Ever owned the other "shark" (i.e. BMW 635 CSi)?

[911blex]

I've admired the looks of the BMW E24 (630/633/635/L6/M6) for quite some time and have though it might compliment my 88' S4 quite nicely. Have any of you owned one of these coupes and if so, would you care to share your opinions/ownership experiences on this car? I thought I better ask a fellow 928 owner before I take the plunge.

[Danglerb]

BMW never did much for me.

[Red Baron]

I've always admired those cars also. Have never driven one though. There was a 928 owner on RL that had one for his DD and he loved it.

[DanielDudley]

I owned a 633CSI with a Metric Motors hot motor, a close ratio gear box and euro final drive. Bilstien Eibachs. Uprated sway bars, ok AC.

I really liked it. Stable handling, slick shifting, great brakes. Like all BMWs , it made me feel like I was a better driver than I am. Not as fast as my 81 928, nor as good handling, but it was possible to fly up to a corner, grab a gear and scrub off, accelerate out and feel like a rally star. Very tight turning radius, and quick nimble steering. Fun to drift in parking lots.

In contrast, driving a 928 feels much more premeditated, even when you are going faster. 928s all corner much flatter, and feel more stable in a high speed sweeper. However, the Bimmer mechanicals are simple and robust, and all switches, hardware etc. seems to have a Mercedes like quality. These cars are prone to rust out around the sills and rear wheel arches, which is why I sold mine with 230,000 on the brocken odometer.

I would definitely own another, and wish I hadn't sold mine so cheap, as I still see it tooling around. I really liked the way it looked in my driveway too. While they are not a Porsche in any sense, in some ways this was a blessing. Like them or hate them, there is a reason they call BMWs the driving machine. If I could only have one car, and that was the car, I would not complain, even if there are faster, newer cars on the block. I expect that eventually I will wind up with an 86 - 89 M3, If I don't get another 911.

And yes, I am keeping the 928s.

[785sp]

Fugly, fugly cars, the old Six series.

Any car that gets a ridiculous amount of body cladding in the 'sport' model is not designed well in the first place.

[Bob in Socal]

but not a Sports Car, easy to work on the M30 6 is a GREAT motor.
On the highway one of the best cruisers. But I would rather drive the 928's
M6 is a whole nuther animal but very rare and $$$ the m6 is the second best looking car out there

[milwaukee928]

I owned a euro 635Csi (82) in the early 90's and enjoyed it. I was a great long distance driver as I drove it from Florida where I lived at the time to Milwaukee.

A well balanced, comfortable and high speed tourer. Doesn't have the low end grunt but when it's on the cam, it get's down the road nicely. They are getting increasingly difficult to find, atleast nice examples. I wish I had kept mine. Gear boxes have some issues, and they are prone to rust in certain panel areas.

[rich]

I've driven a euro 630I a 635 CSI and owned several BMW's including a very modded E12
530I and my current Daily Driver 95 525I T. In my opinion they don't call them the "Ulitmate Driving Machine" for nothing. As far as comparing a 6 series to a 928... Different animal.

[Normy]

The term "shark" is used for 928's, BMW 6-series from the '80's, and the new Z4's. The corvette guys use that term too-

Obviously, I think a shark is a 928. I'm decended from a man who drove a '63 Corvette up and down the steps of Purdue University's main hall, and then outran the police in it [with his future wife on board; Normy almost didn't happen, according to what my mom has told me!] I've probably done WAY worse, but I've never run from the police.

[You know, I ought to start a thread about this subject: Our Parents Were Obviously Worse Than Us!]

I met my dads's boyhood friends a few years ago when I was at my grandmother's funeral in Binghamton, and the stories I heard-! OH-MY-GOD my dad was an animal! Heh heh! Grampy bought a '58 Oldsmobile with a dual exhaust and the first chance my 16 year-old father got he took the car up into the hills with half a dozen friends and wound up blowing up one of the mufflers.

N

[Herr-Kuhn]

I was a BMW mechanic for a summer. The old 6 series are a nice car, but it's really no match for a 928, except maybe for the M version. They are a well build car and if maintained properly can go a very long time. The old BMW inline 6 motor with the chain driven camshaft is a very nice piece.

[rich]

Now we could compare the Shark to the 850I... Cool..