Just as Rob’s first 911 experience was a Targa and he consequently always has a soft spot for them, my formative BMW experience was my father’s first foray into German automobiles. I was a young teenager when he purchased a 1982 633CSi. Coming from a family that had otherwise had only Toyotas, the 633CSi looked, felt and went in exotic ways I could never have imagined. The tactile sensations remain with me; the bark of the exhaust, the smell of the leather, how unbelievably small and uncomfortable that rear seat was.
He later followed up the 633 with a 1985 635CSi. Though outwardly the only change was larger wheels and the front air dam with integrated spoiler, it felt much more modern. I didn’t know it at the time, but of course that’s because it was – underneath, the E24 had moved to the E28 bits and that really did make a difference when you drove the two back to back. But BMW wasn’t done updating the dinosaur from the 70s quite yet.
1988 saw a host of further upgrades to the chassis even as its planned successor 8-series was completed on the drawing board computer. Inside the car got an airbag steering wheel, while outside saw revisions to the headlights and bumper caps. But the bigger news was under the hood, where the M30B35 replaced the B34. Moving from the 3.2 to 3.4 motor between the 633 and 635 change had netted only 1 more horsepower for the shark, though it did have more torque. However the newly updated 3.4 really did up performance a few ticks. Now with 208 horsepower and 214 lb.ft of torque, the last of the E24s were the best non-M you could buy in terms of luxury, performance and drivability. It’s no surprise, then, that they’re also generally the most valuable outside of the M range, and this 1989 has been offered with no reserve to the delight of many bidders:
