Discussion
RUST Watched a re-run of Wheeler Dealers last night and they were doing their thing with a 635csi.
I remember rust being an issue and also front wing replacements were difficult to source and when you got one it would be around £500
Having bought the car for £3k they then went out and bought an MOT failure for £350 which was used to supply full leather interior and a set of correct alloys with lots of bits remaining for further use. It was suggested, if you have the space, to keep a doner car for future bits you will need.
Lovely car though.
I remember rust being an issue and also front wing replacements were difficult to source and when you got one it would be around £500
Having bought the car for £3k they then went out and bought an MOT failure for £350 which was used to supply full leather interior and a set of correct alloys with lots of bits remaining for further use. It was suggested, if you have the space, to keep a doner car for future bits you will need.
Lovely car though.
I think others might have mentioned the rust issue...
But you should also be looking for one with good (recent) service history as they can be a bit of a money-pit. They were very advanced cars for their time and so there's lots to go wrong. But they are marvellous, beautiful cars and I can whole-heartedly recommend the ownership experience.
Practical Classics magazine did an excellent buyers' guide a couple of years back - perhaps see if you can get hold of a back-copy.
In my view, you're best off looking for one that has been in fairly regular use. Mine hadn't been used at all for a few months before I bought it and had only had limited use for the few years before that. As a result, it ran very rough for a while - but a good service and a few thousand miles soon sorted it out. These cars need to be used!
There's lots more to say but time is a bit tight at the moment.
Make sure you check the following, though: wheel vibration at speed and under braking, rust, exhaust/mainfold and head gaskets, all the electrics (especially on the Highline models - but don't worry about the headlight wipers, which never ever work), rust, the metric tyres (which cost a fortune and many owners have swapped for imperials off 5-series), rust, cracked seat mountings, proper operation of the autobox on all three settings, leaks etc.
Apologies that some of this is probably "stating the bleeding obvious".
But buy one. They're brilliant. I still miss mine...
But you should also be looking for one with good (recent) service history as they can be a bit of a money-pit. They were very advanced cars for their time and so there's lots to go wrong. But they are marvellous, beautiful cars and I can whole-heartedly recommend the ownership experience.
Practical Classics magazine did an excellent buyers' guide a couple of years back - perhaps see if you can get hold of a back-copy.
In my view, you're best off looking for one that has been in fairly regular use. Mine hadn't been used at all for a few months before I bought it and had only had limited use for the few years before that. As a result, it ran very rough for a while - but a good service and a few thousand miles soon sorted it out. These cars need to be used!
There's lots more to say but time is a bit tight at the moment.
Make sure you check the following, though: wheel vibration at speed and under braking, rust, exhaust/mainfold and head gaskets, all the electrics (especially on the Highline models - but don't worry about the headlight wipers, which never ever work), rust, the metric tyres (which cost a fortune and many owners have swapped for imperials off 5-series), rust, cracked seat mountings, proper operation of the autobox on all three settings, leaks etc.
Apologies that some of this is probably "stating the bleeding obvious".
But buy one. They're brilliant. I still miss mine...
Denis O said:
Having bought the car for £3k they then went out and bought an MOT failure for £350 which was used to supply full leather interior and a set of correct alloys with lots of bits remaining for further use. It was suggested, if you have the space, to keep a doner car for future bits you will need.
Denis is right about some limited parts availability - especially the wings. But there are always a few been stripped for parts on e-Bay and I never found parts availability to be an issue for the things I needed.
Oh... and find a good independent specialist for the servicing!
spokey said:
Rust. Rust. Rust.
And also...
Rust.
They rust on the metalwork, mostly, but the glass and rubber trim are not immune.
And also...
Rust.
They rust on the metalwork, mostly, but the glass and rubber trim are not immune.
Well, I knew rust was a real problem with these but, my Goodness, I never realised that even the glass and rubber trim were prone to rust!
Edited by talkwrench on Wednesday 9th May 10:13
B'stard Child said:
Any car regardless of make thats around 20 years old is going to have some "tinworm" issues - isn't it??
Not if it is fibreglass and has a galvanised chassis
For the OP have a look at www.bigcoupe.com/checklist.php Here are a few on the BMW Owners Club website
www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk/rm/adverts.asp?section=6%20Series.
If you have a few quid extra, Munich Legends have an M6 in red which was featured in Evo magazine edition 60.
www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk/rm/adverts.asp?section=6%20Series.
If you have a few quid extra, Munich Legends have an M6 in red which was featured in Evo magazine edition 60.
As an ex M6 owner I would say the main thing is rust followed by the electrics. IMHO don't get a Highline, go for a good pre-87 car which will give you the chrome bumpers (I know, more things to rust...) without the electric seats which will be a pain if they go wrong. The places to look for external rust are:
Wings (of course)
Sunroof drain holes
Under the boot seal (check the toolkit, if it is rusty be warned)
Rear wheel arches
If you are buying one check to see when the rubber bits were last changed too. Not recently means you should factor that in (new suspension bushes will trasnform the handling). Have the engine mounts checked too. Things not to worry about are sticky rear windows (they never get used so stick - use them every time you go out and they will free up) and non-working headlight washers. The aircon is also a bugger. Spares were fine for me to find (I mainly used Fritz's Bits).
They are great to drive but are all now hitting 20yrs old and will need things replaced on a regular basis e.g I took my M6 to France, gave it a blast up to 130+ on the Autoroute at which point the water pump expired... Would I have one again if I had a garage, of course!
Ps. Munich Legends have a red highline M6 coming up for sale soon according to their website. Should be one of the better ones but you'll pay for the privilege...
Wings (of course)
Sunroof drain holes
Under the boot seal (check the toolkit, if it is rusty be warned)
Rear wheel arches
If you are buying one check to see when the rubber bits were last changed too. Not recently means you should factor that in (new suspension bushes will trasnform the handling). Have the engine mounts checked too. Things not to worry about are sticky rear windows (they never get used so stick - use them every time you go out and they will free up) and non-working headlight washers. The aircon is also a bugger. Spares were fine for me to find (I mainly used Fritz's Bits).
They are great to drive but are all now hitting 20yrs old and will need things replaced on a regular basis e.g I took my M6 to France, gave it a blast up to 130+ on the Autoroute at which point the water pump expired... Would I have one again if I had a garage, of course!
Ps. Munich Legends have a red highline M6 coming up for sale soon according to their website. Should be one of the better ones but you'll pay for the privilege...
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