Specifications
Highlights
• The Original Full-Poduction M Car
• Retains Original Euro-Market Bumpers
• An Outstanding Example of One of BMW M's Most Beautiful Cars
EAG Impressions
The E24 6-Series, produced from 1976 to 1989, represented BMW's flagship grand tourer. Its sleek, shark-nosed design became iconic of BMW's styling in the late 70s and 80s. While European markets enjoyed a range of inline-six engines, including the fuel-efficient 628CSi, U.S. models were limited to larger displacement options like the 633CSi and later 635CSi. The crown jewel of the lineup, the M635CSi (badged as the M6 in North America and Japan), arrived in 1983 for Europe but didn't reach U.S. shores until 1987. The U.S. version retained the powerful M88/3 engine, making it one of the few M cars of its era to maintain performance parity with its European counterpart.
Overview
This 1985 BMW M635CSi is one of those cars that has been in the country since it was essentially new. Records show that this car was imported into Texas, where is lived until 2017. Finished in Diamondschwarz, this M635CSi shows just 31,030 miles at the time of cataloging and is in absolutely exceptional condition throughout. Accenting the Diamondschwarz paint is a pair of silver pinstripes that run the length of the car and were a frequent addition on these Euro M635s. The American market did get it’s own version of the M635CSi - the M6- in 1986, but there are a few obvious ways to distinguish a European market car, from its less powerful American counterpart. The most obvious differentiator is the bumpers- the svelte Euro bumpers allow the outstanding sharknose design to speak for itself, and both the front and rear air dams have some unique detailing. This example sits on a stunning set of 16” BBS multi-piece basket weave wheels with polished lips and painted centers, wrapped in Pirelli P7 tires - just like you would have seen on the car in period.
The interior is classic 1980s BMW, with a set of Recaro sport seats wrapped in black leather situated up front and two nicely sculpted rear buckets, creating a fantastic 2+2 cockpit. The US market M6 came absolutely loaded from the factory, making it significantly heavier than most European market cars, with most M6s featuring leather-wrapped dashboards, rear seat air conditioning, and other features that added significant weight. In contrast, the M635CSi could be ordered to the individual’s specification and were more frequently outfitted like this car - sport seats and M-Tech steering wheel, but no leather on the dashboard and no rear air conditioning. That being said, this car still feels extremely luxurious inside and is a wonderful place to command your 150 mph sport coupe from.
Powering the M635CSi is the M88/3 3.5-liter dual overhead cam inline-6. This engine can draw its roots back to the Group 4 and 5 3.0CSL endurance race cars of the 1970s, and in its first road-going form was fitted in the rear of the BMW M1 supercar. For use in the M635CSi, the M88 received a number of changes to ensure reliability, including a new Bosch Motronic fuel injection and a slightly lower compression ratio to allow running on pump gas. Even still, this engine produces 282 horsepower and 251 lb-ft of torque, making this one of the most powerful BMW road cars produced at the time. This engine sends power through a 5-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels and was timed by BMW as running from 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds and capable of nearly 160 mph on the top end.
At EAG we love this era of BMW - when the Motorsport division was still coming into its own, and these luxurious coupes and sedans were powered by thinly veiled race car engines.
History
In 2021, this M635CSi came to us at EAG for a comprehensive rejuvenation and to ensure that it was performing like a new car. We did a comprehensive checkover of the car and had to do remarkably little to bring it up to par. This is a true testament to how the previous owners had truly cherished this car over the past 35 years, and although we found some things that needed to be addressed, they were nearly all items that perished over time rather than pieces that were broken or wrong due to neglect.
Gallery
Documentation
