You certainly don’t see one of these for sale very often. Several years ago, BMW began a program in which it partnered with various artists to create modern day “art cars.” In 2023, it partnered with American artist Jeff Koons to create what can only be described as a comic book BMW come to life. Only 99 were ever made, making them incredibly rare, but one just sold on Cars & Bids for $131,786. And when you add some contest, you’ll realize that whoever bought it got a freaking steal.
Like all of BMW’s modern art cars, Jeff Koons hand-painted one of these “8 X Jeff Koons” 8 Series. Then BMW manufactured the rest and painted them exactly as Koons did, just from the factory. So while the one that sold on Cars & Bids wasn’t hand-painted, the design was still created by Koons’ hand. Being one of only 99 ever made and a paint job like that—with comic book-style graphics, air swooshes, and funny onomatopoeias—it’s about as rare as a car gets. Inside, its blue and red interior gives off big Superman vibes to continue the theme.
Source: Cars and Bids
Aside from that, it’s a standard BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe. So it still has a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with 523 horsepower, an eight-speed automatic, and all-wheel drive. That isn’t a criticism, it’s a great car. There’s just nothing mechanically unique about Koons’ art car.
Here’s where it becomes a steal, though. When new, BMW sold each of the 99 models for $350,000, so this new owner paid just a little over a third of its original value for it. And it’s only three years old, with just 50 miles on it. It’s bascially brand-new. Hell, a brand-new M850i Gran Coupe starts at $110,500 before destination. So the buyer didn’t pay much more to have an ultra-limited piece of BMW history with a paintjob that was hand-designed by a famous artist. To make this purchase seem even better, another on of the Koons cars was listed for sale in Germany in 2024 for more than $460,000. So $131,786 looks like a bargain, even if it means driving around in a comic book.
