Looking at a 1985 635CSi 5 speed. Any major things I should look for? Also, what are the maintenance costs like on these cars? Any other info. would help. What's the price range for these? Thanks

Looking at a shark, is the same as buying one.

Most never turn away. It is the classic road car.

http://members.roadfly.com/kcroncarter/Shark.GIF


Here is a link to items to checkout before buying.

http://normgrills.net/bcg/Fundamentals_FAQ.html#anchor2383905 (http://)

My personal recommendation is to buy a ETM, Electrical Trouble Manual from the internet sources. These e24 have electrical issues from time to time, and having a diagram in front of you will make fixing it a lot easier.

I keep one on line but I use my hardcopy most of the time.

http://members.roadfly.com/kcroncarter/etm001.htm

Later,

Check for rust in the usual spots; fenders; rocker panels; shock towers. etc.

engine is pretty bullet proof; as long as the oil has been changed; valves adjusted and the oiler bar "banjo bolts" kept nice and tight - .

Auto tranny's are the first thing to go - 100K or so - but some folks have gotten 200K+ out of them with regular fluid changes - revving auto in neutral is bad thing to do.

Mostly - you want records to insure the car has been maintained. buying a fixer upper will cost you as much or more (to restore it to good driving specification) than buying one that's been maintained.

www.roadfly.org on the E24 board is a good group of guys.

www.bigcoupe.com has a very good buyers guide.

theres another one called "Big coupe group" that I don't have the URl handy for - but there's a good set of knowledge there. a bentley E28 manual will help with bits not 6er specific - as our 6ers share the E28 platform.

Haha. Mods we need to just sticky one of these.

THEY ARE VAMPIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had an 82 633csi for 2 years....THOUSANDS worth of repairs....Prob one of the ebst cars I have owned to date but its expensive to maintain....Id stay away from it unless you have the money to keep it up...parts are expensive since they are old and it is a very rare car.....justbe careful...make sure u are mechanically incline to do things on your own...otherwise each time something breaks(once a moth or two) itll cost from 500 - 1000 in repairs.....MOSTLY LABOR

As some have said, yes repairs can be expensive, especially if your going to take it to a shop to get work done. I have had mine for about 3 months now, not much maintenance wise (oil changes, spark plugs, etc). Now realize, this car was not in particularily good shape when I bought it. It was on blocks, barely ran, I paid $600 for it. It is now my daily driver. I do most, if not all the work myself (with help from this forum). I am more impressed with this car every day. Yes, it still needs alot of work (interior, paint, misc missing parts, suspension, etc.), but it is coming along rather well. I'm finding that most of the mechanical systems are pretty well thought out and logical, some of the electronic system are a bit strange, but work well.

If your thinking of buying a 635, like Ron said, you've pretty much already bought one. I don't regret it at all. ---Good Luck

THEY ARE VAMPIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had an 82 633csi for 2 years....THOUSANDS worth of repairs....Prob one of the ebst cars I have owned to date but its expensive to maintain....Id stay away from it unless you have the money to keep it up...parts are expensive since they are old and it is a very rare car.....justbe careful...make sure u are mechanically incline to do things on your own...otherwise each time something breaks(once a moth or two) itll cost from 500 - 1000 in repairs.....MOSTLY LABOR


the old 82's are E12 based - anything later than 82 is E28 based - there are folks that like both models - some like the simplicity of the E12 based cars - but they are harder to find parts for and not as easily modifiable; others like the E28 based cars for the opposite reason.

and yes - if you are thinking about it - it's only a matter of time before you buy one.

Glad I found this post.

Its unfortunate that I have to sell my E39 for school reasons but I have been eying a 6 series for a bit.

I came across one that had an LS badge on it. I might have misread it as I walked by because I have noticed that there is a L6 out there. I noticed this had a leather dash and door panels.

It needs a little work and its an auto ( not my first choice but I cant wait for a car) and hes asking 3k for it.

