The 1988 BMW 635CSi we featured at the end of last month is back on offer at the same price. For those who love an old shark and must have it equipped with a manual gearbox, read further…
Tag: e24
We get a lot of submissions from readers – something we greatly appreciate! But the reality is that we don’t get the chance to write up all of these cars, and some deserving examples slip through the cracks. For some time I’ve wanted to do a roundup of all the examples we missed out on, so today I’m doing just that. Here’s a group of neat cars that we didn’t get a chance to look at in more depth. Thanks again to all of our devoted readers who have sent in some of these suggestions – we really do love getting your suggestions, so keep sending them and tell us if this “Honorable Mention Roundup is a good idea!
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC on eBay
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In the early 1980s, both BMW and Mercedes-Benz offered big coupes based upon sedan brethren. But to get the performance that matched their looks, before 1985-1986 you needed to look towards the “Grey Market” to get the hotter original specification motors. For the BMW 6-series, that meant the 635CSi jumped from 182 horsepower to 218, with 10 lb.ft more torque, too. But the Mercedes-Benz SEC was the big jump in power, with 27 horsepower more than the 380SEC but a massive 67 lb.ft of torque added. Coupled with lower weight, better headlights and slimmer bumpers, today these Euro editions are still quite popular and highly sought. Today I have two to face off; are either worth the high asking price for the ticket of admission?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Mercedes-Benz 500SEC on eBay
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Our intrepid editor here at GCFSB sent over this listing when the 968 I was going to write up sold. Though it’s an entirely different style of vehicle, the purpose of the E24 is quite similar to that of the last four cylinder Porsche. Both were geared towards upwardly mobile citizens who wanted to spice up their lives and make a statement with what they drove. Make no mistake, the E24 is a statement vehicle, from the 628 CSi all the way up the M6. It has mountains of curb appeal from any angle, which is what makes it one of the prettiest cars of all time. The spacious cabin has a airy greenhouse feel, something sorely missed in modern car design, which has become a study in minimizing blindspots while raising belt lines. Everything about the E24 is balanced, it’s just the right amount of luxury, just the right amount of sporty, it’s BMW at their best. While the current 6 Series is a brutish grand tourer that I admittedly have a soft spot for, especially in Gran Coupe form, it doesn’t come close to matching the beauty of the original 6. It’s incredibly difficult to produce a car that manages to draw all the right kinds of attention. The 968 is a fun car, but in its heyday it was seen as a car for those seeking attention.  The E24 on the other hand was for those folks who just wanted to go about their business, but wanted to look damn good while doing so.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW 635CSi on eBAY
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Though they’re the juggernaut of BMW performance today, the reality is that there were quite a few stumbling blocks and it took many years for BMW Motorsport GmbH to establish themselves as the benchmark for German performance. Though many consider the M1 the genesis of BMW M, in fact the brand was born nearly a decade earlier with the introduction of the 3.0 CSL. The high performance E9 was built together with BMW’s competition department, a relationship which ultimately resulted in the birth of BMW’s Motorsport division. A few years later, the new entity would give birth to an equally legendary creation, the 2002 Turbo. But when it came to the first car to carry the “M” badge, it was of course the legendary M1 with its motorsport derived M88/1 double overhead cam inline six screaming in the middle of the car. You’d think this recipe carried over immediately to the sedan range, but that was not immediately the case. First, BMW produced the M535i in the E12 chassis. Though the E28 model of the same designation was mostly an appearance package, the E12 model was turned up over the rest of the range – but not with the M88; BMW instead relied on the M30 to power the M535i. Then, there was a year where nothing happened; the M1 was out of production, the E12 was replaced by the E28, and ostensibly BMW had no real performance models. That was remedied at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show, where a juiced up version of the 635CSi was offered. It was labeled the M635CSi; but unlike the M535i, under the hood wasn’t the venerable M30 that powered the normal 635CSi. In its place, the Motorsport division decided to slot the M88, now with /3 designation; the result was 286 horsepower – a staggering figure at the time, considering that the contemporary Porsche 930 was considered fairly bonkers with a little over 300 horsepower and though it looked much larger, the early E24s only weighed about 200 lbs. more than the Porsche. Coupled with some aerodynamic tweaks, heavier duty suspension, brakes and larger wheels and tires, the result was the menacing presence worthy of the nickname “Shark”. For all intents and purposes, this was really the first “M” car for the masses: