[snowbimmer]

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Its been a glorious two years of driving. As such, I am very enthusiastic about this car. Is this thread overkill? Probably.

Sedona, AZ


Crested Butte, CO


Southeastern Utah


Jasper, Alberta


Glacier National Park


The answer to the above question is a resounding yes. Yes, it is the best GT car in the BMW lineup. There, I made it easy for you.

Note: There'll be a lot more pictures at the end of my blathering.

My 2022 M850 turns 2 years old today and now has 36,500 miles. It has also become my favorite car......ever. And I've driven nearly 820,000 miles so far, thus, I don't make this distinction lightly.

Granted, I haven't owned gobs of BMWs - but, I have owned 10. The E60 5 series turned into the F10 5 series - all six cylinders, one MT. Then the first of the V-8s: an F10 550xi, a G30 M550xi, an F90 M5 Base and also an F90 LCI M5 Comp. All great cars. All great on the road. The fun factor really ratcheted up with the graduation to the V-8s. The M550 was sublime, even with "only" 456 HP. The M5s were insane, obviously. Part of me wanted an M8 (well, most of me....), but I thought the M850 might be the real sweet spot for what I wanted in a car. I needed very fast - check. I needed great styling - check (Duh). I needed luxury and comfort - check. (M cars can be a "tad" harsh, shall we say?) I needed close to M level handling - check. It has to be good in the snow - check. I wanted good daily driver capabilities - check. I wanted reliability for long, long trips - check. Thus, I now posit that the M850 does all of these things better, collectively, than any car in the BMW line-up. (Sure, the Alpina B8 ratchets things up quite a bit, but not "technically" a BMW.)

And, I don't care if anyone disagrees with me. I won't take offense if anyone has different thoughts. Sure, I haven't driven every model of BMW. I don't need to. Will a 7 series chew up miles better while crossing the continent on an interstate? Maybe - but I'll kick their ass on a two lane road through the mountains in Wyoming and Colorado. Because I avoid freeways like the plague. Where's the fun in that?

So, I brought this little Carbon Black beauty home a couple days before leaving on a long planned 4,200 mile trip that took us to Arizona and then over to San Diego for a family wedding. I was only 17 months into my 2021 M5Comp - which was a fabulous car - and really looking forward to taking it on this trip. But I felt the M850 was where I needed to be, so I pulled the trigger (it was on the lot) and headed off on a grand adventure - after a harrowing start. More later.

The M850 has been on 5 trips all over the Western US and Canada, travelling 17,800 miles over 62 total days. So, half of it's mileage life has been on the road - away from my pothole laden city. Average daily mileage during the trips was 287 miles, with a high mileage day of 509 miles - where I stepped out the car fresh as a daisy. The only other car that let me do that was the M550. Power is effortless and smooth. It comes on like gangbusters, with the silky smooth transmission always seeming to be in the right gear. I can get nearly 500 miles on a tank of gas in the right conditions. The seats are more comfortable than the M5's. The A/C is fabulous - it actually blows lots of cold air out of the driver's front left side vent. Although the car is long and heavy, the rear wheel steering really shrinks the turning radius. I wish the trunk was a tad bigger. I've never added oil, coolant or tire air on a trip. Hell, I've never needed to add oil in any situation. The car has never had any problems. Zero.

I've kept it mostly bone stock. It has the carbon roof and the Carbon Exterior Package. My only mods have been tints, a ceramic coat and and a set of Vossen HF5 wheels. The OEM tires and wheels on this size car are way too narrow. I took the fronts from an 8 inch 245 to a 9 inch 255 setup. The rears went from a 9 inch 275 to a 10.5 inch 295 setup.


This also gave the car a wider stance. Handling and stability have been vastly improved and now it feels really planted in the corners. Passing in Sport+ is effortless - you don't need a lot of road to get around slower vehicles. Also, I should have at least PPF'd the hood. It is a very long snout. Love the stock exhaust. Sure, there's things I've missed about the M5 Comp - but I have zero regrets in making the switch. And, it feels nearly as fast.

