Background
In the early 1970s BMW chairman Eberhard Von Kuenheim moved to maximize the company’s profits with a concerted assault on the loftier price classes then dominated by rivals 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 CSi 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.
Simple, razor sharp perfectly proportioned lines, carefully swaged and detailed gave the E24 BMW Gresham Blake style and subtle swagger. And 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.
While on paper later cars like this one, 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.
Although it was not as performance oriented as its predecessor, 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.
