Carwow’s Mat Watson is fortunate enough to get a lot of great long-term test cars. Most of which are expensive, high-performance machines that most enthusiasts can only dream of driving and Watson gets to drive them for six months at a time without having to pay for them. Works out quite nicely. Though, sometimes that can be sad because it’s easy to get attached to the car and then someone from the manufacturer will come and take it away. Such is the case with his BMW M850i.
We’ve seen quite a few videos of Mat Watson’s BMW M850i long-termer and he seems to like it quite a bit. In this new video, he takes us through all of the things he likes about it, doesn’t like so much and some things that just puzzled him during his six months with it.
For starters, it’s a great looking car. It’s hard to deny just how good looking the 8er is and he even addresses some of the enthusiasts that claim it looks like a Mustang (personally, I do think it looks a bit like a Mustang but don’t consider that an insult. The current Mustang is a great looking car). He also really likes the interior, which is something that’s drawn some ire from enthusiasts as of late. I agree with him, too. It might not be the flashiest but it’s a wonderful place to spend some time.
There are some things that aren’t great about the BMW M850i, though. For instance, its Display Key is useless (indeed it is) and its navigation system can be frustrating (I’ve noticed that as well with BMW’s current iDrive). Some things also seemed a bit puzzling, like the fact that the digital gauge cluster doesn’t display enough information, which seems like an misstep, and its automated reverse assistant is a cool but ultimately superfluous function.
Overall, though, it seems as is Mat Watson is going to be sad when someone picks up his BMW M850i. Fortunately for him, he’s getting a new long-termer right after the Bimmer and it’s going to be something great, judging by the choices he presents. So we don’t have too much sympathy.
