Crested Butte, CO
Attachment 3437634

Southeastern Utah
Attachment 3437635

Jasper, Alberta
Attachment 3437636

Glacier National Park
Attachment 3437637

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: Therell 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 Ive driven nearly 820,000 miles so far, thus, I dont make this distinction lightly.

Granted, I havent 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 dont care if anyone disagrees with me. I wont take offense if anyone has different thoughts. Sure, I havent driven every model of BMW. I dont need to. Will a 7 series chew up miles better while crossing the continent on an interstate? Maybe – but Ill kick their ass on a two lane road through the mountains in Wyoming and Colorado. Because I avoid freeways like the plague. Wheres 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 its 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 M5s. The A/C is fabulous – it actually blows lots of cold air out of the drivers 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. Ive never added oil, coolant or tire air on a trip. Hell, Ive never needed to add oil in any situation. The car has never had any problems. Zero.

Ive 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.
Attachment 3437638

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 dont need a lot of road to get around slower vehicles. Also, I should have at least PPFd the hood. It is a very long snout. Love the stock exhaust. Sure, theres things Ive missed about the M5 Comp – but I have zero regrets in making the switch. And, it feels nearly as fast.

Theres a lot of fabulous things to see on this side of the country. Ive done separate threads for each of the various trips over on the 8 forum. Heres a smattering of some of the best stuff – a little over a dozen or so pictures from each excursion. (Except Colorado. You cant do Colorado with just 15 pictures.) Theyre 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
Attachment 3437639

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.
Attachment 3437677

The snow tires had just been taken off the M5 – I hadnt even thought about the M850 sitting down at my dealers lot. I didnt even know it existed, even though I am always checking their website for new arrivals. The mountain passes were all buried in snow. I didnt 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 Id like the M850 ride a little better than the M5. The cost of money was definitely going to be higher in 19 months.

It doesnt 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 didnt 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 90s a couple days.

Willamette Pass, OR – 5,000 Feet
Attachment 3437678

CA Hwy 139 – – Bring it!
Attachment 3437679

US Hwy 395, Mono Lake Vista – 7,500 feet
Attachment 3437680

The worst of the snow hit less than an hour later. At 6 PM we crossed Deadmans 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 didnt 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
Attachment 3437681

Badwater Road – Death Valley
Attachment 3437682

Badwater Basin – 280 feet below sea level
Attachment 3437683

CA Hwy 127 – Death Valley, CA
Attachment 3437684

South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Attachment 3437685

Courthouse Butte – Sedona, AZ
Attachment 3437686

Saguaro – Phoenix, AZ
Attachment 3437720

Jacaranda Tree – San Diego, CA]
Attachment 3437687

CA Hwy 1 – Pacific Coast Hwy (One of the finest stretches of road in all of the USA)
Attachment 3437688

Big Creek Bridge – Pacific Coast Hwy
Attachment 3437689

Bixby Bridge – Pacific Coast Hwy
Attachment 3437690

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

Colorado in September is just phenomenal. Utah doesnt 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
Attachment 3437691

Pikes Peak – Elev 14,115 feet
Attachment 3437692

Crested Butte, CO – Elev 9,000 feet
Attachment 3437693
Attachment 3437694

CO Hwy 50 – Dillion Pinnacles
Attachment 3437695

Telluride, CO – Absolutely unreal
Attachment 3437696
Attachment 3437697
Attachment 3437698

US Hwy 550 – Million Dollar Highway, CO
Attachment 3437699

CO Hwy 65 – Grand Mesa
Attachment 3437700
Attachment 3437701

Colorado National Monument – an unknown gem
Attachment 3437702
Attachment 3437703
Attachment 3437704
Attachment 3437705

UT Hwy 128, near Moab, UT
Attachment 3437706

Dead Horse Point State Park
Attachment 3437707
Attachment 3437708

Arches National Park
Attachment 3437709
Attachment 3437710
Attachment 3437711

Bonneville Salt Flats – they let you drive out there (I didnt)
Attachment 3437712

NV Hwy 140 – at Denio Junction (A lonely, lonely stretch of road)
Attachment 3437713

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
Attachment 3437534

UT Hwy 24 – near Torrey, UT (Fabulous scenery)
Attachment 3437535

UT Hwy 95 – Comb Ridge, SE UT
Attachment 3437536

UT Hwy 211 – Canyonlands National Park – Needles Dist.
Attachment 3437537
Attachment 3437538

US Hwy 64 – Arizona/New Mexico border
Attachment 3437539

US Hwy 285 – Encino, NM
Attachment 3437540

Roswell, NM – The Truth is out There
Attachment 3437541

US Hwy 62 – New Mexico / Texas border
Attachment 3437542

White Sands National Park, NM
Attachment 3437543

US Hwy 395 – north of Bishop, CA
Attachment 3437544

CA Hwy 158 – June Lake, CA
Attachment 3437545

US Hwy 395 – Mono Lake Vista, Elev 7,500 feet
Attachment 3437546
Attachment 3437547

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

Back to our honeymoon stomping grounds.

Toppenish, WA – Murals everywhere
Attachment 3437595

WA Hwy 155 – Banks Lake
Attachment 3437596

Grand Coulee Dam, WA (Columbia River)
Attachment 3437597

Can Hwy 16 – Moose Lake, BC
Attachment 3437598

Yellowhead Hwy – Jasper, Alberta
Attachment 3437599

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

Icefields Hwy 93 – Jasper NP
Attachment 3437600

Endless Chain Ridge
Attachment 3437601

Ice Fields Hwy – Jasper NP
Attachment 3437602

Peyto Lake – It really IS that color
Attachment 3437603

Cascade Mountain & Banff, AB from Sulphur Mountain Gondola
Attachment 3437604

Mt Rundle & Banff
Attachment 3437605

Morants Curve – Bow River (Near Lake Louise)
Attachment 3437606

Can HWY 1 – Paget Peak, BC
Attachment 3437607

Can Hwy 1 – Rogers Pass, BC
Attachment 3437608

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
Attachment 3437613

Weather over Yellowstone Lake
Attachment 3437614

Shoshone River, WY
Attachment 3437615

Jim Mountain – Near Cody, WY(Dirty car)
Attachment 3437616

US Hwy 212 – Beartooth Pass, MT, high point goes to 10,947 feet
Attachment 3437617

US Hwy 89, near Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone NP
Attachment 3437618

US Hwy 191 – NE Yellowstone NP
Attachment 3437619

MT Hwy 86 – Bridger Canyon Road, MT
Attachment 3437620

US Hwy 89 – Fairfield, MT
Attachment 3437621

The views in Glacier Park are phenomenal.

Going-To-The-Sun Road – Glacier National Park
Attachment 3437622

Going-To-The-Sun Road – Glacier National Park
Attachment 3437623

Logan Pass – Elev 6,647 Feet
Attachment 3437624

Paradise Meadow
Attachment 3437625

US Hwy 12 – A fun stop in Pomeroy, WA
Attachment 3437626

Back home
Attachment 3437627

Ill say it again: The M850 is one fine automobile. Never get tired of hopping into it – even if its 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.