I havent had a chance to drive it but would this car be something to look into ?

i bought mine 3-4 months ago and have already dumped over $600 in it,and then a white 86 came into the picture.both around the same starting point and i like the white better,red looks good but a bit too flashy for me.i dont drive a bmw for attention.i have it for sale but no serious offers.the price is low enough for me to aquire the white one.now i'm getting impatient and am about to start back on the red one.i know i'll have many thousands in her before she's done to my specs.
as already said,a low priced one is merely the admission price to enjoy this fine ride.be prepaired to sink some intial cash,after that it's just routine maintenance as long as you dont need body parts.6 specific parts can get expensive.

Glad I found this post.

Its unfortunate that I have to sell my E39 for school reasons but I have been eying a 6 series for a bit.

I came across one that had an LS badge on it. I might have misread it as I walked by because I have noticed that there is a L6 out there. I noticed this had a leather dash and door panels.

It needs a little work and its an auto ( not my first choice but I cant wait for a car) and hes asking 3k for it.

I havent had a chance to drive it but would this car be something to look into ?

L6's were the "highline"model - leather everything. They were only badged as L6's in 87 - after that they dumped the leather dash's (due to warping) and went back to the standard vinyl.

L6's are rare critters - even more rare if the leather dash is in good shape. (most have since warped/split; etc) not really any different than a 635 of similar vintage - but the badge does command perhaps a grand more in sales/asking prices..

Haha. Mods we need to just sticky one of these.Since this forum is nice and civil, there are no Mods here.

I take that back, I just looked asn saw myself as the mod for the 6ers! :eek:

My dad used to have one of those. He says the airconditioning sucked very badly in it even when he was cruising down the road at a considerable rate. As with all BMW's the maintenance is high if a major part brakes but there usally isnt very many problems with the car.

Here's a buying guide that I found helpful:

http://www.europeancarweb.com/tech/0401ec_6series/

Don't miss the links at the bottom of the page.

As for maintenance, if you don't do it yourself, it does get expensive. But that's true with any car, especially a BMW.

The drivetrain is almost bullet proof. If there is a weak link in that chain, it's the drive shaft (u-joints) and maybe the LS diff a far second. Maintenance is especially important for the M6 S38/S88 engines and their valve/timing compenets. Key items/upgrades are timing chain and guide as well as valve springs.

The typical replacement components are the suspension bushings and shocks. I don't know what BmW760's dad experienced with his AC, but my car is an 88 and it will freeze your ass off (it has the aux rear console AC).

Good Luck.

My dad used to have one of those. He says the airconditioning sucked very badly in it even when he was cruising down the road at a considerable rate. As with all BMW's the maintenance is high if a major part brakes but there usally isnt very many problems with the car.
Converting it finally fixed it.

Converting to what>?

R134 from R12 refrigerent

.

Right, so on a previous post in a different thread I mentioned that I found a '80 Euro 635CSi with a asking price of $1500. As I mentioned before I first thought that it was gonna be trashed but actually the guy had taken it over from another gentleman that was doing a resto. Engine is strong w/ only 107k km....nice. He already has most of the body work needed done (the car was very straight in the first place but he was cleaning up loose ends). As it sits it has the lights, grill, etc. off for primer which he finished before listing is on my local craigslist. Little TLC and a fresh coat and I'm good to go. I'm going to try and get some pics up as soon as my posts reach the needed #. Did I mention that I talked him down and eventually took it for $1000 cuz he was strapped for cash...felt bad but...I don't have much either and she needed a new home! Everyone let me know what you think about this transaction! Did I do good or get hosed?? Latez, Josh.

front suspensions.

it WILL need to be rebuilt at some point if it's got anywhere near 100k or more.

Question for you all - I'm looking at an 82, red, 5 speed. It's a beautiful car and the claim is only 34,000 actual miles. So. . .assuming it's nearly perfect. . .what is it worth?

This is perfect for me, because I just got an '86 635CSi 5-Spd

the guy wants 2500 and all that is wrong is the heater core and control arms. is this a steal? But my main question is the car has 170 and the engine has 100. how could i tell if it is the more powerful european one or the less powerful american one? and how does this effect the value of the car. its got teh buffalo hide leather seats and power everything. also been lowered. i would love to show a pic of it but i cant yet

Hi,
I'm a newbie round these parts, but I'm looking at
a 1985 635 w/ 5 speed.

