John, the M70/M73 engines in the 7 & 8's have a feature called Limp Home Mode where half the engine would power down but the other half still worked to get you safely somewhere, but this never something an owner wanted to voluntarily introduce into the driving experience.

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I swear, my cars are like a girlfriend.
Sometimes its a rough ride, sometimes its smooth motorin'.
Sometimes she doesnt like how i treat her and sometimes i dont like how she behaves.
BUT at the end of the day, she loves it when I am inside her.

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'91 850i
'05 X5 4.4i
'09 Clubman S