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The New Arrival - E24 content/FINISHED!

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 11:07 AM
by gray635
Guys:

As some of you already know, several weeks ago I sold my E30 M3 to Enthusiast Auto Group in Cincinnati (very pleasant, painless and fair transaction, BTW. 1st class operation, from my experience) and have been looking for another car. Well, it looks like I found it in Milwaukee in the form of a 1985 M635CSi.

Through rcbmw's post of the same owner's E28 M5 on the "Unaffiliated cars for sale" thread, I stumbled up on a really nice 1985 Sonderlackierung (490 - looks like hennarot and rcbmw tells me it was a special order color for the 12/84 date of production), perlbeige 41K 2nd owner (physician, purchased the car in 1987) car in Milwaukee. Stored Oct/May in a heated garage. The car wasn't advertised beyond the Badger Bimmers Chapter newletter classified ads. Swapped some emails, got some photos and chatted with the owner last week.

I flew up to Milwaukee on Friday, met the owner, drove the car that afternoon and bought it for full asking price - which I considered to be a bargain. It really is a nice example and I haven't been this charged up about an old car in quite some time. Very anxious to get it down to middle GA and start wasting time and money on it.

C.R. Kreiger knew the owner and had high regards for him. C.R. and I had planned to get together to view the car but unfortunate circumstances on Friday morning prevented that.

Anyway, I know how you folks like pictures, so here are a few:

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My lousy photography skills with a Kodak point/shoot camera really don't do the car justice. It looks much better in person. The sharp-eyed among the group will notice that the kidney grill isn't right - the seller decided that the inset black grills and removal of the chrome trim made the nose look like an M1. This will be taken back to stock ASAP. The stock 415 metric rims and later-model TRXs are actually quite nice but I will be looking for some upgraded 16/17" wheels and more modern rubber pretty quickly as well.

I'll tickled to get back in a nice E24 car - and can start living up to my "gray635" handle again. But suppose I should add an "///M" to it now. :banana: :banana:

Opinions and suggestions regarding this new ride are solicited, especially the right wheels. Hope you like it. Thanks to all (C.R., Anita Patton, Ed Lyerly, the incredibly well-informed and helpful rcbmw, etc.) who assisted me on my search for the "right" M635.

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 11:16 AM
by Kyle in NO
Now THAT is a beautiful e24. Congrats!

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 11:34 AM
by 87royal
Wow!
Congrats!

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 11:44 AM
by Karl Grau
Looks great, congrats!

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 11:53 AM
by tschultz
Great car, great conmbination-- looks super clean.


Also, it appears to be the identical twin of a Henna Red M635 here in Denver:
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His new wheel selection:
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Posted: Sep 30, 2012 12:04 PM
by winfred
wish my 415s weren't one piece, but a set of barrels run around 2k when i thought about lathing the centers to accept them, so.....coffee table?!

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 12:08 PM
by 5280 JB
Gorgeous car and a great find! The Euro spec M635csi is such a cool package - I'm sure you will enjoy your ownership of this rare beauty. :alright:

Tom is right on in his comments above: At first glance I thought "how did David manage to buy A's car from here in Denver?"

Jim

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 12:16 PM
by fastcrs
Beautiful car! Those hartge 3 piece always look great!

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 12:27 PM
by gray635
Thanks for the nice comments. It does look like my car's got a twin in Denver! :alright: :alright: But I'm just not feeling the Hartges on a M-car, although they are beautiful wheels.

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 1:02 PM
by Mark in Toronto
Mike, very nice example. Looking forward to seeing the car in person next year.

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 1:17 PM
by ldsbeaker
Wowza.

If these pics don't do it justice...

Those TRXs look GREAT. I don't know that I would change anything. Even the grill. (Really)

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 1:42 PM
by winfred
yea i am kinda half digging the grill, i want to dechrome mine and blacked rings look like crap on a 6

ps find out if the double valve springs have been done, mine had the original breakage prone singles when i got it
ldsbeaker wrote:Wowza.

If these pics don't do it justice...

Those TRXs look GREAT. I don't know that I would change anything. Even the grill. (Really)

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 3:20 PM
by wkohler
WOW! What a gorgeous car. The interior looks new. The whole car is just fantastic. I'm super excited just looking at the photos.

I'd suggest some BBS RS 198s or 212s. They'll keep the look of the original TRX RSs (KEEP THOSE!) and allow you to run more modern tires. Expect to pay $2500 or thereabouts though. I've got a set of both I'm working on right now and the 198s might find themselves available, but the 212 is the real 17" RS.

