Over the weekend I had the privilege of being a judge at the El Segundo stop of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, where the owners of over 200 modified cars vied for the chance to have their cars turned into a real-life Hot Wheels toy. The variety on display was stunning, from Beetle-based rat rods and NASCAR-style muscle cars to custom trucks like Scott Robertson’s winning FordTruss. My favorite car, though, was a 1990s BMW 8 Series fitted with a more modern BMW V10 engine, complete with a fully reimagined body and interior.
This E31 was built by Southern California–based Reyn Speed Shop, and somehow I totally missed its debut at Monterey Car Week this year. Called the 858 CSL, it uses the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V10 from an E60 M5 bored out to 5.8 liters by Steve Dinan’s company Carbahn. Rey Rivera of Reyn Speed Shop told Top Gear it makes somewhere around 630 horsepower and 489 pound-feet of torque, quite a bit more than the stock motor and way more than the 8 Series’ stock V12, and the 858 CSL was also fitted with the six-speed motor from the M5. Gazing into the engine bay, you’d never guess that it wasn’t original. The car even has stability control and ABS, and it retains all of the E60’s diagnostics and computers, so it should be easy to maintain too.
Famed designer Jon Sibal created the 858 CSL’s carbon-fiber bodywork, with nearly every panel changed. Gone are the pop-up headlights in favor of slim units in the bumper, which has a design akin to the E46 M3 CSL, and the new hood has nice carbon-fiber vents. Wider fenders house custom multi-spoke wheels with a nice dish, and the rear end has clear taillights and a carbon diffuser with quad exhaust. Apparently the 858 CSL weighs nearly 700 pounds less than the stock car.
It was the inside that was most impressive to me. The 8 Series’ stock interior design was retained, but with a number of extremely well-done modifications. There’s an infotainment screen with an iDrive knob in the center console, and above the screen are a panel of climate controls taken from the E60. The steering wheel and gauges were also brought over from the M5, while the seats are “Vader” units taken from an E36 M3. Even little details like the light controls and start/stop button are from the donor M5. It looks so good you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a factory build.
The 858 CSL took four years to complete, and it’s just a one-off build, at least for now. Rivera told Top Gear he has an idea for an E9 with a 5.4-liter V12. If it comes out like the 858 CSL, I can’t wait.
