Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
6er. E24. The Shark. Whatever you want to call it, the E24 6 series coupe has ranked up there with some of the best looking BMWs of all time. Many of these coupes were equipped with an automatic gearbox, however, this 635CSi for sale in California has the rare 5-speed manual option. Also included in the package is a Dinan chip and M6 rear differential.
If you look hard enough, it’s amazing sometime what you can find. Take, for example, today’s E30 convertible that’s been modified with both the body pieces from an E30 M3 and the engine from an E36 M3. In the “best of both worlds” scenario, this isn’t a bad option – but to find it, you had to have a little faith. Personally, I was interested in both the widebody AMG SEC and the modified E24 6 that were in the ad’s cover photo, so I sought more information. What was inside is what seems to be a well built and very presentable box-flared E30 convertible with some serious motivation:
In an era where successive generations of vehicles get larger and heavier, lightweight specials crop up occasionally to cater to the purist. Porsche has a penchant for lightweight specials, such as the 911 GT3RS and various Club Sport models that have peppered the lineup throughout the years. BMW has been hip to this lightweight game as well, and saw the potential shortly after the introduction of the E36 M3 in the US market. The Lightweight (LTW) was a 1995 homologation special model that saw the deletion of luxuries such as air conditioning, a radio, some sound deadening material, leather trim and the sunroof. Aluminum skinned doors, sport suspension and a revised rear axle ratio gave the Lightweight an edge over the standard M3. A little over 100 of these LTW models were offered to US customers and are highly prized by Bimmer fans today. This M3 LTW for sale in Florida is unlike many in that it has a good amount of miles under its belt.
I’m not alone in my preference for the E38 7-series; its minor updates over the E32 seemed to really take the design to a new level of cleanliness and aggression. Relative to the well cared for E38s that still roam the streets looking amazing, most E32s look beat up, frumpy, ridden hard and put away wet. All that changes today though, as this is hands down the best E32 I have ever seen. Rocking lowering springs, M-Parallels, and a nice front lip, this black V12 beauty is the business. It’s not just a pretty face, either; it’s covered just 37k miles in its life and has had tiny issues tended to. It takes a really nice E23 for me to be more attracted than pretty much any E38; this is the first E32 that’s really ever required a second, third, and fourth glance.
Without a doubt, two of the favorite tuning platforms of the past two decades have been the E36 M3 and B5 Audi S4. Almost a right of passage for recent Euro car ownership, they took middle-class sedans to the track offering out of the box 240 and 250hp respectively, though in very different ways. Out of the box, the E36 was the more lively of the two, though the Audi was undoubtedly more refined and a better all-arounder than the E36 was. In an almost Yankees/Red Sox-esque rivalry, both have their supporters who either respect the other’s performance or point out its multiple flaws. Production didn’t overlap on these two, but it was close and pricing is similarly close these days. Which is the better deal? Well, you can help decide – let’s look at the BMW first: