By Tim Odell
The BMW 6-Series experienced a change in character over its model run. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, it was still the spiritual successor to the heavenly E9 CS coupes: a great-driving sports tourer. By the end, it was the proto-8-Series, a platform to show off as much luxury and tech as your coke sales could afford. Luckily, today’s specimen comes from Back in The Day, as well as the European market. That means it’s got a high-compression 3.5L M30 I-6 good for 218hp (about 20 over the more common 633csi). Most importantly, it’s got the Getrag 265 “dog leg” five speed manual and those svelte Euro-spec bumpers.
Devoid of extra luxury features like central locking or car phones, the 6-Series is actually a pretty simple car. This 1980 version is on the E12 chassis, which shares much with the E9, dating back to the late ’60s. From underneath, the look a lot more like a classic car than you’d expect. I say that to ease us into the fact that this might be a pretty dubious score. The seller’s feedback history is less than ideal, which might be an issue if he trafficked in slant-6 Darts, but the spread between a good 6-er and a bad 6-er is vast. Also, this will never pass smog in a million years, so it’s headed to a non-emissions state or a “classic vehicle” loophole.
Care to roll the 6-sided dice?
1980 BMW 635csi for sale – eBay Motors
Ross Ballot 
Jeff Glucker