I've always wanted one and this kind of popped up last week. Just what I need, another red car. 1979 Euro 635CSI, SHARK! 3.5 liter M90 engine (Euro only) with Bosch L-jet injection Dog Leg 5-speed, ZF close ratio sport transmission. 3.07 Positraction Leather Recaros New //M rear trunk lip included. A myriad of nickel and dime maintenance items so I consider it a project until I bring it up to standards. The guys at BigCoupe.com have been a great help with info and links. Nothing like learning a new car. ** Yes there is a gap at the front of the hood. Some adjustments will take care of it.** Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks John. It seems my other two BMWs are jealous. Within days of bringing it home one developed a short in the brake light circuit (fixed) and the other seized a RF caliper on the way home from work (fix tomorrow). Sort of like women.................................................
I didn't realize just how rare until I found that the '77 to early '82 cars are based on the E12 chassis and the '82 through '89's were based on the E28. Most of the info out there is for the E28 based cars so I have to refer to the E12-535 for basic chassis info. The chassis isn't as robust as the later cars but then the the weight isn't either. What reading I've done on these, the handling was improved on the later cars as the E12 based cars tend to be "tail-happy". Currently the car is lowered and uses the 18mm sway bar in the rear out of the //M535 in lieu of the 16mm bar. The front has what I believe is an after market 28mm sway bar in lieu of the 24mm bar.
Yes, but BMW had the moniker first. I would be happy with yours as well. I think mine resembles a Mako whereas your is more like a Reef Shark.
I saw that when it came up for sale -it was tempting me. Good to see that "shark" stayed local. Very happy for your purchase and look for to seeing it on a drive.
It will be a while before I have it out. I have a long list of mechanical and electrical corrections plus interior refreshing to do first.. It has to be up to my standards. Hopefully by mid-summer if I don't get sidetracked by my "other" cars too much. I guess I'll have to settle with taking the TR out instead.
My dream was an 88/89 5-speed but the price for them (mostly in Kalifornia) was too high for the good ones, (approaching M6 prices). Reasonably priced cars had 250k-plus miles or clapped out. BTW, depending on the year of yours, a 5-speed from a 535 will bolt in. I see the conversion parts for sale on occasion.
Awesome car. It is on my wish list as well. I looked at one some ten years ago, but decided to pass on it. The transmission was so loud it was deafening. The seller swore up and down they are suppose to make that much noise....
To me, this has to be one of the more memorable designs from BMW. Nice buy! You should bring it out to E@RTC when ready.
Not soon. It will be a few months while I sort this car out. There are a number of deferred maintenance issues I want to take care of before I run it much. The first batch of parts are coming this week and another batch in two weeks.
Great car and super find! I love those...although I like the 3.0 variant a touch more so. Ditch the wheels when you have the funds...they may have the right specs, but just don't seem BMWish enough to me... Glad that car found a good home, I know it will never be taken care of better than in your hands/ownership!
I love the 3.0 CS. My Uncle used to have one of those and a Bavaria back in the day. The Shark really does it for me though. Yeah, the wheels are all wrong for this car. I don't care much for the stock OEM wheels either, (Some were METRIC/TRX!). The stuff of nightmares. I will run what I have for a while (7" x 16") until I find a newer BMW wheel style that will compliment this body style. I really like M-parallels but not sure if they will fit this car, especially lowered the way it is.. The wheel wells are small. Not much room to play around with wide wheels and radical offsets. In the mean time, my first box of "stuff" from Pelican showed up today. Now I can re-hang the exhaust and install new sway bar bushings in the rear.
Does that mean the heater is working now ? I better start working on the other cars, so they can go too !
