BMW 645Ci Manual - V8 German Muscle

[Dr G]

I hope for you that ownership doesn't prove too "kostly"!

Very apt number plate

[Lotusgone]

The manual option for a 645 was news to me as well. I would probably have still gone for an auto but it's great that they exist.

Thanks for the useful tip re the Andream screen, that needs a bit of research.

Wheels-wise, mine came with these Alpina 20 inchers, with a subtle lowering of the suspension. Not a great photo but it might help in your choice of rims. Dude.

[Carlososos]

Lotusgone said:

The manual option for a 645 was news to me as well. I would probably have still gone for an auto but it's great that they exist.

Thanks for the useful tip re the Andream screen, that needs a bit of research.

Wheels-wise, mine came with these Alpina 20 inchers, with a subtle lowering of the suspension. Not a great photo but it might help in your choice of rims. Dude.

That’s one of the best colour and wheel combo I’ve seen on these. Nice.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Carlososos said:

Lotusgone said:

The manual option for a 645 was news to me as well. I would probably have still gone for an auto but it's great that they exist.

Thanks for the useful tip re the Andream screen, that needs a bit of research.

Wheels-wise, mine came with these Alpina 20 inchers, with a subtle lowering of the suspension. Not a great photo but it might help in your choice of rims. Dude.

That’s one of the best colour and wheel combo I’ve seen on these. Nice.

I don't like the wheels but love the colour.

[J.R.B.]

Great choice!

I had a 650i for 7 years. Probably my favourite car that I’ve owned. Never let me down but did have a few costly fixes over the years. Great car and a design they has aged really well.

[W00DY]

parabolica said:

That’s a nice colour combo OP; every time I see someone post about picking up a 645 it makes me pine for my old car that I had in 2014. Alas the oil seals sealed its fate, and it had its fair share of gremlins (mostly caused by a dodgy alternator) but I still miss it, and the sound.

Surprised to hear about the ellipsoids failing/cracking - I did about 40k in mine (60k up to 100k) and they never gave me any issue.

Great colours on yours too! BMW 19s always seem to get a fair few failures, but I'm sure the majority survive just fine.

parabolica said:

That’s a nice colour combo OP; every time I see someone post about picking up a 645 it makes me pine for my old car that I had in 2014. Alas the oil seals sealed its fate, and it had its fair share of gremlins (mostly caused by a dodgy alternator) but I still miss it, and the sound.

Surprised to hear about the ellipsoids failing/cracking - I did about 40k in mine (60k up to 100k) and they never gave me any issue.

Great colours on yours too! BMW 19s always seem to get a fair few failures, but I'm sure the majority survive just fine.

RDMcG said:

Not at all - this was a very minority decision. I replaced it with an M6
and very recently saw one very like the one below that I had owned.

To my great surprise it was a manual!....apparently BMW made a handful of them in 2008. I would love to have had one.

That's why I wondered, a manual M6 must be great fun.

Dr G said:

I hope for you that ownership doesn't prove too "kostly"!

Very apt number plate

Thanks. It definitely made me smile when I realised. No wonder the previous owner stuck a private plate on!

Lotusgone said:

The manual option for a 645 was news to me as well. I would probably have still gone for an auto but it's great that they exist.

Thanks for the useful tip re the Andream screen, that needs a bit of research.

Wheels-wise, mine came with these Alpina 20 inchers, with a subtle lowering of the suspension. Not a great photo but it might help in your choice of rims. Dude.

What a colour. That looks great! Not sure I could stretch to a set of those and having a car on 20s would feel like madness (This is my first to reach the heady heights of 18")

J.R.B. said:

Great choice!

I had a 650i for 7 years. Probably my favourite car that I’ve owned. Never let me down but did have a few costly fixes over the years. Great car and a design they has aged really well.

Thanks, that is high praise. There's definitely a theme emerging of people who loved them despite some bills. I can already understand.

[Mr Tidy]

I don't think a manual M6 was ever offered in the UK, like the M5, but they were sold in the USA.

But I did get chatting to a couple of 6 Series V8 owners some years ago at a PHSS at Honda UK who both had manual cars, one Coupe and one Convertible. One was a 645 and the other was a 650 but I can't remember which was which now. I do remember them saying that the 650 manual gearbox was the same as was fitted to the M6, which had him thinking.

[MikeM6]

Mr Tidy said:

I don't think a manual M6 was ever offered in the UK, like the M5, but they were sold in the USA.

But I did get chatting to a couple of 6 Series V8 owners some years ago at a PHSS at Honda UK who both had manual cars, one Coupe and one Convertible. One was a 645 and the other was a 650 but I can't remember which was which now. I do remember them saying that the 650 manual gearbox was the same as was fitted to the M6, which had him thinking.

Yeah, it was US and Canada only sadly. EverythingM3s and some other places are doing manual conversion though. DriveTribe have done their M5 Touring recently.

The box is the same as the M3 manual in believe, so should be the GS6-53BZ unit.

I sometimes think about converting mine, but then the SMG is really good fun too and I have BMW warranty that I'm not sure I want to loose.

[fastbikes76]

Cracking car OP, I would think at that mileage you should be pretty trouble free as most issues should have reared their head and been sorted by now.

Mrs Fb’s 650 has been a pleasure to own (apart from doing alternator bracket in the depths of winter lol). It is fantastic to drive and long trips as you say can produce some surprising MPG for such a big engine. Our long term average over 3000 miles with only about 15% motorway trips was showing 22.6mpg. On a long decent trip your up into the low 30’s which is not bad at all IMO.

