Jason Cammisa and His BMW 850 CSi Visit Jay Leno’s Garage

Jay Leno's Garage

Jay Leno enjoys a wide range of cars, from brass-era phaetons to the latest in modern luxury. In his latest video, he’s joined once more by Jason Cammisa, who brought another one of his BMWs to share. Last time it was an E30, but the E31 that Cammisa brought down this time is also special: the range-topping 850 CSi.

The big grand touring coupe features a host of upgrades over the rest of the lineup. It wears unique front and rear bumpers, the suspension is lower and firmer, and its V-12 was bumped from 5.0 to 5.6 liters. The added displacement, along with a new Bosch Motronic 1.7 fuel injection system, helped the V-12 produce 372 horsepower. Just 225 were built for the U.S. and Jason’s is one of 13 that was custom-ordered through the BMW Individual program.

After some history on the car and how he came to own it, the two geek out over the engine bay and other tool kit before Jason gives Jay the key and they hit the road to let the V-12 make some music.

Jason modified the exhaust a bit, because as he put it, “I’m paying for those spark plugs, I want to hear it.” There are some good fly-by shots where you can hear the smooth V-12 and a couple of stoplights that also serve as a good excuse to get on the throttle.

It seems that Jay enjoys the car. After a bit of time behind the wheel, Jay has good things to say about the big coupe, “It’s not really a compromise at all. It’s quite quick, it handles nice, and the engine is so incredibly smooth”. Also, in a fabulous act of rationalization, Jay described Jason’s purchase of a low-production, 30-year-old German car with two separate engine control systems as “sensible.” That’s how you know he’s one of us.

As a bonus, if you’d like to get the full Cammisa breakdown of the E31’s story, check out his Revelations video below.

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Comments

    These cars are interesting because I know someone who bought one about a year ago for $2500. It’s a decent looking car at least from the 5 foot perspective and I see it around town so I know it runs halfway decently

    The videos with Jason, Jay, etc. on his car have been pretty cool. It was such a good looking car. Don’t see them too often but usually in V8 guise.

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