There's a lot of fabulous things to see on this side of the country. I've done separate threads for each of the various trips over on the 8 forum. Here's a smattering of some of the best stuff - a little over a dozen or so pictures from each excursion. (Except Colorado. You can't do Colorado with just 15 pictures.) They're mostly just cars pics, but hopefully there is generally something interesting in the background. There are a few landscapes, where even a car as nice as an M850 would just wreck it.

The 5 Routes



Trip #1 - April 2022: Death Valley, Grand Canyon, San Diego
4,220 Miles - 15 Days

The weather turned wild the second week of April. This was my deck, just a week before we were to leave. Good grief! I had four routes out of Oregon. All had passes over 5,000 feet. All buried in snow.


The snow tires had just been taken off the M5 - I hadn't even thought about the M850 sitting down at my dealer's lot. I didn't even know it existed, even though I am always checking their website for new arrivals. The mountain passes were all buried in snow. I didn't want to put the snow tires back on the M5 - it could be over 90 degrees in Arizona. I was leaving on Wed. the 20th. What to do? Well, on Fri. the 16th, you could look on the dealer website and see a nice Carbon Black M850 - with everything that you would spec, minus the Bowers & Wilkins. Is that a deal breaker? (Apparently not) My M5 lease would be up in Dec 2023, still 19 months away. Interest rates were about ready to skyrocket, M8 deals were non-existent. Maybe I'd like the M850 ride a little better than the M5. The cost of money was definitely going to be higher in 19 months.

It doesn't hurt to go down and just look, right? I could get it when I get back. If I liked it. I scheduled a test drive with my CA. Dammit, I liked it. But, they didn't want an M5 with 4,000 more miles on it in 2 weeks (I was already over 23,000 miles), so I got a great deal on my lease buy-out, a great discount off MSRP and 2.75% financing. The deal came together on Mon. the 18th, but I still had a snow problem. My M5 snow wheels (705Ms) had the wrong offsets and the tires had quite the poke. It would have been impossible to source a snow set of tires to fit the OEM wheels in one day. So, my only option was my M550 snow wheels, a set of 664Ms. They should be compatible to the M850, they had good rubber on them (Pirelli Sotozero3) - but they were a non-staggered set, giving me only 8" wide wheels at the corners with 245 wide tires. Obviously not ideal for this behemoth. Handling would suck, but I would most likely get out of Oregon. The 664Ms just cleared the calipers and 40 hours after taking possession, we were off, and headed for our first 5,000' snowy pass. Who buys a car a day and a half before you leave on a 4,200 mile trip?

It was flawless.

Even if it was a bit squirrely at times in the hot AZ sun. I think we saw the mid 90's a couple days.

Willamette Pass, OR - 5,000 Feet


CA Hwy 139 - - Bring it!


US Hwy 395, Mono Lake Vista - 7,500 feet


The worst of the snow hit less than an hour later. At 6 PM we crossed Deadman's Summit at just over 8,000 feet. It was dark. It had just dropped to 28 degrees. The light snow turned into a blizzard blowing 50 mph sideways and visibility became a faint memory. We soldiered on. The car didn't really seem to give a shit that we were in snow (we never slipped) and 30 minutes later it was all over. The town of Bishop was just 20 miles away and brisket dinner was waiting. Day 2 was over. We had travelled 476 miles - we were now 768 miles from home.

All the snow and mountain passes were behind us. I hoped the snow tires would last another 3,452 miles in the heat and not just melt all over the tarmac.

US Hwy 395, south of Bishop, CA - Sierra Nevadas


Badwater Road - Death Valley


Badwater Basin - 280 feet below sea level


CA Hwy 127 - Death Valley, CA


South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park


Courthouse Butte - Sedona, AZ


Saguaro - Phoenix, AZ


Jacaranda Tree - San Diego, CA]


CA Hwy 1 - Pacific Coast Hwy (One of the finest stretches of road in all of the USA)


Big Creek Bridge - Pacific Coast Hwy


Bixby Bridge - Pacific Coast Hwy



Trip #2 -September 2022: Colorado, Utah
4,083 Miles - 14 Days

Colorado in September is just phenomenal. Utah doesn't suck, either.

It was late September. We would eventually go over 12 passes above 10,000 feet. Snow threatened us again a few times. I was on summer tires. Made it without any problems.