I realize this is a BMW forum, and my username is a Mercedes,
but thats the same username I've used on other forums for years.

As such, I was scanning the local craigslist for a possible 2nd car to help preserve my current one, and ran across a 1985 635 5 speed with 117K miles, and the guy says it doesn't have anything wrong with it, but we'll see. Going to try to get a look tomorrow.I'd always wanted a big 6 E24, and maybe now, it could be my commuter car. I know the 3.5 L is one of the best engines BMW made as far as reliability, and it looks like $250 bucks will get me a chip to bump the HP up, so thats all good.

I've spent some time visiting the various links posted here.

BUT as much as people talk about Maint costs, no one in this thread mentions anything specific. Could someone please post SPECIFIC things that might be of concern?

That one thread has a list of things to check when buying but doesn't say what the causes are or the cost of repair, or any perspective as to severity.
Yes, I am mechanically inclined and do a lot of my own work.
the 3.5 L with a 5 speed SHOULD be pretty reliable, no?
I don't care if the AC doesn't work.
If it gets that hot, i'll drive the benz.
As long as the heat works.
Asking price is 2900....with any luck, maybe I can get it for 2 grand?!

Hi,
I'm a newbie round these parts, but I'm looking at
a 1985 635 w/ 5 speed.

I realize this is a BMW forum, and my username is a Mercedes,
but thats the same username I've used on other forums for years.

As such, I was scanning the local craigslist for a possible 2nd car to help preserve my current one, and ran across a 1985 635 5 speed with 117K miles, and the guy says it doesn't have anything wrong with it, but we'll see. Going to try to get a look tomorrow.I'd always wanted a big 6 E24, and maybe now, it could be my commuter car. I know the 3.5 L is one of the best engines BMW made as far as reliability, and it looks like $250 bucks will get me a chip to bump the HP up, so thats all good.

I've spent some time visiting the various links posted here.

BUT as much as people talk about Maint costs, no one in this thread mentions anything specific. Could someone please post SPECIFIC things that might be of concern?

That one thread has a list of things to check when buying but doesn't say what the causes are or the cost of repair, or any perspective as to severity.
Yes, I am mechanically inclined and do a lot of my own work.
the 3.5 L with a 5 speed SHOULD be pretty reliable, no?
I don't care if the AC doesn't work.
If it gets that hot, i'll drive the benz.
As long as the heat works.
Asking price is 2900....with any luck, maybe I can get it for 2 grand?!

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? That price is quite low, but maybe the guy just wants to get rid of it. California cars (if this one didn't come from somewhere else?) have the bonus of a mild climate so the body should be good. "IF" the engine is good (have it checked, or look at the oil at the very least) you have the basis for a good car. Get an estimate for a new clutch, radiator, rebuilding the front suspension, shocks, brakes, and AT LEAST $500 else in parts for something lurking. People seldom sell a car that is perfect, especially at a bargain price.
And it might not need any of the items mentioned, but don't count on it. Once the car is right, you will love it. That asking price gives you room to make mistakes, so if the car beckons, go for it. (And my wife drives a Benz,
which is a vehicle that tends to ignore the driver, which I find annoying. And it can get expensive to maintain too.)

If you test drive an E24, always do a fast stop to see if there is a delay in the brakes due to a bad brake bomb.Quite a headache all around for this failure i.e locating parts,installing..........

Peek at the headliner too for stains,indicating broken/rusted/plugged sunroof drains.

Test power seats in all positions including headrest.

So your Dad didn't like the A/C...

Increasing vehicle's speed with windows open should solve any such problems.

I just bought a 84 Red with black leather, everthing works, & the ac will part your hair. Got is for 3500.00 and would buy another one if I could find one. It is almost cherry, original paint, 15 years of history, only a tear in the passengers seat hipside.
I need a few more post and I'll post pics. I saw one sell on ebay that was totally restored for 11,500.00 just about a week ago. Don't know about repair bills but I guess I'll find out.

Does the maintenance for these later model (e28 base) 6s cost more than the maintenance for say an e36 M3?

I am mainly just asking for the electrical issues. I pretty much do all work to my M with the exception of paint work or maybe timing chains (haven't done one yet).