RE: SOTW Special: BMW 635 CSi
Discussion
johnpeat said:
enough people around here are staring at £1000 smokers and thinking of restoration instead of running-them-to-death as it is without ENCOURAGING them 
So if a car is bought for the magical sum of 1k you must run it into the ground and kill it? Way I see it, its a very rare and beautiful car which is solid underneath and runs nicely... whats not to like? Besides which, I find the running to the death a false economy in the long run- you only end up stranded and having to waste more money finding the next car which might be just as bad. If you manage to find a good cheap car, look after it.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Friday 14th October 18:36
My e28 M535i had a slight creak when turning lock to lock, this turned out to be the bolts that hold the steering box on. I think, from memory, 2 had sheared off and only 2 where holding it in place! It could of course have been quite dangerous, if the other 2 had snapped.. I mention this as, apparently it was quite a known problem with the e28. I am not sure if it also affected the 6 Series, but as far as I know they are pretty similar underneath. So for any current owners, it may be worth checking the steering box mounting bolts..
Rollcage said:
I bought this one in 2004, and it was an absolute belter. Even got a set of Avon Metrics on it. Utterly immaculate throughout, no rust anywhere at all on the body or chassis, and the paintwork was fabulous. Had spent most of it's life in South Africa, and owned by a diplomat apparently.
One of the cars I wish I still owned - I ended up selling it as I couldn't garage it anywhere, and it didn't deserve to live on the street. I really hope it is still around and giving someone some pleasure - it must be worth a fortune now if it is still in the same condition as when I sold it.
SuperHangOn said:
So if a car is bought for the magical sum of 1k you must run it into the ground and kill it? Way I see it, its a very rare and beautiful car which is solid underneath and runs nicely... whats not to like?
Besides which, I find the running to the death a false economy in the long run- you only end up stranded and having to waste more money finding the next car which might be just as bad. If you manage to find a good cheap car, look after it.
You have absolutely no idea what shedding is, do you??Besides which, I find the running to the death a false economy in the long run- you only end up stranded and having to waste more money finding the next car which might be just as bad. If you manage to find a good cheap car, look after it.
Get out!
So, I've just gone to look at an e34 5 series touring... While on a roll etc.
Good car, but I'd be damned if I could get comfortable driving it. I'm fairly tall, and couldn't get the seat far enough back or the wheel high enough.
Was I missing something or it that massive car really not suited to tall people?!
Good car, but I'd be damned if I could get comfortable driving it. I'm fairly tall, and couldn't get the seat far enough back or the wheel high enough.
Was I missing something or it that massive car really not suited to tall people?!
I don't think they peaked. I think you can blame that on the times. It was just before computer aided design started to ruin the shape of cars. For a good 20 years most cars ended up looking very similar to one another if you squinted at them. I think these days they are getting back on track and cars are starting to get a bit more edgy again, especially beemers. I like interesting looking cars more than anything. The 90s and 2000s was a bad time for interesting looking cars.
t.
I own of these I bought in 2008. I drove it to Italy and back with Circuit Days. It performed faultlessly. Apart from the rot these cars don't cost much to run. We had her up to an indicated 144mph and returned an average of 26mpg cruising at high speed. See YouTube '635 v 911 700 BHP' for a fun video. I love it
RE do they handle?
I'd say they handle well but... and it's a big BUT... they aren't setup for that kind of use so unless you've actually modified the springs, dampers and roll-bars (assuming it has them?) then you're not going to feel particularly confident. I don't remember it being a wild uncontrolable beast though. It has what the Americans call a 'modern rear end' in the sense that you've got half-shafts, wishbones, struts and UJs instead of a solid live axle and leaf springs.
My one had the M6 brakes on it because it was one of the phase-out models produced in the final 2 years of production. They worked pretty well but I'd say I wouldn't like to have the earlier version with the smaller brakes! The M6 brakes worked but anything less than that would be poor.
I changed the front control arms as well. They have that problem where the great big bushes at the end of the control arms wear just a little bit and once that happens you get wheel wobble when braking. I think the contol arm bushes last around 20k before you have to change them, like a maintenance item. I suppose the proper thing to do would be to fit powerflex ones instead.
All these comments apply to the later version based on the 7-series (or is it 5-series) rather than the first gen car which was based on the 3.0 CSL.