CO Hwy 82 - Independence Pass, 12,095 feet


Pikes Peak - Elev 14,115 feet


Crested Butte, CO - Elev 9,000 feet



CO Hwy 50 - Dillion Pinnacles


Telluride, CO - Absolutely unreal




US Hwy 550 - Million Dollar Highway, CO


CO Hwy 65 - Grand Mesa



Colorado National Monument - an unknown gem





UT Hwy 128, near Moab, UT


Dead Horse Point State Park



Arches National Park




Bonneville Salt Flats - they let you drive out there (I didn't)


NV Hwy 140 - at Denio Junction (A lonely, lonely stretch of road)



Trip #3 - April 2023: New Mexico
4,763 Miles - 16 Days

Time for a new state. Also fun just getting there.

US Hwy 20 - Juntura, OR


UT Hwy 24 - near Torrey, UT (Fabulous scenery)


UT Hwy 95 - Comb Ridge, SE UT


UT Hwy 211 - Canyonlands National Park - Needles Dist.



US Hwy 64 - Arizona/New Mexico border


US Hwy 285 - Encino, NM


Roswell, NM - The Truth is out There


US Hwy 62 - New Mexico / Texas border


White Sands National Park, NM


US Hwy 395 - north of Bishop, CA


CA Hwy 158 - June Lake, CA


US Hwy 395 - Mono Lake Vista, Elev 7,500 feet




Trip #4 - July 2023: Canadian Rockies
2,233 Miles - 9 Days

Back to our honeymoon stomping grounds.

Toppenish, WA - Murals everywhere


WA Hwy 155 - Banks Lake


Grand Coulee Dam, WA (Columbia River)


Can Hwy 16 - Moose Lake, BC


Yellowhead Hwy - Jasper, Alberta


Jasper to Banff is possibly the best 178 miles of road in North America - absolutely stunning.

Icefields Hwy 93 - Jasper NP


Endless Chain Ridge


Ice Fields Hwy - Jasper NP


Peyto Lake - It really IS that color


Cascade Mountain & Banff, AB from Sulphur Mountain Gondola


Mt Rundle & Banff


Morant's Curve - Bow River (Near Lake Louise)


Can HWY 1 - Paget Peak, BC


Can Hwy 1 - Rogers Pass, BC



Trip #5 - September 2023: Yellowstone & Glacier National Parks
2,496 Miles -89 Days

Time to pick off two fabulous roads: Hwy 212 Beartooth Pass (MT & WY) & Going-To-The-Sun Road in Glacier NP.

Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID


Weather over Yellowstone Lake


Shoshone River, WY


Jim Mountain - Near Cody, WY(Dirty car)


US Hwy 212 - Beartooth Pass, MT, high point goes to 10,947 feet


US Hwy 89, near Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone NP


US Hwy 191 - NE Yellowstone NP


MT Hwy 86 - Bridger Canyon Road, MT


US Hwy 89 - Fairfield, MT


The views in Glacier Park are phenomenal.

Going-To-The-Sun Road - Glacier National Park


Going-To-The-Sun Road - Glacier National Park


Logan Pass - Elev 6,647 Feet


Paradise Meadow


US Hwy 12 - A fun stop in Pomeroy, WA


Back home



I'll say it again: The M850 is one fine automobile. Never get tired of hopping into it - even if it's just a 2 mile run to the grocery store. I feel very fortunate and lucky to be able to experience these machines.

Might be looking at going back to Wyoming and Colorado for Round 6 in June.

Thanks for following along. Hope you enjoyed the journey.

[Revan]

Wow! What an amazing trip and excellent photos. Looks like you had a great drive in a fantastic car.

[gilberjj]

Amazing! My question is, how do you keep it so damn clean on a road trip!?!?! I got rid of my e92 m3 in Jerez black because it was always dirty...

[mjj]

Thanks for the journey.

[Oldgixxer]

Wow,you're livin the life
Amazing pics,absolutely beautiful scenery thanks for sharing

[Ugly Kar]

It's certainly a beautiful car. The 8 series may be my favorite in looks, but of course they'll screw up the next generation. The black wheels on black wash out though and it looks like there's no wheels.

I've driven some of those roads too, but not most. You can make someone jealous for sure.

