- A 1-of-99 Koons BMW bid to $131,786, reserve not met.
- Original MSRP was approximately $351,000 when new.
- Low mileage example highlights brutal art-car depreciation.
Do you like Jeff Koons? Do you want a piece of his art that he almost certainly never physically touched? Do you want that art stretched over a twin-turbo V8 luxury sedan that cost $351,000 new and now, apparently, doesn’t? Well, we have some good news for you.
A 2023 BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe “THE 8 X JEFF KOONS” just crossed the virtual block on Cars & Bids, and the high bid tells us exactly what the market thinks about BMW’s rolling pop-art experiment. Spoiler alert: not very much.
More: A Rare $350,000 BMW 8 X Jeff Koons Has Already Been Crashed
The car in question is one of just 99 examples built worldwide. Each one features a comic book-inspired livery complete with “POP!” graphics and vapor-thrust imagery, hand-painted over 285 hours.
T2- The riot of color does not stop at the bodywork. Koons carried the theme into the cabin of the M850i, where the blinding red and blue seats supposedly nod to BMW’s M division and the exaggerated world of comic-book superheroes. And if that wasn’t enough, the interior also mixes in black, burgundy, and brown leather as if the brief was “all of it, please”.
Underneath the art installation sits a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 523 horsepower (390 kW) and 553 lb-ft (750 Nm), sent to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic and xDrive AWD. That sounds pretty cool, and there’s even more to love.
This particular example showed just 50 miles on the odometer and still carries a Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin. In other words, it’s basically new. It even had a recent oil and brake fluid service at 33 miles, which feels a bit like changing the socks on a museum statue.
Auction Reality Sets In
And yet, after 17 bids and plenty of commentary, the auction ended at $131,786. Reserve very much not met. Let’s break that math down a bit because it’s a pretty rough look for every “THE 8 X JEFF KOONS” owner and the artist himself. When new, this car had an MSRP of just over $350,000. We have the window sticker to prove it.
On top of that, there’s good evidence to support the idea that plenty of early buyers spent more. Even if they hadn’t, it would mean that they’ve taken a $220,000 haircut in depreciation alone. That’s also assuming that their example has just 50 miles on the clock and is in nearly perfect condition.
Of course, none of this should be all that shocking. The normal M850i Gran Coupe is a very potent car, but it depreciates quite quickly. Adding a reportedly six-figure paint job doesn’t automatically make it a Picasso on wheels, just a very expensive, very niche product. Now, owners are finding that out the hard way.
