5th Gear - BMW E24 6-series

Quentin Wilson reviews the BMW E24 6-series grand touring coupé.

Originally hosted as a .mov on my dotMac homepage: http://homepage.mac.com/mustang_dvs/auto-galleries/media/5thGear-6er_480.mov

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Quentin Wilson
• BMW
• E24
• 635csi
• 6er
• Fifth Gear
• automotive review
• copper-bottom classic

[kernals12]

I'll take a Mercedes SL because everyone has a Beemer

[sharkd59]

@kernals12 Beemers are bikes; Bimmers are cars.

There's a reason that you rarely see C107s, these days: SL's of this vintage are plagued by electrical and engine reliability issues, not to mention being a snooze to drive.

[shadowexr2]

As much as I love the E24, the E9 is superior in the looks department.

[sharkd59]

@shadowexr2 The CS coupes are definitely a purer distillation of the design, but I've no love for carburetors and ignition points.

[sharkd59]

@luedriver It's about the only bit of bad advice -- the 5-speed manual is preferable versus the unreliable ZF automatic.

[luedriver]

automatic gearbox...????

[tobym5]

I had a 1985 635CSI as a 21 year old and yes they were rare and special, you could go months without seeing another on the road, I always got the thumbs up and pulled by the police as they just wanted a look! Ok perhaps it was a 21 year old in a BMW coupe at the time!

However as has been noted the electronic selectable auto box (as surprisingly good as it is to drive) failed and i had to move it on!

[kernals12]

@sharkd59 are you calling an old mercedes unreliable?

[mrzkhan1]

BMW IS THE BEST!

[Haffschlappe]

In Germany allmost only Turkish and albanian guys drive older BMW

[Haffschlappe]

I prefer the great Fiat 130 3200 Pininfarina Coupe from 1972

[gt40mk21]

@sharkd59 - There was a CSi too.

@shadowexr2 - Yes they are even better looking than the beautiful E24 (which I own). The main problem with the E9 is . . . rust. The bodies were from Karmann and are full of places where moisture gets trapped. (The first E24 had Karmann bodies until BMW wised up.) For this and other reasons, a good one is 2-3X more expensive than an E24 in similar condition.

[secretmarksman]

did he say to go for the automatic? not impressed >:(

[shadowexr2]

@sharkd59 How about a E9 with an M30 engine swap? It's been done a few times before...