First, I'd like to say that the 8 series were showed in 1989 !!!
It was selled for 10 years by BMW...
In 90,91 a 92 sales were GOOD, but there was the Petrol crash, Economic went down, so few people were able to buy these cars
Even with the 850Csi & the 840 in 92 , they weren't able to sell them
And they really BAD advertise it..
It was the flagship of BMW
If you own a BMW now, think that all your new stuff, electronic, suspension, etc.. comes from the E31 !
For info BMW stopped production of the 8 in 1999 in Europe, and 1997 in the USA
If this car arrived 5-6 years later, with the Computer BOOM in 1999-2000, Everyone in the Silicon Valley would own an 850Csi, that's for sure ;-)