When my father started his foray into German cars, I was a young teenager. The first car he bought was a 1982 BMW 633CSi; to my eyes, still a beautiful car. Shortly after that he bought a companion 1985 635CSi automatic; and even though that car wasn’t quite as pretty as the earlier shark and was an automatic, it was much more fun to drive. It wasn’t because of the displacement increase in the motor, but rather the changeover to E28 mechanicals that really transformed the E24 from what was a stunning looker into a real driver’s car. These later 6s usually carry a bit of a premium over the early models, though truth be told the E24 market is really in a state of fluctuation where you can buy great looking cars for a steal or see very overpriced examples that need work. Currently falling into the former category is today’s black over cream 1986 model, sporting lower miles and the all-important 5-speed manual:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 BMW 635CSi on eBay
Year: 1986
Model: 635CSi
Engine: 3.5 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 87,300 mi
Price: Reserve Auction
1986 BMW 635 with M apperance package. This is all original with all books and paper work. Paint is all original super shine does have some road chips shows great. Car has just been completlay gone over spent $4,986 which included: radiator,mounts, hoses, master cylinder, brake lines, brake pads, rotors, recharge ac, 4 new TRX Michelin tires. Interior has original recaro style leather seats which shows like new, dash pad is perfect. This is an excellent 635 which can be driven anywhere. Any questions please call Gary at 609-868-1007
I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of the badge engineering or the rear spoiler, but it is at least integrated in reasonably well. The paint does look sharp though there are a few chips that show the undercoating – items that you’d probably want to jump on sooner rather than later, before the tin worm attacks. This car has recently undergone a serious amount of maintenance, always a great sign of careful and diligent ownership – which the condition of the car seems to attest to as well. This is one of the rare cases I’ve seen where the owner has actually replaced the original TRX tires; at least it’s something you won’t need to worry about for a time. I actually think the these TRX alloys were pretty good looking overall, though they’re not as striking as the much more popular M6 or 3-piece BBS RS TRX variants. All in all, this 6 looks well cared for and well sorted with lower miles and recent maintenance. It’s the perfect opportunity to jump into classic BMW ownership – sure, it doesn’t have M-level performance, but it won’t have the accompanying M-repair bills. I would expect the seller is hoping the auction will hit around $10,000 – $12,000 for this fairly pristine example; all in all, not a bad deal for a lot of style in a dependable classic.
-Carter
ah yes the special box to check for the “M” appearance package…ad a letter!..
yeah that bugs me, sorry, but a 635CSi is a really nice car as it sits….this makes me wonder about the car/owner themselves….
also it looks like to gain the “M”, he had to lose the “i” in the CS….
@Mdriver, lol… Face palm! M-badges: $25 straight up, or $10 and you give us the “I.”
What asshat would put more letters on a trunk lid? And anyone that really knows BMWs knows that the CSi letters inherently mean M-goodness.
I have one M logo thing in my non M car, and it’s a trunk mat, only because it was the heaviest duty trunk mat I could find. I’m going to cruise around this coming summer with the trunk popped open and let people gaze at my Motorsports trunk mat. Ha…
I was curious so I looked at some pics of other 635Csi & M6s online and I’ve seen some with the trunk spoiler that just goes across the top edge of the trunk lid, and another style that has a little foot on each far end that wraps from the horizontal edge of the trunk down to the vertical edge. I don’t know if it was a model year change or what, but both varieties look like they were on bone stock cars.
Also I don’t think I saw any factory trunks that had spoilers painted body color. I’m guessing that the spoiler shape was changed at some point and this seller (for reasons of body work or ??) had a different spoiler (still OE, just not the one that came with his car) painted and put on that didn’t go with the size and location of his factory 635Csi badging, thus the removal of the “i”.
I also have seen pics of e24s with no spoiler, and at least the the spoiler with the feet (but probably both kinds) were secured with 3 holes through the trunk. . so I wonder if ones w/o spoiler were factory spoiler delete or were patched and painted later.
Ry, there were a few different spoilers on the E24s – like the E28s, as well as several aftermarket. The original M635 spoiler was an all-foam/rubber unit with the badges off the lid and on the spoiler, a la M535. The M6 unit, just like the M5 unit, was a half painted, half rubber piece. The particular spoiler that is on this car appears on several different car images I’ve seen, and is available from Korman (and probably others), and may have been a changeover on the M635 – it has a factory number:
http://www.kormanautoworks.com/PC070206a.jpg
M635:
http://www.bmwism.com/all_bmw/e24_bmw635csi_e24_rear_view.jpg
changeover:
http://www.chromjuwelen.com/images/cache/616×427-http—hooniverse.com-wp-content-uploads-2012-01-kust28.jpg
http://www.chromjuwelen.com/images/cache/616×427-http—hooniverse.com-wp-content-uploads-2012-01-kust27.jpg
M6:
https://secure.finishlinestudios.com/users/www_classiccarsltd_com/files/auto/vehicle/727/js640_Ruby_38_087.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Used-BMW-OEM-E24-M-tech1-Spoiler-M6-633-635-csi-1976-1989-Very-Rare-/00/s/NTAwWDkyMA==/z/rT4AAOxy5rpSR6mZ/$(KGrHqN,!qcFJC9tNjGeBSR6mZUh3Q~~60_35.JPG
Here’s a diagram of all three:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=5514&mospid=47206&btnr=41_0779&hg=41&fg=60
They only list parts for the M6 spoiler, but it appears the other two are glue on, and it’s difficult to tell but it seems that the second smaller unit (which looks like the spoiler above) may be a factory or dealer option unit. I came to the same conclusion on the removal of the “i”.
Very interesting @Carter, and thank you very much for all of the examples. One minor thing, in the BMW parts diagram you cited, I believe all of those spoilers are combination mounting adhesive and they have 3 threaded studs each, hence the diagram showing nuts for each?
That was a very helpful pic of the “changeover” spoiler w/ the feet where you have a closeup of the PN (ends in 597), I believe that’s the spoiler in the middle on the parts diagram of all 3 (though it’s part # isn’t mentioned on that page I believe it’s 51711879597).
I feel like I could now be called as an expert witness in a court of law if the topic was e24 spoilers, woohoo!
Haha, pretty funny. Yeah, the useless stuff we know, right? It’s hard to tell how many bolts (if any) hold the spoilers on from the diagram. The M6 unit appears to have 4 holes, and there are nuts indicated for the other two along with what appear to be adhesive strips – but it’s a bit hard to tell the actual number that holds them all together.
@Carter, for future peeps who come upon this thread while searching for e24 spoiler info. . . 🙂
I found on ECS’s website they have the spoiler p/n 51711879597 (this is the model I believe is depicted on the vehicle for sale in this posting, with the feet on the ends, like we alluded to earlier probably obtained in OE foam then painted body color) pictured from several angles and distances showing 3 x threaded studs on the bottom side:
http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/51711879597/ES127522/
And on the BMW parts catalog system I brought up the E24 and the trunk lid badges & emblems section, there were definitely two different sizes of “635Csi” (the smaller appeared to be a one piece, the larger looks to be multiple pieces):
http://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_assembly=251479&ukey_make=975&ukey_model=13465&ukey_category=17293&ukey_trimLevel=11859
Maybe an M6 or 635Csi owner will chime in and post a pic from the underside of his trunk. . .the p/n on the trunk sheet metal itself (41621959600) looks like the raw part is undrilled, maybe these were attached at the factory on a per car basis since spoiler-less models like the L6 used the same trunk.