This is not an Eighties car, I can hear the naysayers proclaim – and yes, the elegant E24 first edged its (shark)nose into public consciousness halfway through the Seventies. However, it’s here because it was the halo car for BMW’s Eighties ascent into the upper echelons of desirability. We have to strip back years of 2 Series Active Tourers and ratty 320Ds to uncover the BMW of old. The badge was a status symbol – king of the keyfobs at yuppie dinner parties. All the prestige of a Jaguar or high-spec Rover without the whiff of old-school England, and much sportier than a Mercedes-Benz. The BMW was engineered of the right stuff – its sharp, crisp lines a foil to British notions of luxury and prestige still predicated on more chrome, wood and leather than an MP’s secret cellar. BMWs were properly expensive too – sift through the price list of the era and the difference between a E24 635CSi Highline like the one seen here and the top-of-the-tree M635CSi E24 could swallow a semi-detached home in the Midlands. So E30 3 Series aside, Eighties BMWs were always a fairly rare sight; nowadays every third car seems to wear an ever-more gopping kidney grille.
In the early 1980s, a designer sought a calling card. With backing from The Observer newspaper, this unique glass-topped BMW 635CSi E24 show-car was the result.
The BMW E24 6 Series remains one of the most desirable and affordable “shark nose” classic BMW GT cars. But, while the M635CSi gets much of the attention, might a facelift 628CSi offer the best ownership prospect?
BMWs can be awfully confusing when it comes to their badging. Back in the day, a 323i E21 simply meant that it was a 3 Series body with a 2.3-liter engine. A E12 535i was the 5 Series body with a 3.5-litre engine — simple, right? M3s were all two-door coupes; except, they are four-door sedans now; and the M4 is now the M3 coupe; the 320i may have a 2.2-liter engine; and the 323i E21 could have the 2.5-liter — confused? Me, too. (And, perhaps, so is BMW!)
