Another video from the people at Car Throttle, but it’s worth watching for any car enthusiast. For us gear-heads, the V12 engine is the ultimate in internal combustion. Nothing offers the sort of smooth, effortless power than a proper V12 can. They make brilliant noises as well. So for car enthusiasts, V12 engines are more tempting than any other configuration. The only problem with V12s is that they’re typically very expensive. So Car Throttle put out a video explaining the cheapest cars to buy that have V12s under hood.
Two of those cars so happen to be BMWs. Both of them come from the same era for BMW, an era which some say was BMW’s best. The mid-’90s to early-2000’s was a great one for BMW and showed the Bavarians making some genuinely brilliant cars, two of which had V12 engines — the E38 BMW 750i and the BMW 850i.
The former is still the best 7 Series generation BMW has ever made. The E38 was smooth, great looking, powerful and still great fun to drive. It blended luxury and handling better than any other luxury BMW since. And the best model is the 750i, as it packed a mighty V12 engine. Packing a 5.4 liter V12, the 750i developed 322 hp, the 750i is perfectly powered for its time. It was fast but not overly so, just effortlessly fast. These can be had for about £5,000 (around $6,000), which makes them incredibly cheap for a V12 luxury car.
The other V12-powered BMW that can be had for relatively little money is the BMW 850i, which packs a 5.0 liter V12 for early models and the same 5.4 liter V12 engine as the 750i on later 850ci models. The latter is the more desirable car, as it develops 322 hp compared to 296 hp. It’s also capable of 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds, making it quick even by today’s standards. It also looks great, has popup headlights and is a proper grand tourer. These get a bit more expensive though and can push £8,000 (around $10,000).
Both of these cars have their own reliability issues, so they should be looked into before buying and make sure everything checks out. However, if you can find a nice example for a price you can afford, how can you pass up a proper naturally-aspirated V12 engine for under $10,000?
