Background
BMW ended the 1960s in remarkably good shape for a company that had been on the brink of receivership only a decade earlier. Its total production climbed from under 75,000 in 1966 to 147,841 in 1969, with solid profits and a generally glowing reputation. The future looked bright.
Nonetheless, the early seventies were a time of great internal transition. Gerhard Wilcke, who had been chairman since 1960, retired in September 1969, followed in 1970 by styling director Wilhelm Hofmeister and in 1971 by production chief Wilhelm Gieschen. The company’s new chairman, Prussian aristocrat Eberhard von Kuenheim, subsequently forced the resignation of sales boss Paul Hahnemann, replacing him in January 1972 with former Opel executive Bob Lutz.
There was also a major shift in BMW’s export distribution philosophy. Up until that point, independent importers like Austro-American impresario Max Hoffman had handled BMW sales outside of Germany, earning lavish profits while the company (according to Lutz) made almost nothing. At Von Kuenheim’s direction, Lutz terminated those distribution deals and took export operations in house.
Von Kuenheim recognized that BMW’s volume was still small, so he moved to maximize the company’s per-car profits with a concerted assault on the loftier price classes dominated by Mercedes-Benz. BMW had made some inroads into Mercedes territory in the sixties, positioning its cars as sportier alternatives to their Benz rivals, but Von Kuenheim was troubled by the fact that the three-pointed star still carried greater prestige than did BMW’s blue-and-white roundel. Work began to take BMW upmarket.
What was a replacement for the 3.0 CS/i in 1976, the E24 6 Series packaged high performance straight six engines in a gorgeous, two-seater design to make the ultimate Grand Tourer of the time.
The 6-Series started life in 1976 as BMW's flagship coupé. Unlike the CS, it was a larger 2+2. The rear seats were big enough to carry teenagers or shorter adults, while the boot was huge by coupé standards. The interior was stylish (thanks to a driver-oriented console) and high-quality. Excellent ergonomics and visibility made it a good daily car.
Another big difference from the CS was crash worthiness. From the beginning, BMW designed it to pass all foreseeable safety regulations in the United States. A lot of work was done to the monocoque chassis to make it stiff, crumple properly in collision and rollover safely. This inevitably brought a couple of side effects: more weight and thicker pillars. However, BMW's French design chief Paul Bracq did a great job to hide its bulkiness. It looked sporty and refined, very elegant and graceful. The 6-Series was probably the best design during the angular era of BMW.
Simple, razor sharp perfectly proportioned lines, carefully swaged and detailed gave the E24 BMW Gresham Blake style and subtle swagger. Yet the sharkiest of shark noses gave any third lane dawdler the loud and clear message to move over.
Fast, long distance motoring in the old fashioned GT style was what the six was all about, but unlike its competitor the Merc SEC, the BMW could stray from the open road and play poised performance car over a mountain pass with equal aplomb.
BMW’s longest running production model (with the fewest built) was based on the underpinnings of the E12 5 Series, and powered by the largest of the stalwart big straight six engines. It was typically German of the period – no pretence at radical design but an extremely well executed contemporary package that evolved with BMW, despite little outward signs of change.
Baron Alexander Von Falkenhausen’s M30 straight six engine was employed in all its sizes (except the 2.5-litre version) in the E24 – 2.8, 3.0, 3.3 and 3.5-litres – (plus, of course, the twin cam M version). The carb fed 3.0CS is rare and not particularly desirable, and the 3.3-litre was quickly supplanted by the 3.5 in 1978. A year later, paupers got the options of a fuel-injected 2.8-litre version with 184bhp which, despite little interest, soldiered on alongside the 3.5-litre car until 1988.
While on paper the later cars with Bosch Motronic electronic engine management have no more power than earlier versions, they are in fact much smoother and easier to drive, and more rewarding as a result. There are 13 cow hides inside a leather trimmed 635’s crisp, stylish cabin. Lesser models made do with cloth trim, which really doesn’t wear anything like as well.
The two notable landmarks were in the 1980s; first in 1982 when underpinnings from the later 5 and 7 Series replaced the aging E12 skeleton. Then, in 1985 the 635 CSi became available with an M badge in front of it. This transformed the relaxed muscle of the Six by the fitting of the M1’s 24-valve twin cam throttle bodied unit, developing a Porsche worrying 286bhp.
With 160mph at the driver’s disposal the M635 CSi was king of the Autobahn. And at £42k it was a staggering £16k more than an XJ-S. Any shark nose Six is now a very collectable car, with values steadily creeping past those of contemporary Jags and Mercs
Although it was not as performance oriented as its predecessor (except the M version), it did enjoy some success in racing circuits, winning the European Touring Car Championship in 1981, 83 and 86.
There are certain cars throughout history whose looks age far more gracefully than others. One of those happens to be the E24 6 Series, the original Sixer. With that long, shark nose, short rear deck, skinny pillars and a largely pronounced Hofmeister Kink, the E24 still manages to charm you 45 years after its launch.