I'd say they handle well but... and it's a big BUT... they aren't setup for that kind of use so unless you've actually modified the springs, dampers and roll-bars (assuming it has them?) then you're not going to feel particularly confident. I don't remember it being a wild uncontrolable beast though. It has what the Americans call a 'modern rear end' in the sense that you've got half-shafts, wishbones, struts and UJs instead of a solid live axle and leaf springs.
My one had the M6 brakes on it because it was one of the phase-out models produced in the final 2 years of production. They worked pretty well but I'd say I wouldn't like to have the earlier version with the smaller brakes! The M6 brakes worked but anything less than that would be poor.
I changed the front control arms as well. They have that problem where the great big bushes at the end of the control arms wear just a little bit and once that happens you get wheel wobble when braking. I think the contol arm bushes last around 20k before you have to change them, like a maintenance item. I suppose the proper thing to do would be to fit powerflex ones instead.
All these comments apply to the later version based on the 7-series (or is it 5-series) rather than the first gen car which was based on the 3.0 CSL.
SuperHangOn said:
So if a car is bought for the magical sum of 1k you must run it into the ground and kill it? Way I see it, its a very rare and beautiful car which is solid underneath and runs nicely... whats not to like?
Besides which, I find the running to the death a false economy in the long run- you only end up stranded and having to waste more money finding the next car which might be just as bad. If you manage to find a good cheap car, look after it.
Well said! No point trying to run into the ground in most cases, especially if you take your time buying. I am more inclined to spend a bit on the car when I first get it to ensure reliability and longevity.Besides which, I find the running to the death a false economy in the long run- you only end up stranded and having to waste more money finding the next car which might be just as bad. If you manage to find a good cheap car, look after it.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Friday 14th October 18:36
wid77 said:
Well said! No point trying to run into the ground in most cases, especially if you take your time buying. I am more inclined to spend a bit on the car when I first get it to ensure reliability and longevity.
I realise people on here HAVE to take sides on every argument but you clearly aren't getting what 'shedding' is about.If you buy an old BMW/Mercedes/Jag/etc you have 2 choices
1 - you can spend time and money on it - which will only lead you into spending MORE time and money on it
2 - you can treat it as something which 'works until it drops'
1 is restoration/classic car stuff and has it's place (this car is clearly heading in that direction)
2 is shedding
That's not to say you spend no time and effort on a shed - but you have to be really, really careful unless you like throwing money into a pit.
SOTW's £1K limit means you're buying a car which really owes you a year's motoring at best - if you spend money on it, it owes you more - if something expensive breaks, you'll feel inclined to fix it and sooner or later, you've spunked a fortune on a scrapheap.
"Planned Retreat" was someone else's expression for this - and I approve wholly of that. You fix things which are easy and cheap to fix - you fix things which are a safety issue - you do no fix things which don't affect the car's ability to be driven (like electric sunroofs, aircon, electric seats and cosmetic stuff like seats and paintwork).
I've nothing against the classic car restoration thing - in fact I applaud it BUT they need to start with the right car in the first place and that's probably not the sort of things which end-up in SOTW
Still some of my best memories of trips to Le Mans.
Bottom pic shows where the chrome on the bumper has cracked and rust is beginning to peek through. When we found out how much it would cost to replace all the chrome on the bumpers it took me 2 minutes to pick myself back up off the floor. Comfortably into 4 figures
Having had this in the family for nearly 20 years, don't let anyone tell you they are cheap to run. They most certainly are NOT, but when you plant the right foot and the bonnet rises along with that amazing straight 6 noise, they ARE worth it !
Even with the odd bump and blemish still never getting rid of it
P.s. and yes ... that is a duck ... but it's a long story/Le Mans tradition for our group.
Bottom pic shows where the chrome on the bumper has cracked and rust is beginning to peek through. When we found out how much it would cost to replace all the chrome on the bumpers it took me 2 minutes to pick myself back up off the floor. Comfortably into 4 figures
Having had this in the family for nearly 20 years, don't let anyone tell you they are cheap to run. They most certainly are NOT, but when you plant the right foot and the bonnet rises along with that amazing straight 6 noise, they ARE worth it !
Even with the odd bump and blemish still never getting rid of it
P.s. and yes ... that is a duck ... but it's a long story/Le Mans tradition for our group.
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