Mrs Fb went for full on crack dealer spec with black on black and some more black for good measure lol. That red interior is brilliant. Pano roof is trouble free and a lovely upgrade tbh. When the blind is back it really opens the interior up nicely. Dynamic drive however was a good shout to avoid.. those who’s systems do go wrong, spend thousands chasing the issue !



They do suffer from a fair old list of common issues, but tbh most of them are absolute pennies in parts but is pretty labour intensive. If you are remotely handy with a spanner you should have some very cheap motoring ahead .

[bolidemichael]

You haven't updated your thread in a while, fb?

[bolidemichael]

W00DY, I remember that a (mostly) satisfying job on mine was polishing the chrome exhaust tips. Mostly, as it hadn't been done for a long time and so the soot had worn away the chrome a little.

[W00DY]

fastbikes76 said:

Cracking car OP, I would think at that mileage you should be pretty trouble free as most issues should have reared their head and been sorted by now.

Mrs Fb’s 650 has been a pleasure to own (apart from doing alternator bracket in the depths of winter lol). It is fantastic to drive and long trips as you say can produce some surprising MPG for such a big engine. Our long term average over 3000 miles with only about 15% motorway trips was showing 22.6mpg. On a long decent trip your up into the low 30’s which is not bad at all IMO.

Mrs Fb went for full on crack dealer spec with black on black and some more black for good measure lol. That red interior is brilliant. Pano roof is trouble free and a lovely upgrade tbh. When the blind is back it really opens the interior up nicely. Dynamic drive however was a good shout to avoid.. those who’s systems do go wrong, spend thousands chasing the issue !



They do suffer from a fair old list of common issues, but tbh most of them are absolute pennies in parts but is pretty labour intensive. If you are remotely handy with a spanner you should have some very cheap motoring ahead .

Thanks. One of the things I liked about it is that it has done a good number of miles every year which I tend to think is a good sign and a good thing for cars in general.

I'm sure the panoramic roof is lovely, I juts hate dealing with sunroof issues, so to not even have it cross m mind is nice. I do like to work on my cars and my favourite mechanic is not much of a BMW fan so i think I'll be doing as much as I can.

I remember enjoying both your threads on your E63s. Will have to have another look through.

bolidemichael said:

W00DY, I remember that a (mostly) satisfying job on mine was polishing the chrome exhaust tips. Mostly, as it hadn't been done for a long time and so the soot had worn away the chrome a little.

Thanks Michael, I a am looking forward to sorting that and the window surrounds when I get the chance.


To stop this thread being all waffle, here's something I knew needed to be sorted as quickly as i could.

[fastbikes76]

bolidemichael said:

You haven't updated your thread in a while, fb?

Not a lot to report, after initial teething issues and more recently the split oil filter housing, it’s been faultless and just ticks along nicely.

As a rough idea I will mention the issues I’ve had in the two years we’ve had it for others to see.

Day 4.
Rad hose popped off, 10 minutes work and 50p hose clamp

Day 6.
Coolant expansion bottle split (common). 30min to replace and £106 from BMW for genuine one

1 month.
Alternator bracket leaking , again common and was weeping when we bought the car. 6 hours labour DIY and £15 in parts

3 months.
One headlamp dipped beam failed and around 4 weeks later the other. Both ballasts replaced, 1.5 hours labour and £30 each for ballasts

18 months
Plastic oil filter housing split and dumped it oil in about 10 seconds flat. £20 for new part and oil change done at same time.

Apart from those issues it’s never needed topping up with any fluids apart from fuel, no warning lights or messages on dash, never failed to start even after sitting for weeks etc. So around £200 in repairs over nearly 2 years is cheap motoring IMO.

Edited by fastbikes76 on Wednesday 24th August 16:17

[Lotusgone]

W00DY said:

W00DY said:

What a colour. That looks great! Not sure I could stretch to a set of those and having a car on 20s would feel like madness (This is my first to reach the heady heights of 18")

Thanks - though I would say I'm not 100% convinced about the ride on these. Only 600 miles into ownership and I feel like a king driving it, so may learn to accept them.

[B'stard Child]

W00DY said:

here's something I knew needed to be sorted as quickly as i could.

Did you buy new grommets for it too

I put a new badge on my 7 Series without new grommets and was very pissed off to lose it a few days later

[W00DY]

fastbikes76 said:

Not a lot to report, after initial teething issues and more recently the split oil filter housing, it’s been faultless and just ticks along nicely.

As a rough idea I will mention the issues I’ve had in the two years we’ve had it for others to see.
]

Not a bad list at all.

B'stard Child said:

Did you buy new grommets for it too

I put a new badge on my 7 Series without new grommets and was very pissed off to lose it a few days later

Oh yes, I'm definitely not keen on losing a genuine badge so new grommets fitted.


Foglight warning reappeared so I took the bumper off and swapped the bulb. Gave the tips a quick polish whilst they were out.

[W00DY]

God, I'm tragic.

[fastbikes76]

Not at all, it’s those small things that make the biggest difference imo .

[bolidemichael]

In that case, we're all tragic too...

[CharlesdeGaulle]

W00DY said:

God, I'm tragic.

I don't have OCD or whatever it is, but your efforts have pleased my inner wellbeing.