from sporting an M-tuned engine (as identified by the S prefix (which a non-M tuned engine would bear) instead of the M prefix), the car's VIN identifies the car as being built by BMW Motorsport (a
WBS prefix) instead of BMW AG (
WBA prefix). Per BMW's own protocol, the 850CSi as marketed was essentially a de-tuned version of the putative M8. ==Alpina models==