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Having owned various 8 series from an early 4.0 840i to 3 850CSis I can't believe the amount of rubbish spouted by some people who have clearly never even sat in an 8 let alone owned or fixed one. The 850 is actually a very reliable car and was group breaking at the time of release. It was one of first, if not the first car, to have drive-by-wire throttle. It was the first V12 to be mated to a 6 speed gearbox and the AHK rear wheel steering gave it amazing high speed stability. The V12 unit is relatively simple and has no major issues. Electrical problems that have been mentioned here are usually a result of low batteries or hacked up wiring from alarm or stereo installs by people who don't know what they're doing. I've never had a major issue with the V12 through 10 years of ownership of various 850s. I would definitely recommend the V12, especially in CSi form, over the V8. In fact the only 8 I had problems with was my first 840Ci which needed an engine replacement due to the Nikasil issue.
I've just purchased another 850CSi, one of the last produced, and I'm in the process of restoring it. After a few weeks of being laid up it developed a misfire and was having starting issues. I called a friend who is an experienced mechanic and he said he wouldn't know where to start. My thoughts from reading forums was the distributor caps and rotors. With these replaced the car again runs smooth. The parts cost me less than £200 and I fitted them myself in less than an hour. Next job is refurbishing the throttle motors. A relatively simple job with lots of guides available on line. However if I were to ask my BMW dealer to do this they would just replace them at a cost of £1800-£2000. If you're not prepared to do your homework then yes, these cars can seem expensive money pits but in reality most owners find much easier and cost effective solutions to the relatively few issues the V12 has. With regular servicing they can easily do 250-300k if not more.
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