That car is a keeper if I ever saw one. Good job, sir. You stole the car. I really didn't believe the ad when I saw it after looking at the M5.

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 8:01 PM
by RoyW
Maybe it's the camera, but it doesn't look Henna to me? Anyway, nice score Mike. Very nice car and the interior looks exceptional, and nice low miles I understand. Enjoy.

-RoyW

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 8:17 PM
by Ed L
Great find Mike !!! Thanks for posting the pictures on this rare, low mileage gem :alright:
What are your plans for wheels ? I might be able to get you hooked up with a set of Alpinas. PM me if you are interested.
Looking forward to more posts and pictures.
Ed

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 9:24 PM
by gray635
RoyW wrote:Maybe it's the camera, but it doesn't look Henna to me? Anyway, nice score Mike. Very nice car and the interior looks exceptional, and nice low miles I understand. Enjoy.

-RoyW
Roy:

I continue to be a bit puzzled by the paint color. As you can see from the shot of the right fender well, what I'd call the "color sticker" says "Sonderlackierung" (490) which I thought was a paint color that I'd never heard of. After doing a bit of quick on-line checking, I think that this simply means this is an "Individual" color (a special order color, which squares with what rcbmw told me about the car's history, since hennarot was discontinued 6/84 and the production date on this car is 12/84) and that the color actually is hennarot.

If someone around here is up on their German, I'd appreciate an English interpretation of the fender sticker.

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 9:44 PM
by 5280 JB
Your paint "color" label does indeed indicate a special order color, and not the name of the color itself. Your car's twin here in Colorado has the same label. I too, thought at first that it was a German color name until I got skool'd on it. :oops:

Jim

Posted: Sep 30, 2012 10:10 PM
by RoyW
gray635 wrote:
RoyW wrote:Maybe it's the camera, but it doesn't look Henna to me? Anyway, nice score Mike. Very nice car and the interior looks exceptional, and nice low miles I understand. Enjoy.

-RoyW
Roy:

I continue to be a bit puzzled by the paint color. As you can see from the shot of the right fender well, what I'd call the "color sticker" says "Sonderlackierung" (490) which I thought was a paint color that I'd never heard of. After doing a bit of quick on-line checking, I think that this simply means this is an "Individual" color (a special order color, which squares with what rcbmw told me about the car's history, since hennarot was discontinued 6/84 and the production date on this car is 12/84) and that the color actually is hennarot.

If someone around here is up on their German, I'd appreciate an English interpretation of the fender sticker.
Mike,

You'll be able to tell pretty easily one of these day when you go to a BMW car event and see an e30 M3 in Henna Red,... then just park your e24 M635 next to it :)

-RoyW

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 12:32 AM
by bkbimmer
Ohh Billy, that is awesome!

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 12:33 AM
by tschultz
Roy the car is denver was built in 7/84 and has the same sticker as Jim mentioned:

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Sonderlackierung (490)- Special lacquer. I think this was a custom color chosen by the customer and painted by the factory.
Many colors were "special"; Blue Black metallic;another named Petrol green.
Find the build sheet, contact BMW Classic archive dept. or as the Sonderlack sticker says "siehe Eintrag im Serviceheft" see your owner's manual for your paint specification.


Great looking car,everytime I see this one in person, I can't help but wonder why they didn't put it on more E24's! Great looking car, it appears incredibly clean.

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 12:36 AM
by wkohler
:D

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 2:04 AM
by Jelmer538i
Very nice! Color looks good!

Just take all the crappy wiring out of the fuse box and it is perfect!

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 9:01 AM
by gray635
Guys:

Thanks for the information on the "Individual" color. I'm pretty sure it's hennarot but, as you can tell from the spec sheet provided above by ChrisK, there is no color code shown and nothing in the paperwork I got with the car.

I'm glad you like my "new" car. Anxious to get it home and start fooling with it. :banana:

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 9:14 AM
by Mark 88/M5 Houston
Very nice find!

Posted: Oct 01, 2012 9:50 AM
by GaAlpinaOwner
Mike congrats the Shark looks awesome...it looks to be in very very nice condition. I am a little bummed you sold the E30, (one of the nicest in the country IMHO)but I had a feeling a Six would be your first choice and E9 second and a PCar would not be in your garage :-)

I agree with Chris BBS RS.....wil look the best. The grill looks cool but not on this original low mileage car.