[MagnificoRoad]

snowbimmer Happy bday to the wheels! Thanks for the fantastic summary, photos and inspiration of your jaw dropping journeys in your beloved M850. Happy to see a photo of Pikes Peak which I’ve climbed.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by Revan

Wow! What an amazing trip and excellent photos. Looks like you had a great drive in a fantastic car.

Thanks for the nice words. You are correct in your assessment

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by gilberjj

Amazing! My question is, how do you keep it so damn clean on a road trip!?!?! I got rid of my e92 m3 in Jerez black because it was always dirty...

Thanks. I just wash it every couple days, every day if the bugs have bludgeoned the front end. It's dirtier than it looks.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by mjj

Thanks for the journey.

Thanks for saying so and thanks for reading.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by Oldgixxer

Wow,you're livin the life
Amazing pics, absolutely beautiful scenery thanks for sharing

Appreciate it. Thanks for getting through it.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by Ugly Kar

It's certainly a beautiful car. The 8 series may be my favorite in looks, but of course they'll screw up the next generation. The black wheels on black wash out though and it looks like there's no wheels.

I've driven some of those roads too, but not most. You can make someone jealous for sure.

Thanks, man. The car is actually dark blue. The Vossen wheels were originally matte gunmetal. The finish chipped too easily and I prefer gloss. I just powder coated them gloss black. Looks awesome in person.

[snowbimmer]

Two year birthday drive to the coast today. Last two Aprils I was fighting snow to get out of Oregon. Not today.

Not the best quality pics this time around, unfortunately............

Drift Creek Covered Bridge



Cape Lookout

[G30M]

I'm not sure if it's the best GT car, but it has the best ass

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by MagnificoRoad

Happy bday to the wheels! Thanks for the fantastic summary, photos and inspiration of your jaw dropping journeys in your beloved M850.

Thanks for the kind words. Glad to see you're posting more pics of your car. A few more wouldn't kill anybody. The interior shot a couple weeks ago was killer. Love me some Tartufo. Your Deep thoughts was outstanding. Where was that?

My CA has an inbound M850 in San Remo coming in at the end of the month, with cognac. I'm afraid if I see it in person I'll order one with Tartufo. SRG and Tartufo is one of my top picks for next time.

Originally Posted by MagnificoRoad

Happy to see a photo of Pikes Peak which I’ve climbed.

You know you can drive to the tippy top, right?

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by G30M

I'm not sure if it's the best GT car, but it has the best ass

So, what's your choice and, yes it is.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by G30M

I'm not sure if it's the best GT car, but it has the best ass

Yeah, don't know being the best but it certainly is up there in terms of value against its peers - CLS 53/AMG GT 53, S7, Panamera, whatever Maserati has left.

[MagnificoRoad]

[QUOTE=snowbimmer;31088332]You know you can drive to the tippy top, right?


In my defense I didn’t have the 8 series at the time. I had no choice

As for your eyeing an SRG/Tartufo M850, allow me to direct quote you: “Life's too short sometimes. Get the best car you want.”

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Yeah, don't know being the best but it certainly is up there in terms of value against its peers - CLS 53/AMG GT 53, S7, Panamera, whatever Maserati has left.

My original treatise was acknowledging the M850 to only the BMW line-up. Comparing it to other makes & models was not the intent of my thread.

That would involve a much, much wider discussion. Although, I feel it would acquit itself quite nicely.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by MagnificoRoad

In my defense I didn’t have the 8 series at the time. I had no choice

As for your eyeing an SRG/Tartufo M850, allow me to direct quote you: “Life's too short sometimes. Get the best car you want.”

Well played.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by snowbimmer

So, what's your choice and, yes it is.

F90 M5C LCi

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by G30M

F90 M5C LCi

The F90 M5C is an awesome choice - and hard to argue with. I owned one for 22,000 miles and had a couple of phenomenal trips with it - namely to:

Wallowa Lake, OR


Devils Tower, WY


Badlands, SD


and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, CO


It was probably the best car I ever had (you can't beat the engineering and sheer power of a V8 M-Car), but the ride can be harsh in town, the brakes squeal like a school bus and the A/C was never good enough.

I've always said it's the best car I've ever had, but not my favorite. But, I certainly wouldn't fault anyone choosing it, or an M8, either.

Technically, there's no real wrong answer here.